TENNIS: Queen's 2024
Jun. 24th, 2024 07:56 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
feather_ghyllFirst round
After abandoning their coverage last year, I was back to the Beeb. Oh well, Annabel Croft had joined them, adding some more insight to the cliches. The players on centre court had Hawkeye here (unlike in Nottingham.) Sort of. There were some technical issues and some nervousness about whether it would appear on the big screen. There were also some slips, most seriously one involving Tiafoe, who was out before completing his first match.
It seemed as though they’d got back most of the players who always come, or came last year, including, fair play to him, Alcaraz. Much was made of Jamie Murray now being tournament director! I watched the end of the Rune vs Thompson match, where Rune’s forehand deserted him a bit, explaining why the shine has come off since last year.
Next up was Cam Norrie, now British no. 2, because Jack Draper, his doubles partner here, had a great tournament last week, playing against Milos Raonic, back from injury, having only played eight matches this year, many of which were last week. Of course, grass may well be his favourite surface, and his immense serve was on display, meaning that Norrie, not where he was two years ago, had to make the most of any chance. Raonic served a record amount of aces, which made it an oddly soothing match to watch for me, but a nightmare for Norrie. (A few balls struck some linespeople too.)
The first set ended on a long tiebreak, where Norrie did take his chance. But he immediately dropped his serve at the start of the second set. Both men were nervous at the end of the third set, Raonic having had waaay less match play, lacking Norrie’s athleticism, but Norrie had admitted himself that he hadn’t been great at the big points lately. And so it proved. Raonic has an excellent forehand, and had enough on other shots to be no. 3 in the world and a Wimbledon finalist once. He won, while, as in Nottingham, Norrie departed early.
Day 2, and I watched the de Minaur vs. Musetti match. De Minaur, last year’s runner-up, was the no. 2 seed as he’s now world no. 7 and had just won a grass-court tournament. He traded breaks with Musetti and then seemed to gain confidence and know what he had to do. He won the first set 6-1, and I realised Musetti hadn’t even won a game on his serve. Whither the man who’d recently pushed Djokovic to five sets in Paris?
De Minaur missed a sitter early at the start of the second set and not only did Musetti keep his serve, he broke de Minaur and started playing better. He’s got a stylish backhand, and as he got more first serves in it was more like the match that I was expecting, with de Minaur making too many errors and ultimately losing in a shock result.
Next up, Alcaraz, and he looked like the defending champion and no. 1 seed. He was playing Cerundulo, who’d also pushed Djokovic to five sets in Paris, but didn’t get much of anywhere until late in the first set, so at least he lost it 6-1 and didn’t get bagelled. But Alcaraz wasn’t quite as dominant at the start of the second set, Cerundulo broke early and could use his forehand a bit more. Alcaraz broke back when his opponent was serving for the match, and although the next game was close, and Cerundulo had three set points, Alcaraz fought back hard, and after a corrected line point gave him the score in the next game, there wasn’t anything Cerundulo could do. Alcaraz continues to exude box office appeal.
I had Andy Murray’s match on in the background – apparently Dan Evans had to retire after falling. It was Murray’s thousandth tour level match, and he won in three.
Second round
Qualifier Rinky Hijikata and Matteo Arnaldi opened proceedings on day three, and although some points were entertaining, no player seemed to want it. (That’s not fair, I’m sure they did and that got in the way of their play.) Hijikata played the better first set tiebreak, while Arnaldi, who had the greater firepower, was inconsistent, but his opponent had several match points but couldn’t take them until he did. So, there was an understandably loud roar when he got through.
Next up Dimitrov, no. 3 seed as he’s back in the top 10, against Seb ‘Hairband’ Korda, and as the first set went on, Korda was the better player, and won it with ease. But his quality dropped off and Dimitrov had enough nous to take advantage and the second set. The third set was cagey, and neither of them played well at the same time until they both got in some decent service games, but Korda achieved the better play. A weird match. Another seed out, but although Dimitrov is a former champion, Korda was a semi-finalist last year. Still, he needs more consistency.
