TENNIS: Eastbourne R1
Jun. 25th, 2025 09:10 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
feather_ghyllRound 1 of the ATP and WTA 250 event at windy, windy Eastbourne, the week before Wimbledon, on the iPlayer.
I was glad to see that the first match on centre court involved Joao Fonseca, the much touted Brazilian prospect. He was playing Zizou Bergs (of whom I had not heard), who was clearly older and more experienced on grass.
The first set was close, with each player matching each other in long holds and quick holds. The grass was lush and their footing uncertain, and Fonseca was clearly learning about how the surface affected bounces, while the wind affected Bergs’s ball toss. While the latter was, better in the forecourt, the 18 year old had some quality shots that showed why there’s such a buzz about him. So, it went to a tiebreak, which featured a very confusing moment where a ball was called out, Bergs asked for a review, which showed that it was in. It was then confirmed that the ball that had been called out was out, so I presume that they showed the wrong shot on screen. Anyway, Bergs showed mental fortitude over the next few points and won the breaker and set.
However, Fonseca maintained his level, (which is really impressive because he’d lost his last match in two tiebreaks) serving first after that, while Bergs’s level dipped. Fonseca broke, and started gaining in confidence as Bergs lost rhythm. A lot of errors came off his racquet, but the kid was adapting, abbreviating his swing, playing a bit more conservatively and deploying slice. Another break, and then another, and a ridiculous point where Fonseca whiffed an overhead, scuttled back, hit it as a tweener and got it back, and won the point. 6-0, and he’d bagelled his way to one set each.
Matters continued in a similar fashion, and Fonseca was 3-0 up, but Bergs finally won a game, and Fonseca was maybe a bit too casual in his next service game, because Bergs broke him. But Fonseca broke back, thanks to a mixture of his opponent’s errors and his own game, and very impressively consolidated it with a solid service game. He continued serving well, winning his first ATP grass match. His reward is to face the top seed and defending champion Taylor Fritz, who has been having a volatile grass-court season so far, but has way more experience than Fonseca.
I saw that Dan Evans triumphed in three. And then I watched the first set and a bit of top seed and defending champion Daria Kasatskina (no bye for her!?) against Lulu Sun. It was such a seesawing match: Sun raced ahead 4-0, her opponent turned a switch and won five games in a row, Sun won four, which meant she’d won the first set (they’d both had set points.) Admittedly, the wind was creating its usual havoc too.
Kasatskina won the next set easily, according to the score, but Sun won the third set, and thus the match. Kasatskina has not had a great run on grass so far.
I didn’t watch the next match.
Day 2 opened with the now top women’s seed Barbora Kreijikova playing against Harriet Dart. The windy conditions were a huge factor, with neither playing winning their service games until the fifth game. They had to go off the court twice because of the rain, and arguably that affected Dart more due to the timing. Kreijikova won the first set, and was a bit ahead in the second – if her first serve was in, she won the point, while Dart was doing much better on her second serve. Nerves played their part – Kreijikova is still looking for wins as she comes back from injury – and it was Dart who won the second. She had a break in the third, but Kreijikova broke back and had a scoreboard lead. She also knew that at her best, which she wasn’t regularly, although you saw flashes, she was the better player, and I think the mental aspect played its part because Dart crumbled at the end, but Dart could have won that.
I will say that watching repeated aborted ball tosses is not the most fun, but I was on Kreijikova’s side when she protested (after the game) when she was given a warning for time when they were both waiting for gusts to die down.
Next up, Emma Raducanu (seeded here, which says something about the rankings of the players present) against Ann Li, of whom I know nothing. I didn’t follow this all that closely, so I missed Raducanu’s slip, but it seemed nip and tuck, with Li finally winning the first set in the tiebreak. The lead switched back and forth in the second set, but Raducanu was better at taking her chances, and won the second. With that boost, she played with much more pace and intent in the third set, while basically all her opponent could offer was errors. Raducanu was very emotional at the end.
I pressed fastforward a little too far and Billy Harris was already two breaks of serve up in his match against Cameron Norrie. Norrie came back at him, but Harris still managed to win the set. Although his form seemed reliant on getting his first serve in, and although Norrie was playing better and controlling most of the longer rallies, Harris broke, and won his first match against an opponent in the top 100 in the ATP tour for the first time since here last year. Also a higher ranked Brit, who will be disappointed.
But the best performance I’ve seen on centre court here came next, with Jacob Fearnley playing Flavio Cobolli – a seed here and will be one at Wimbledon. They’re about the same age, but Fearnley’s power, control and variety didn’t give Cobolli much of a chance at anything. The latter only won four games in total, and one of those may have come because Fearnley had a nasty slip in the penultimate game. There wasn’t as much talk about the wind, but it was slippery because it was late evening.
