Tomic shocks with two-year first

Yahoo6 hours ago

As 16 Australians began their Wimbledon qualifying quest, forgotten man Bernard Tomic achieved a rare feat, beating a player inside the top 100 for the first time in two years to earn his place in an ATP main draw at a grass-court event in Spain.
It's the first time since the 2021 Australian Open that Tomic, now down at 243 in the rankings, has booked a place in a tour-level event.
The 32-year-old, who has been traversing the world playing lower level and Challenger events in his bid to get back to the top, defeated world No.77 Aleksandar Kovacevic 7-6 (7-2) 6-3 at the grass court Mallorca Championships.
It set up a clash with fellow Aussie, Rinky Hijikata, who is already qualified for the main draw at Wimbledon, one of eight men and five women locked in for the year's third grand slam.
The Mallorca event is among a swath of grass-court events where Australians already qualified for Wimbledon are rounding out their preparations.
James Duckworth beat British wildcard Johannus Monday 6-4 6-2 and Aleksandar Vukic downed American Jenson Brooksby 7-5 6-3 to book their places in the Eastbourne International men's main draw.
Kim Birrell also made it through Eastbourne qualifying to join Australian No. 1 Daria Kasatkina, and teen star and Maya Joint in the women's event.
Former Wimbledon quarter-finalist Ajla Tomljanovic also took a walkover win over Germany's Eva Lys, to make it into the Bad Homburg WTA main draw.
AUSTRALIANS QUALIFIED FOR WIMBLEDON
Men's singles:
Alex de Minaur
Alexei Popyrin
Jordan Thompson
Aleksandar Vukic
Rinky Hijikata
Chris O'Connell
Adam Walton
James Duckworth
Women's singles
Daria Kasatkina
Kimberly Birrell
Maya Joint
Ajla Tomljanovic
Olivia Gadecki

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On Site At Wimbledon 2025 Ahead Of Famed The Hill's Makeover