I was just paying attention to Murray at the end of the warm-up when Claire Balding and John Lloyd started making ‘uh-oh’ noises. Seasoned Murray watchers were all, ‘Well, it could be nothing,’ except when play started and he wasn’t pushing off, indeed, was barely moving, it was clearly not nothing. Thompson wasn’t quite as focused as he should have been, but when he was, he was using the drop shot to expose Murray’s weakness. The trainer came on and it seemed obvious it was the back. Two more games where Murray really couldn’t move later and he was retiring. Ouch.
A lot of pressure on Raonic vs Taylor Fritz to entertain, and it was always going to be a match of easy service wins and pouncing on the errors. Fritz is in and out of the top 10, Raonic has barely played over the last four years, but his serve was frustrating Fritz, until he just started smiling. Tidy first set, messy tiebreak (Sam Smith was commentating with Annabel Croft and they make for a good team), which Fritz won. When his service games were under pressure, he responded well. When Raonic’s game was under pressure, the lack of match play told. Still, it’s good to see him healthy and nobody will want to play him at Wimbledon. Fritz, who has done well at other grass-court tournaments, was through to the third round/quarter final here for the first time, and given so few seeds are surviving (I mean de Minaur and Dimitrov have grass-court pedigree, so it is a bit of a shock) he should be quite pleased with himself.
The eye-catching round 2 match of day 4 (and the only one I watched all the way through) was Carlos Alcaraz vs. Jack Draper. We all know about the first, the second has been a name to watch for a while, injured last year, winning a grass-court tournament last week, and on a high. From the off, Draper played more like a top 10 player than world no. 31. Alcaraz was having much more trouble on his serve, and Draper’s serve improved by the end of the first set. It was noted that he was the first lefty Alcaraz had faced on grass (and I was racking my brain to think who is the top lefty these days.) So, it went to a tiebreak, and two points on his own serve meant Alcaraz was down and Draper winning the first.
To his credit, he kept focused and the second set remained on serve, with Alcaraz frustrated (he’s an excellent returner and he wasn’t getting much of anywhere. There were about five serves that he should have done better with, but that’s it) Draper a little inspired, and then Draper broke Alcaraz’s serve, and slapped down any attempts to break back. Alcaraz made him serve it out, but from 0-30 down, Draper did. Wild cheering, the Queen’s crowd having decided to support the local lad over last year’s darling.
I’m not going to go quite as overboard as Castle, Lloyd and Balding did, reading significance into Murray’s demise the one day, Draper’s arrival the next. It’s a bit more complicated than that. Granted, winning against the world no. 2, just off his French Open win at a tournament where he’s defending champion? That sends a warning that players are going to have to deal with his serve on this surface, his intensity and attack, and an improving backhand.
Quarter-finals
The only seeds standing were Americans, (three Americans, two Brits and Australians and one Italian would be playing. It should be noted that half of them were aged 22 or 23.) Thanks to the wonders of iPlayer, I watched all the matches. On reflection, that was too much, but I've had to do without tennis for most of this year, so I was over-compensating.
On paper, Fritz should have won his match, but he never settled. After a lengthy first service game, Thompson did, and perhaps his play was a part of why Fritz never did. While Fritz fell, the Australian served better and won in two sets to everyone’s surprise.
The next match was my chance to see Billy Hughes (of the Isle of Man?) properly and see his story. He took a little longer to settle and the stylish Musetti took advantage, but after that, it was quite even. Hughes had more weight of shot, Musetti probably wasn’t playing at his best, but Hughes wasn’t always able to produce the winning shot after building a point. Most of the match was competitive, despite the vast gulf in experience between the 22 year old and the 29 year old, but Musetti managed to break and perhaps served his best, turning a difficult year around. (Leon ‘Davis Cup’ Smith joined Andrew Cotter in the commentary box and was very affirming of his fellow Scot, a generalist sports commentator. Smith was overall a good, informed addition to the coverage.)
The clash of the heavyweights, it was agreed was Tommy Paul vs. Jack Draper. The first was the only seed still left, and Draper had just had the result of his life. Draper had three wins to Paul’s one.
Paul was sharp throughout, while it became clear that Draper wasn’t, not being able to retrieve a break in the first set. Paul was athletic, but Draper kept a better hold of his serve, as he changed his serving position more than any other player I can recall. Although the crowd were muted, a horror game from Paul at the end of the second set meant that Draper had got it back to one set all, and they had something to cheer. But in the third set, it began to look as if his seven match wins in a week and a half, where he’d won his first ATP final, were catching up with Draper. Paul broke and held and looks mighty impressive (well, not his forecourt game, but it looks as though he might not need it. I’d later find out he’d played a left-hander in the pervious round, which must have helped a little too.)
