Grass Tennis Preview: Radwanska, WTA Stars in Eastbourne, Not So Much in ATP Nottingham
- 13 Comments
It’s the final week before Wimbledon, which sees most of the top-ranked players taking a break, and the players scrubbing for money or needing just a little last-minute grasscourt preparation competing for some momentum going into the All England Club.
ADHEREL
Only one tournament each on the ATP and WTA side, here is a look at the fields:
AEGON INTERNATIONAL EASTBOURNE
Eastbourne, Great Britain; Surface: grass
Seeds: Agnieszka Radwanska, Roberta Vinci, Belinda Bencic, Timea Bacsinszky, Petra Kvitova, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Samantha Stosur, Carla Suarez Navarro, Madison Keys, Karolina Pliskova, Johanna Konta, Dominika Cibulkova, Sara Errani, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Irina-Camelia Begu, Lucie Safarova
Floaters: Barbora Strycova, CoCo Vandeweghe, Genie Bouchard, Jelena Ostapenko, Kristina Mladenovic, Alize Cornet, Caroline Wozniacki, Ekaterina Makarova
Notes: Four Top 10 seeds and a former Wimbledon champ round out the stout draw…The 16 seeds all receive opening-round byes…Floaters galore, with tough opening matches for (1) Radwanska vs. the Strycova/Vandeweghe winner (a rematch of the Saturday Birmingham semifinal), (15) Begu vs. Bouchard, (12) Cibulkova vs. the hot-handed Ostapenko, (4) Bacsinszky vs. Mladenovic, (7) Stosur vs. the Wozniacki/Cornet winner, and (2) Vinci vs. Makarova…Wildcards were awarded to Brits Naomi Broady and Tara Moore…Pulling out of the draw were Annika Beck, Monica Niculescu and Sloane Stephens…Bencic beat Radwanska in last year’s final…Former champs in the field are Bencic (2015), Keys (2014), Elena Vesnina (2013), Makarova (2010), Wozniacki (2009), Radwanska (2008), and Kuznetsova (2004).
AEGON OPEN NOTTINGHAM
Nottingham, England; Surface: grass
Seeds: Kevin Anderson, Pablo Cuevas, Joao Sousa, Alexandr Dolgopolov, Sam Querrey, Steve Johnson, Andreas Seppi, Gilles Muller, Marcos Baghdatis, Pablo Carreno Busta, Vasek Pospisil, Paolo Lorenzi, Guido Pella, Fernando Verdasco, Mikhail Kukushkin, Ricardas Berankis
Floaters: Taylor Fritz, Lukas Rosol
Notes: No Top 10ers in the field…All 16 seeds receive opening-round byes, and few openers of interest for seeds besides (12) Lorenzi vs. the former No. 1 junior Fritz who took a set off Roger Federer this grasscourt season, and the upset specialist Rosol who with a win would then face (4) Dolgopolov…The all-Brit wildcard line-up is Liam Broady, Brydan Klein, Alexander Ward, and James Ward…Pulling out of the field were Inigo Cervantes, Federico Delbonis, Marcel Granollers, Illya Marchenko, Paul-Henri Mathieu and Leonardo Mayer…Denis Istomin is the only former champ in the field, last year beating Sam Querrey in the final.
You Might Like:
Dominika Cibulkova Claims 1st Career Grass Title at Eastbourne
Can Maria Sharapova Finally End Losing Streak To Serena Williams? Wimbledon Semifinals Preview
ATP Preview: The Slazenger Open, Nottingham
ATP/WTA Previews: Kvitova, Woz in Eastbourne
Barty Ends Losing Streak to Lift Nottingham Trophy on Grass at WTA Nature Valley Open