Forbes

an hour ago

Forbes

On Site At Wimbledon 2025 Ahead Of Famed The Hill's Makeover

Renderings of an updated The Hill at Wimbledon that increases capacity and access. For Wimbledon crowds able to enter the historic grounds, but not get a seat inside Centre Court, The Hill has turned into a coveted spot to watch tennis. For 2025, The Hill will again offer views onto the giant screen of the world's top players, whether Carlos Alcaraz coming off his five-set, come-from-behind Roland Garros victory against top-ranked Jannik Sinner on his quest for a third straight Wimbledon title or Coco Gauff hoping to make it two tennis majors in a row for her first Wimbledon championship. And while The Hill has history, it will come new in 2027. Located next to No. 1 Court—the large screen is mounted onto the side of the No. 1 Court stadium—fans gather to relax and watch live action from the around the grounds. Following the conclusion of The Championships in 2026, a new-look Hill will take shape in time for 2027, when the All England Club plans to mark the 150th anniversary of the first Championships in 1877. Planned upgrades include greater accessible viewing across the various tiers of The Hill and more seating through a mix of new low-slung retaining walls to optimize the visibility of the large screen by reducing the gradient on the existing tiers. Officials claim the changes will expand the capacity 20%. Spectators watch the big screen from The Hill during day ten of The Championships Wimbledon 2024 at ... More All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club on July 10, 2024 in London, England. (Photo by) Updates include removing existing paths and replacing them with permeable pathways while introducing sun shading and a rain cover via a new pergola. New floral installments will get added to the top of The Hill. 'The redevelopment of our world-famous Hill, in time for The Championships 2027, will allow even more tennis fans to enjoy its unique atmosphere and vantage point,' says Deborah Jevans, chair of the All England Club. 'It is an exciting opportunity as we look toward 2027 and the 150th anniversary of the first Championships.' The latest update to the site of the All England Lawn Tennis Club comes as the site has moved and evolved. Wimbledon Site History Since its start in 1877, the world's oldest tennis tournament has enjoyed two homes, both in London's southwest suburb of Wimbledon, with the well-known postal code of SW19. The AELTC was founded as a croquet club in 1868 on four acres of leased meadowland between Wimbledon's Worple Road and a railway line. As lawn tennis gained popularity over the next few years, the club added the sport to its offerings and the first edition of The Championships—open only to men, with 21 competitors—was held in 1877. By 1884, the AELTC added permanent stands around the club's Centre Court, named for its location within the grounds. The Worple Road site enjoyed modest growth prior to World War I, but shortly after the war the tournament had simply outgrown its leased site and the All England Club purchased land off nearby Church Road in 1920, playing there for the first time in 1922. (Upon moving from Worple Road, the site changed uses and is now enjoyed by local students at Wimbledon High School.) For over 100 years now, the Church Road home of Wimbledon has undergone both turmoil and change. One of the most momentous updates in the past few years was the addition of a second retractable roof in 2019, this for No. 1 Court. An aerial view of the All England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club's centre court, outer courts and ... More grounds, Wimbledon, London, July 14th 1954. (Photo by Evening Standard/) In 2022, to coincide with a 100-year celebration, Wimbledon refreshed Centre Court by removing a tented rain covering structure to open an extra three feet of space from the edge of the grass to the start of the seating. That helped create a new player entrance. At the same time, an unused camera position was converted into 47 new premium seats. Getting to the place of modern change, though, required 100 years of history. When opened in 1922, the 14,000-seat Centre Court was joined by 12 other courts. The original No. 2 Court came in 1923 and the original No. 1 Court in 1924. Just over 15 years after moving to Church Road, World War II put a halt on the tournament from 1940 through 1945 and included the bombing of Centre Court in 1940. During the war, the facilities housed fire and ambulance services and a decontamination unit. Troops camped at the club, including within the concourses. When the club was restored after the war, growth remained quiet for many decades. A 1,088-seat addition joined the top of Centre Court in 1979, bringing its total capacity to just shy of 15,000 seats, including 80 dark green Lloyd Loom wicker chairs within the Royal Box, which the Queen attended in 1957, '62, '77 and 2010. The real changes, though, started in the 1990s. The addition of a new No. 1 Court in Aorangi Park—the 11 acres located to the north of Centre Court—gave The Championships a second major stadium, this with 11,393 seats. Also in 1997, a new broadcast center and two additional grass courts joined the grounds. A major non-structural change occurred in 2000 when the All England Club switched from a mixture of 70% ryegrass and 30% red fescue for its playing surface to 100% ryegrass for increased durability. The tournament still uses Rufus, a trained Harris Hawk, to patrol the courts for one hour the mornings of The Championships prior to the gates opening as a deterrent to pigeons roosting on the grounds. Modern Updates at Wimbledon In 2009, a new 4,000-seat No. 2 Court replaced No. 13 Court. (There is now no longer a No. 13 Court on the grounds, as the 18 championship grass courts are all numbered 1 through 18, except for Centre taking the place of 13.) At the same time, a brand-new No. 3 Court gave The Championships a 2,000-seat venue where the old No. 2 Court and No. 3 Court previously stood. While the Wimbledon grounds enjoyed the addition of 6,000 new stadium-style seats in 2009, the most talked about addition that year came with Centre Court's brand-new retractable roof. Then came the second roof in 2019 over No. 1 Court. The 80,000-square-foot fabric covering required 11 new 112-ton steel trusses atop the grounds' second-largest stadium. What originally opened in 1924 with a seating capacity of 2,500 and standing room for about 750 additional spectators became a new No. 1 Court in 1997 with a capacity for 11,432. Now it has shifted to house over 12,000. Other changes in the last few years include an additional story on the Museum Building, a new Southern Village public area and updates throughout existing buildings. Next up: The Hill. MORE: The Last 8 Club At Wimbledon Has History And Keeps Growing