Korda ought to beat Hijikata on paper, but it was a scrappy first set, with Hijikata’s movement and retrieval putting pressure on Korda, although when he got it together he could win points with aplomb. The scrappiness continued through the tiebreak, which Hijikata rather surprisingly won. Korda was out of sorts and his forehand was terrible, but he kept his serve and took a chance. By the third set, he’d realised that serve and volley/coming forward was his way of winning points against a much shorter opponent who will ascend from just within the top 100 to the 60s after this run. Korda reminded us he’d just won against the higher ranked Paul in the interview, but he’ll need to sort out his forehand to try to repeat that, it looks like. Guaranteed American finalist, anyway.
Semi-finals
I thought Thompson had been the more consistent player, but Musetti was more used to playing at a high level. The Musetti who turned up had far more intensity than in the previous round and took advantage while Thompson took a little time to settle. The turning point came when Thompson was facing break point to go down a double break, and played well enough to stop that from happening. Musetti won the first set, but his opponent was playing better and he managed to get a double break in the second set. He also acquired a niggle in his back, although it didn’t seem to hamper his play, but Musetti sniffed a chance and started playing better. Thompson won the set, but Musetti was hitting lines and that (and a few calls) got under Thompson’s skin.
The third set was easily the best quality one, as both players were now playing well, matching each other, pressing in the early games, then winning their service games easily, until Musetti maybe raised his game just a little and broke. He served strongly. Many of his points had been stylish, above all his backhand, while Thompson had shown his grass-court nous. Claire Balding (!) may have made a good point about Musetti’s concentration being the issue; he certainly lost intensity in the second set. Anyway, he was delighted to win.
Next the Americans, with Korda leading the higher ranked player in their head to head and having beaten him last week. John Lloyd gave him the edge, but I thought Paul had played much better the day before, and he started better. It looked as though Korda’s relatively late night meant that he wasn’t with it. Paul got an early break, but it was clawed back. Korda got treated for a swelling in the eye, then he slipped and did something to his ankle, Paul took advantage and won the first set. Korda was out of sorts, and Paul was serving for the match, started badly (as he had for most of his games), Korda ‘got inspired’ and broke. He seemed far more engaged than he ever had, and things were tight, although Paul had a scoreboard advantage. It went to a tiebreak, where a couple of points aside, Korda was terrible. Paul took the second match point with an ace.
Not the finalists anyone expected, but these are the players who have won all their matches to get useful points and a boost just before Wimbledon.
Final
In the brief build-up, John Lloyd talked up that we were going to see a beautiful match of tennis. Well, it certainly involved two of the best looking men (but not the best looking umpire). More seriously, the BBC’s coverage highlighted how good Paul’s return has been, and because of it, Smith made him favourite. I sort of did too because he’d been playing at a higher level more consistently than Musetti and was more used to being top 20, indeed top 15. But Paul came out and played even better tennis than he had all week. Musetti maybe looked the more nervous, but Paul didn’t let him settle. The commentators noted that he was playing first strike tennis, and he got an early break, and although Musetti got a game, Paul mostly thrashed him in the first set, winning it 6-1. That and the fact that if he did win a point, Musetti had had to play a flashier shot to do so, meant that the crowd were on the Italian’s side.
Serving first, he started the second set better, but then played a loose game that Paul took gratefully. At 5-4, the American was serving for it (the first 500 tournament of his career) and got visibly nervous with several wobbly tosses, a couple of double faults, and Musetti stepped up with some winners to make it 5-5. So, it went to a tiebreak, and Musetti got the early minibreak, but an ill-judged and poorly executed dropshot after a lengthy rally brought it back to serve, and it was soon match point versus set point, all saved, until Musetti’s shot went out and Paul had a match point on his serve. To his credit, he won with a service winner. Deservedly so. He was so clearly the superior player for most of the match, shutting Musetti out, playing with the attacking mentality he’s learned works for him on grass and then some. He’s no Alcaraz (Sinner won in Halle), his goal for the year seems to be getting into the top 10, but he is the Queen’s champion and learning that grass could be his best surface.
