All Britons out of Wimbledon singles - what did we learn?
It is no secret that British players often feel a lot of pressure at Wimbledon. As I well know from my appearances here, you can feel a desperation to perform well because it is the part of the year when a lot of the non-tennis-watching British public watch our wonderful sport.The big tennis fans watch the whole year round, but those who don't form strong opinions from what they see at Wimbledon.You want to show how good you can be.Now all of the 23 Britons are out of the Wimbledon singles, let's examine how five of the leading names fared.
Jack Draper - early exit but has game for grass
How far he went: Suffered a second-round exit, losing to 2017 finalist Marin Cilic.What we learned: Draper still needs a little more time to develop on the grass.Coming into Wimbledon, all the talk was about whether the British men's number one was a contender - he was.That is not an unfair statement to make. It would have been disrespectful if he was not put in that bracket seeing as he is ranked fourth in the world with a big left-handed serve and a big game, plus he was junior runner-up in 2018.He could not have had a worse draw, though. It was tricky from the start and to play someone with the serve of Cilic on this surface is incredibly bad luck.What he can take going forward: The season overall has not gone how Draper would have expected - but in a good way.Winning Indian Wells on a hard court, then reaching the Madrid Open final on clay, showed the level we have long known he had.His game can naturally fit on grass, but it is tough to expect what we have seen on other surfaces to happen immediately on grass.Given how short the season is, many people feel quite unsettled at Wimbledon.Draper wanted to bring that return position back closer to the baseline. He was aggressive at Queens; we saw him coming forward more. That will benefit his game in the future.
Emma Raducanu - showed she can return to top 10
How far she went: Pushed world number one Aryna Sabalenka before losing their third-round match.What we learned: For Raducanu, it was an incredible tournament. Coming into the tournament, she had regained the British women's number one ranking and produced some of her best tennis, beating 2023 champion Marketa Vondrousova and playing even better when she went toe-to-toe with Sabalenka in a narrow defeat.Although Vondrousova is one of the few players to win a grass-court tournament this season, Raducanu pushing Sabalenka was the most impressive.I almost felt the winner of Raducanu-Sabalenka could be the winner of the title because the quality of the tennis was some of the best we have seen in the women's tournament.What she can take going forward: The knowledge she has the game to trouble the best.Sabalenka said in her Centre Court interview that she thought Raducanu would be back in the top 10 soon - I don't think that was simply a platitude to get the crowd on her side.Everyone in the locker room knows how good Raducanu's game is. They can feel the strength of her shots.I agree with Sabalenka - she will be back in the top 10 soon.
Katie Boulter - slipped on banana skin
How far she went: Knocked out in the second round with a shock loss to Argentine qualifier Solana Sierra.What we learned: Boulter came through a tough first-round draw against ninth seed Paula Badosa, but faced a banana skin next in Sierra.Playing against somebody who has nothing to lose and has won so many matches through qualifying - they are floating through the air, feeling light and hitting the ball well - is really tough.If you had a ranking by surface, Boulter would be one of the best players in the world on grass.She thrives on this surface and nobody is more gutted than her at losing.What she can take going forward: Boulter can still reach the second week of a Grand Slam for the first time.Her movement has vastly improved and so has her mentality - she is digging in and I don't think she has imposter syndrome as her ranking has moved up.Her best results will come on the quick, hard courts, so maybe it is a US Open - where the balls sit up and she can get on top of it, and her serve will still be effective - or on the grass.So much of it comes to luck of the draw - if you are seeded and can avoid the big names and someone feeling good.
Sonay Kartal - became a crowd favourite
How far she went: Reached the fourth round for the first time before losing to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.What we learned: While Kartal says clay is her favourite surface, I am not surprised to see her do well on grass.In the women's game you often see the players who like the clay do well on the grass because both surfaces react well to spin, albeit opposite types of spin.The players who enjoy heavy top-spin on their forehands - like Kartal - often also enjoy hitting their slice backhands.You can look at Jasmine Paolini and Ons Jabeur, who have both reached Wimbledon finals in recent years, as good examples of players who like variety and lean into their spin more on the grass.What she can take going forward: There is still room for improvement. When you look at the recent women who have reached the top 10, you think 'why couldn't Kartal do that?'She is such a sponge. That is why she is moving quickly through the rankings. She is able to be sharp to the pace of the ball and the change of intensity as she starts to play women ranked at the top.This year she has a great opportunity to capitalise on people not knowing the ins and outs of her game yet.If she can stay one step ahead when the girls start to find out those weaknesses, and how to counteract that, then she can go much higher.
Cameron Norrie - regaining confidence can have trampoline effect
How far he went: Made the quarter-finals but came unstuck against defending champion Carlos Alcaraz.What we learned: Norrie has struggled with his form but I love how he stayed with his team when he was going through a rough patch.So many people would point fingers, looking for an easy fix, instead of taking accountability.Keeping that consistent team shows his mindset and has been a big part of his recovery.His level has skyrocketed back to where it was and, although Alcaraz was a cut above, Norrie will be proud of proving he can still go deep at the Slams.What he can take going forward: Even more belief from his runs at the French Open and Wimbledon.He will always have confidence in his physicality - it is his bread and butter. Now the confidence is coming back into his shots, he can jump back up really quickly.His game suits hard court more than grass - we saw that when he won Indian Wells in 2021 - and this run could have a trampoline effect for him.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
2 minutes ago
- The Independent
Alexander Isak accuses Newcastle of breaking promises amid transfer drama
Alexander Isak has accused Newcastle United of breaking promises and damaging trust, stating it is in everyone's best interests for him to leave the club. The striker claims Newcastle misrepresented his private conversations and that the club has long known his desire to depart. Liverpool's £110m bid for Isak was rejected, with Newcastle maintaining he is not for sale, despite the player's public stance. Isak has not featured for Newcastle in pre-season or their opening league match, training separately from the main squad. He scored 23 Premier League goals last season and was voted into the PFA team of the season but chose not to attend the awards ceremony due to the ongoing situation.