I don't know why the men's matches deserve two commentators and the women's only get one. I'm assuming sexism.
I was glad to see that the first match on centre court involved Joao Fonseca, the much touted Brazilian prospect. He was playing Zizou Bergs (of whom I had not heard), who was clearly older and more experienced on grass.
The first set was close, with each player matching each other in long holds and quick holds. The grass was lush and their footing uncertain, and Fonseca was clearly learning about how the surface affected bounces, while the wind affected Bergs’s ball toss. While the latter was, better in the forecourt, the 18 year old had some quality shots that showed why there’s such a buzz about him. So, it went to a tiebreak, which featured a very confusing moment where a ball was called out, Bergs asked for a review, which showed that it was in. It was then confirmed that the ball that had been called out was out, so I presume that they showed the wrong shot on screen. Anyway, Bergs showed mental fortitude over the next few points and won the breaker and set.
However, Fonseca maintained his level, (which is really impressive because he’d lost his last match in two tiebreaks) serving first after that, while Bergs’s level dipped. Fonseca broke, and started gaining in confidence as Bergs lost rhythm. A lot of errors came off his racquet, but the kid was adapting, abbreviating his swing, playing a bit more conservatively and deploying slice. Another break, and then another, and a ridiculous point where Fonseca whiffed an overhead, scuttled back, hit it as a tweener and got it back, and won the point. 6-0, and he’d bagelled his way to one set each.
Matters continued in a similar fashion, and Fonseca was 3-0 up, but Bergs finally won a game, and Fonseca was maybe a bit too casual in his next service game, because Bergs broke him. But Fonseca broke back, thanks to a mixture of his opponent’s errors and his own game, and very impressively consolidated it with a solid service game. He continued serving well, winning his first ATP grass match. His reward is to face the top seed and defending champion Taylor Fritz, who has been having a volatile grass-court season so far, but has way more experience than Fonseca.
I saw that Dan Evans triumphed in three. And then I watched the first set and a bit of top seed and defending champion Daria Kasatskina (no bye for her!?) against Lulu Sun. It was such a seesawing match: Sun raced ahead 4-0, her opponent turned a switch and won five games in a row, Sun won four, which meant she’d won the first set (they’d both had set points.) Admittedly, the wind was creating its usual havoc too.
Kasatskina won the next set easily, according to the score, but Sun won the third set, and thus the match. Kasatskina has not had a great run on grass so far.
I didn’t watch the next match.
Day 2 opened with the now top women’s seed Barbora Kreijikova playing against Harriet Dart. The windy conditions were a huge factor, with neither playing winning their service games until the fifth game. They had to go off the court twice because of the rain, and arguably that affected Dart more due to the timing. Kreijikova won the first set, and was a bit ahead in the second – if her first serve was in, she won the point, while Dart was doing much better on her second serve. Nerves played their part – Kreijikova is still looking for wins as she comes back from injury – and it was Dart who won the second. She had a break in the third, but Kreijikova broke back and had a scoreboard lead. She also knew that at her best, which she wasn’t regularly, although you saw flashes, she was the better player, and I think the mental aspect played its part because Dart crumbled at the end, but Dart could have won that.
I will say that watching repeated aborted ball tosses is not the most fun, but I was on Kreijikova’s side when she protested (after the game) when she was given a warning for time when they were both waiting for gusts to die down.
Next up, Emma Raducanu (seeded here, which says something about the rankings of the players present) against Ann Li, of whom I know nothing. I didn’t follow this all that closely, so I missed Raducanu’s slip, but it seemed nip and tuck, with Li finally winning the first set in the tiebreak. The lead switched back and forth in the second set, but Raducanu was better at taking her chances, and won the second. With that boost, she played with much more pace and intent in the third set, while basically all her opponent could offer was errors. Raducanu was very emotional at the end.
I pressed fastforward a little too far and Billy Harris was already two breaks of serve up in his match against Cameron Norrie. Norrie came back at him, but Harris still managed to win the set. Although his form seemed reliant on getting his first serve in, and although Norrie was playing better and controlling most of the longer rallies, Harris broke, and won his first match against an opponent in the top 100 in the ATP tour for the first time since here last year. Also a higher ranked Brit, who will be disappointed.
But the best performance I’ve seen on centre court here came next, with Jacob Fearnley playing Flavio Cobolli – a seed here and will be one at Wimbledon. They’re about the same age, but Fearnley’s power, control and variety didn’t give Cobolli much of a chance at anything. The latter only won four games in total, and one of those may have come because Fearnley had a nasty slip in the penultimate game. There wasn’t as much talk about the wind, but it was slippery because it was late evening.
I don't know why the men's matches deserve two commentators and the women's only get one. I'm assuming sexism.