After abandoning their coverage last year, I was back to the Beeb. Oh well, Annabel Croft had joined them, adding some more insight to the cliches. The players on centre court had Hawkeye here (unlike in Nottingham.) Sort of. There were some technical issues and some nervousness about whether it would appear on the big screen. There were also some slips, most seriously one involving Tiafoe, who was out before completing his first match.
It seemed as though they’d got back most of the players who always come, or came last year, including, fair play to him, Alcaraz. Much was made of Jamie Murray now being tournament director! I watched the end of the Rune vs Thompson match, where Rune’s forehand deserted him a bit, explaining why the shine has come off since last year.
Next up was Cam Norrie, now British no. 2, because Jack Draper, his doubles partner here, had a great tournament last week, playing against Milos Raonic, back from injury, having only played eight matches this year, many of which were last week. Of course, grass may well be his favourite surface, and his immense serve was on display, meaning that Norrie, not where he was two years ago, had to make the most of any chance. Raonic served a record amount of aces, which made it an oddly soothing match to watch for me, but a nightmare for Norrie. (A few balls struck some linespeople too.)
The first set ended on a long tiebreak, where Norrie did take his chance. But he immediately dropped his serve at the start of the second set. Both men were nervous at the end of the third set, Raonic having had waaay less match play, lacking Norrie’s athleticism, but Norrie had admitted himself that he hadn’t been great at the big points lately. And so it proved. Raonic has an excellent forehand, and had enough on other shots to be no. 3 in the world and a Wimbledon finalist once. He won, while, as in Nottingham, Norrie departed early.
Day 2, and I watched the de Minaur vs. Musetti match. De Minaur, last year’s runner-up, was the no. 2 seed as he’s now world no. 7 and had just won a grass-court tournament. He traded breaks with Musetti and then seemed to gain confidence and know what he had to do. He won the first set 6-1, and I realised Musetti hadn’t even won a game on his serve. Whither the man who’d recently pushed Djokovic to five sets in Paris?
De Minaur missed a sitter early at the start of the second set and not only did Musetti keep his serve, he broke de Minaur and started playing better. He’s got a stylish backhand, and as he got more first serves in it was more like the match that I was expecting, with de Minaur making too many errors and ultimately losing in a shock result.
Next up, Alcaraz, and he looked like the defending champion and no. 1 seed. He was playing Cerundulo, who’d also pushed Djokovic to five sets in Paris, but didn’t get much of anywhere until late in the first set, so at least he lost it 6-1 and didn’t get bagelled. But Alcaraz wasn’t quite as dominant at the start of the second set, Cerundulo broke early and could use his forehand a bit more. Alcaraz broke back when his opponent was serving for the match, and although the next game was close, and Cerundulo had three set points, Alcaraz fought back hard, and after a corrected line point gave him the score in the next game, there wasn’t anything Cerundulo could do. Alcaraz continues to exude box office appeal.
I had Andy Murray’s match on in the background – apparently Dan Evans had to retire after falling. It was Murray’s thousandth tour level match, and he won in three.
Second round
Qualifier Rinky Hijikata and Matteo Arnaldi opened proceedings on day three, and although some points were entertaining, no player seemed to want it. (That’s not fair, I’m sure they did and that got in the way of their play.) Hijikata played the better first set tiebreak, while Arnaldi, who had the greater firepower, was inconsistent, but his opponent had several match points but couldn’t take them until he did. So, there was an understandably loud roar when he got through.
Next up Dimitrov, no. 3 seed as he’s back in the top 10, against Seb ‘Hairband’ Korda, and as the first set went on, Korda was the better player, and won it with ease. But his quality dropped off and Dimitrov had enough nous to take advantage and the second set. The third set was cagey, and neither of them played well at the same time until they both got in some decent service games, but Korda achieved the better play. A weird match. Another seed out, but although Dimitrov is a former champion, Korda was a semi-finalist last year. Still, he needs more consistency.
I was just paying attention to Murray at the end of the warm-up when Claire Balding and John Lloyd started making ‘uh-oh’ noises. Seasoned Murray watchers were all, ‘Well, it could be nothing,’ except when play started and he wasn’t pushing off, indeed, was barely moving, it was clearly not nothing. Thompson wasn’t quite as focused as he should have been, but when he was, he was using the drop shot to expose Murray’s weakness. The trainer came on and it seemed obvious it was the back. Two more games where Murray really couldn’t move later and he was retiring. Ouch.