Telegraph
2 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Alexander Isak's meltdown is the desperate act of an ingrate
Now that Alexander Isak is at the Instagram-meltdown stage of his summer-long tantrum, you might expect him to come to the table with a few facts. Instead, his attempt at soliciting sympathy for weeks of childish flouncing amounts to nothing more than an unsubstantiated claim that 'promises have been broken'. Newcastle fans can be forgiven if, after a pattern of behaviour so wretched that he is decried in the stands as 'one greedy b-----d', they struggle to accept his word as gospel. In the end, there is just one concrete piece of evidence illustrating Isak's situation, and that is a six-year contract he is seeking to break after three. To what promises is Isak alluding? When were they made? And by whom? He provides none of this information, claiming obliquely that what was 'said and agreed behind closed doors' at Newcastle about his future has not been honoured. This is the sum of his attempt at casting himself as the burning martyr: a mention of an unspecified agreement at an unknown meeting. As a negotiating position, it is hardly watertight. As such, Newcastle have needed little time to demolish it, issuing a statement of their own that no commitment has ever been made to Isak to allow him to leave this summer. For the striker, once revered on Tyneside but now widely reviled, it is the latest in a catalogue of miscalculations. With his melodramatic screed on social media, Isak sounds less like the average aggrieved employee than a hostage begging to be released. To which the only natural response is contempt: how is life on £120,000 a week supposed to represent captivity, especially when he is not even bothering to play football matches? The longer this saga goes on, the more you have to ask why Liverpool, the object of his heart's desires, would want to lavish north of £130m on such an ingrate. If Isak can be this infantile at one club, refusing to adhere to even the most basic standards, then he is capable of similar petulance elsewhere. The same logic applies to Newcastle's pursuit of Yoane Wissa, who is reaching for a near-identical playbook at Brentford. With Wissa, any semblance of loyalty to the supporters who idolise him in south-west London has long since evaporated. Not content with flying back early from a pre-season training camp in Portugal, or threatening not to train again if he was not granted a move to St James' Park, he has joined Isak in deploying the Insta-wars tactic, deleting all club photographs from his feed and even turning his profile picture to black. Truly, there are teenagers in the throes of their first break-ups who have shown greater maturity than this pair. You feel for Eddie Howe. Desperate not to antagonise his most prolific goalscorer, who delivered goals against all of the 'big six' last season and the decisive second against Liverpool to secure Newcastle's first domestic trophy for 70 years, he must also avoid inflaming the tensions of a febrile fanbase. So far, his stance – not involving Isak in training, where the Swede's toxic agitation could disrupt the team dynamic, but keeping the door ajar for him to return – has been deftly judged. But how you wish a Premier League manager could deal with diva-like antics in the manner of Brian Clough. 'How do you react when someone from your playing staff says, 'Boss, I think you're doing this wrong?' he was asked. 'Well,' Clough replied, deadpan, 'I ask him which way he thinks it should be done, we get down to it, we talk about it for 20 minutes, and then we decide I was right.' Once, this philosophy was a staple of managing at the highest level. Sadly, eye-watering player salaries, coupled with an army of agents and intermediaries, ensure that the balance of power has shifted decisively away from managers, with Isak indulging in all his pathetic stunts in the knowledge that he is too important to be sacked. And a decent soul like Howe simply has to wear the type of conduct that would trigger instant dismissal in any other sphere, even while his own authority is undermined. What makes the situation more galling is the fact that Isak lacks the gumption to submit a formal transfer request, preferring to hide behind talk of broken promises that he refuses to clarify. In so many ways, it is a parable of modern football. You want to believe Newcastle are teaching him a lesson by strictly enforcing the terms of contract, but they will find a way of reintegrating him in the end, even after all his egregious excesses. Be wary, too, of the talk that he has burnt his bridges with the fans. If the Anfield switch fails to materialise, absolution will engulf him at Newcastle just as soon as he weighs in with a couple of crucial goals. That is the nature of the game, where superstars can abandon all pretence of professionalism on the understanding that the service they provide renders them essentially beyond reproach.
BBC News
2 minutes ago
- BBC News
Black Cats Hammer home advantage
The game I attended was at Sunderland where West Ham arrived to show the newcomers what the Premier League was all about. The Black Cats were singularly unimpressed, Graham Potter's side looked as lumpen and leggy as the opposition look sprightly and coach Regis Le Bris fielded seven debutants from the start and his team were anything but shy and nervous on their first outing. Take out the wily Granit Xhaka and the remaining five midfielders and attackers in red and white had an average age of less than 21. Only Simon Adingra had ever played in the Premier League still out-ran and out-thought West Ham. The 21-year-old Habib Diarra caught the eye with his unstoppable runs from deep in midfield but it felt like two different generations playing against each other; not to put too fine a point on it, many of the West Ham players looked old in comparison, a phrase every footballer hates to are better than I thought but even with a 3-0 opening win and the excitement around the packed stadium there is a concern. Somewhere in amongst the wild enthusiasm they know that there might just a be a fragility to the team that could be crushed by bigger and better sides than the up to read more from Pat Nevin in his Football Extra newsletter