Raducanu opens up about ‘genuine connection' with old friend Alcaraz

Yahoo

2 hours ago

Yahoo

Raducanu opens up about ‘genuine connection' with old friend Alcaraz

Emma Raducanu says her upcoming mixed doubles partnership with Carlos Alcaraz is a reflection of the meaningful, friendly connection the pair made as they were rising up the rankings at the start of their careers. 'It is nice and I think, for all of us, we really value those connections that we had from when we were young,' Raducanu said. 'Because when you become a bit more known or a bit more successful, you just find yourself reverting back to people you knew from a young age and because that's a real genuine connection, because it becomes very busy and you have a lot more friends – but the ones that you've known for a long time mean a lot more to you.' Advertisement Raducanu and Alcaraz, both 22, will compete together in the US Open mixed doubles tournament in August, which has been revamped controversially this year in order to spotlight the top players. The event will be played in a streamlined two-day format during the week before the US Open. Raducanu says they first got to know each other at Wimbledon in 2021 and they forged a friendly connection during their respective breakout runs at the US Open that year. Related: Alcaraz beats Lehecka to extend win streak and regain crown as king of Queen's Club 'I remember he beat Stef [Tsitsipas] in the third round and it was like a big win, his breakout win on a big stage and it was really cool to kind of, I guess, go through that tournament together and then I kept going through the US Open, but we were staying in touch for the whole time. Yeah, it's nice. We have a good relationship still. He's obviously overtaken me a lot, but it's nice that we have that from a while ago.' A few days after their partnership was announced to significant fanfare, Raducanu opted to catch a glimpse of Alcaraz at Queen's Club during his semi-final win against Roberto Bautista Agut, an appearance that generated even more headlines. 'I saw some really cool drop volleys and I was like: 'Yes, let's save some of that!' But he's got plenty of magic to bring to New York. But it was just, I was having the day off on Saturday and I was with my friends and we were like: 'Let's go to Queen's [Club] and watch the tennis,' and then we went out and to the River Cafe in the evening. It was a super nice evening and then I just came here on Sunday.' Advertisement For the time being, Raducanu has more serious challenges to focus on than a glorified exhibition event. Her solid start to the grass court season at Queen's Club, where she reached the quarter-finals and re-established herself as the British No 1, was soured by further issues with back spasms, which have troubled her on numerous occasions this year. Raducanu withdrew from the Berlin Open last week. 'It's OK,' she said. 'I'm still managing it, to be honest. I have good days and bad days with it. I trained a fair bit last week in London and it was good. I was getting a lot of treatment and then woke up pretty stiff at the weekend, took a day off and then trained yesterday and today, but it needs a lot of work and it is up and down. So I'm just trying to manage it as best as I can.' Raducanu, the No 7 seed, will face Ann Li in the first round at Eastbourne, her final tournament before Wimbledon begins next week. She says she is doing everything she can to ensure that she is in top physical shape and form for her biggest tournament of the year. 'Needles, soft tissue, some muscle stimulation stuff, taping, everything,' Raducanu said. 'It's just ongoing, but it's OK. It seems to be OK today.' The British No 5 Dan Evans battled back from a set down to defeat Miomir Kecmanovic in the first round of the Lexus Eastbourne Open. The 35-year-old, who has received a wild card for Wimbledon, triumphed 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 against the Serbian world No 49. He will face the American second seed Tommy Paul – the 2023 runner-up – in round two. Advertisement Evans, ranked 170 in the world, arrived at Devonshire Park having last week celebrated the best grass-court win of his career with victory against the world No 13 Frances Tiafoe in the first round at Queen's Club. 'For whatever time I have left, it's a work in progress,' he told the BBC. 'Me and my coach have been working hard on certain things, like everybody else does, but sometimes it takes time.' In the women's draw, the British No 5 Fran Jones registered a straight-sets victory against the Belgian world No 70 Greet Minnen. The 24-year-old wild-card entrant progressed 6-4, 7-5 in 1hr 48min.

2025 Mallorca Championships: Dzumhur [68th] vs. Rinderknech [70th] Prediction, Odds and Match Preview

USA Today

3 hours ago

USA Today

2025 Mallorca Championships: Dzumhur [68th] vs. Rinderknech [70th] Prediction, Odds and Match Preview

In the Mallorca Championships Round of 32 on Monday, we have a matchup featuring No. 70-ranked Arthur Rinderknech versus No. 68 Damir Dzumhur. Rinderknech is the favorite against Dzumhur for this match, with -300 odds compared to the underdog's +225 in the Round of 32. Tennis odds courtesy of BetMGM Sportsbook. Odds updated Monday at 6:35 AM ET. For a full list of sports betting odds, access USA TODAY Sports Betting Scores Odds Hub. Damir Dzumhur vs. Arthur Rinderknech matchup info Dzumhur vs. Rinderknech Prediction Based on the implied probility from the moneyline, Dzumhur has a 75.0% to win. Dzumhur vs. Rinderknech Betting Odds Dzumhur vs. Rinderknech matchup performance & stats Our team of savvy editors independently handpicks all recommendations. If you make a purchase through our links, we may earn a commission. Prices were accurate at the time of publication but may change. Gambling involves risk. Please only gamble with funds that you can comfortably afford to lose. While we do our utmost to offer good advice and information we cannot be held responsible for any loss that may be incurred as a result of gambling. We do our best to make sure all the information that we provide on this site is correct. However, from time to time mistakes will be made and we will not be held liable. Please check any stats or information if you are unsure how accurate they are. No guarantees are made with regards to results or financial gain. All forms of betting carry financial risk and it is up to the individual to make bets with or without the assistance of information provided on this site and we cannot be held responsible for any loss that may be incurred as a result of following the betting tips provided on this site. Past performances do not guarantee success in the future and betting odds fluctuate from one minute to the next. The material contained on this site is intended to inform, entertain and educate the reader and in no way represents an inducement to gamble legally or illegally or any sort of professional advice. Gannett may earn revenue from sports betting operators for audience referrals to betting services. Sports betting operators have no influence over nor are any such revenues in any way dependent on or linked to the newsrooms or news coverage. Terms apply, see operator site for Terms and Conditions. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, help is available. Call the National Council on Problem Gambling 24/7 at 1-800-GAMBLER (NJ, OH), 1-800-522-4700 (CO), 1-800-BETS-OFF (IA), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN). Must be 21 or older to gamble. Sports betting and gambling are not legal in all locations. Be sure to comply with laws applicable where you reside. It is your sole responsibility to act in accordance with your local laws.