A lot of pressure on Raonic vs Taylor Fritz to entertain, and it was always going to be a match of easy service wins and pouncing on the errors. Fritz is in and out of the top 10, Raonic has barely played over the last four years, but his serve was frustrating Fritz, until he just started smiling. Tidy first set, messy tiebreak (Sam Smith was commentating with Annabel Croft and they make for a good team), which Fritz won. When his service games were under pressure, he responded well. When Raonic’s game was under pressure, the lack of match play told. Still, it’s good to see him healthy and nobody will want to play him at Wimbledon. Fritz, who has done well at other grass-court tournaments, was through to the third round/quarter final here for the first time, and given so few seeds are surviving (I mean de Minaur and Dimitrov have grass-court pedigree, so it is a bit of a shock) he should be quite pleased with himself.
The eye-catching round 2 match of day 4 (and the only one I watched all the way through) was Carlos Alcaraz vs. Jack Draper. We all know about the first, the second has been a name to watch for a while, injured last year, winning a grass-court tournament last week, and on a high. From the off, Draper played more like a top 10 player than world no. 31. Alcaraz was having much more trouble on his serve, and Draper’s serve improved by the end of the first set. It was noted that he was the first lefty Alcaraz had faced on grass (and I was racking my brain to think who is the top lefty these days.) So, it went to a tiebreak, and two points on his own serve meant Alcaraz was down and Draper winning the first.
To his credit, he kept focused and the second set remained on serve, with Alcaraz frustrated (he’s an excellent returner and he wasn’t getting much of anywhere. There were about five serves that he should have done better with, but that’s it) Draper a little inspired, and then Draper broke Alcaraz’s serve, and slapped down any attempts to break back. Alcaraz made him serve it out, but from 0-30 down, Draper did. Wild cheering, the Queen’s crowd having decided to support the local lad over last year’s darling.
I’m not going to go quite as overboard as Castle, Lloyd and Balding did, reading significance into Murray’s demise the one day, Draper’s arrival the next. It’s a bit more complicated than that. Granted, winning against the world no. 2, just off his French Open win at a tournament where he’s defending champion? That sends a warning that players are going to have to deal with his serve on this surface, his intensity and attack, and an improving backhand.
Quarter-finals
The only seeds standing were Americans, (three Americans, two Brits and Australians and one Italian would be playing. It should be noted that half of them were aged 22 or 23.) Thanks to the wonders of iPlayer, I watched all the matches. On reflection, that was too much, but I've had to do without tennis for most of this year, so I was over-compensating.
On paper, Fritz should have won his match, but he never settled. After a lengthy first service game, Thompson did, and perhaps his play was a part of why Fritz never did. While Fritz fell, the Australian served better and won in two sets to everyone’s surprise.
The next match was my chance to see Billy Hughes (of the Isle of Man?) properly and see his story. He took a little longer to settle and the stylish Musetti took advantage, but after that, it was quite even. Hughes had more weight of shot, Musetti probably wasn’t playing at his best, but Hughes wasn’t always able to produce the winning shot after building a point. Most of the match was competitive, despite the vast gulf in experience between the 22 year old and the 29 year old, but Musetti managed to break and perhaps served his best, turning a difficult year around. (Leon ‘Davis Cup’ Smith joined Andrew Cotter in the commentary box and was very affirming of his fellow Scot, a generalist sports commentator. Smith was overall a good, informed addition to the coverage.)
The clash of the heavyweights, it was agreed was Tommy Paul vs. Jack Draper. The first was the only seed still left, and Draper had just had the result of his life. Draper had three wins to Paul’s one.
Paul was sharp throughout, while it became clear that Draper wasn’t, not being able to retrieve a break in the first set. Paul was athletic, but Draper kept a better hold of his serve, as he changed his serving position more than any other player I can recall. Although the crowd were muted, a horror game from Paul at the end of the second set meant that Draper had got it back to one set all, and they had something to cheer. But in the third set, it began to look as if his seven match wins in a week and a half, where he’d won his first ATP final, were catching up with Draper. Paul broke and held and looks mighty impressive (well, not his forecourt game, but it looks as though he might not need it. I’d later find out he’d played a left-hander in the pervious round, which must have helped a little too.)
Korda ought to beat Hijikata on paper, but it was a scrappy first set, with Hijikata’s movement and retrieval putting pressure on Korda, although when he got it together he could win points with aplomb. The scrappiness continued through the tiebreak, which Hijikata rather surprisingly won. Korda was out of sorts and his forehand was terrible, but he kept his serve and took a chance. By the third set, he’d realised that serve and volley/coming forward was his way of winning points against a much shorter opponent who will ascend from just within the top 100 to the 60s after this run. Korda reminded us he’d just won against the higher ranked Paul in the interview, but he’ll need to sort out his forehand to try to repeat that, it looks like. Guaranteed American finalist, anyway.
Semi-finals
I thought Thompson had been the more consistent player, but Musetti was more used to playing at a high level. The Musetti who turned up had far more intensity than in the previous round and took advantage while Thompson took a little time to settle. The turning point came when Thompson was facing break point to go down a double break, and played well enough to stop that from happening. Musetti won the first set, but his opponent was playing better and he managed to get a double break in the second set. He also acquired a niggle in his back, although it didn’t seem to hamper his play, but Musetti sniffed a chance and started playing better. Thompson won the set, but Musetti was hitting lines and that (and a few calls) got under Thompson’s skin.
The third set was easily the best quality one, as both players were now playing well, matching each other, pressing in the early games, then winning their service games easily, until Musetti maybe raised his game just a little and broke. He served strongly. Many of his points had been stylish, above all his backhand, while Thompson had shown his grass-court nous. Claire Balding (!) may have made a good point about Musetti’s concentration being the issue; he certainly lost intensity in the second set. Anyway, he was delighted to win.
Next the Americans, with Korda leading the higher ranked player in their head to head and having beaten him last week. John Lloyd gave him the edge, but I thought Paul had played much better the day before, and he started better. It looked as though Korda’s relatively late night meant that he wasn’t with it. Paul got an early break, but it was clawed back. Korda got treated for a swelling in the eye, then he slipped and did something to his ankle, Paul took advantage and won the first set. Korda was out of sorts, and Paul was serving for the match, started badly (as he had for most of his games), Korda ‘got inspired’ and broke. He seemed far more engaged than he ever had, and things were tight, although Paul had a scoreboard advantage. It went to a tiebreak, where a couple of points aside, Korda was terrible. Paul took the second match point with an ace.
Not the finalists anyone expected, but these are the players who have won all their matches to get useful points and a boost just before Wimbledon.
Final
In the brief build-up, John Lloyd talked up that we were going to see a beautiful match of tennis. Well, it certainly involved two of the best looking men (but not the best looking umpire). More seriously, the BBC’s coverage highlighted how good Paul’s return has been, and because of it, Smith made him favourite. I sort of did too because he’d been playing at a higher level more consistently than Musetti and was more used to being top 20, indeed top 15. But Paul came out and played even better tennis than he had all week. Musetti maybe looked the more nervous, but Paul didn’t let him settle. The commentators noted that he was playing first strike tennis, and he got an early break, and although Musetti got a game, Paul mostly thrashed him in the first set, winning it 6-1. That and the fact that if he did win a point, Musetti had had to play a flashier shot to do so, meant that the crowd were on the Italian’s side.
Serving first, he started the second set better, but then played a loose game that Paul took gratefully. At 5-4, the American was serving for it (the first 500 tournament of his career) and got visibly nervous with several wobbly tosses, a couple of double faults, and Musetti stepped up with some winners to make it 5-5. So, it went to a tiebreak, and Musetti got the early minibreak, but an ill-judged and poorly executed dropshot after a lengthy rally brought it back to serve, and it was soon match point versus set point, all saved, until Musetti’s shot went out and Paul had a match point on his serve. To his credit, he won with a service winner. Deservedly so. He was so clearly the superior player for most of the match, shutting Musetti out, playing with the attacking mentality he’s learned works for him on grass and then some. He’s no Alcaraz (Sinner won in Halle), his goal for the year seems to be getting into the top 10, but he is the Queen’s champion and learning that grass could be his best surface.
