EARLY EXITS FOR NADAL AND MURRAY IN THEIR WIMBLEDON WARMUPS BY RICKY DIMON

Written by: Staff on 12th June 2014

EARLY EXITS FOR NADAL AND MURRAY IN THEIR WIMBLEDON WARMUPS BY RICKY DIMON

epa04251956 Rafael Nadal of Spain in action against Dustin Brown of Germany during their second round match at the ATP tournament in Halle (Westphalia), Germany, 12 June 2014. EPA/CHRISTIAN WEISCHE |

I can’t imagine anyone who is not enthused for next season when there are three weeks in between the French Open and Wimbledon instead of the current two. I’m certainly looking forward to it.

As it stands now, the transition is just too quick. Only four grass-court tournaments are held in the lead-up to the year’s third Grand Slam and the two most prestigious of those four–the Aegon Championships at the Queen’s Club in London and the Gerry Weber Open in Halle–begin the day after Roland Garros. That does not leave much wiggle room for the top players, who generally advance deep in Paris–thus diminishing their time to prepare on grass.

Rafael Nadal, for example, lifted the Coupe des Mousquetaires for the ninth time last weekend and could be found the very next day practicing on the grass courts of Germany. Four days after his triumph, the world No. 1 lost his tournament opener 6-4, 6-1 to Dustin Brown on Thursday. Tournament organizers watched their top seed stick around for exactly 59 minutes and 45 seconds. Hey, that’s the nature of the beast when you’re event is sandwiched in between two majors.

Dustin Brown.

“I lost today because my rival was playing better than me,” Nadal explained. “And at the same time, as I said yesterday the transition from clay to grass is difficult, especially when you arrive a little bit tired and not at 100 percent. But I tried my best.”

The Spaniard added that his exit after just one match does not bode well for his Wimbledon chances.

“To play well on grass the most important thing is to play matches,” he noted. “You need to play with confidence…. You need to adjust. The only way to adjust is by playing matches and winning matches.”

Nadal will have no more matches before Wimbledon, and neither will Andy Murray. The fifth-ranked Scot lost in the Queen’s Club third round 7-6(10), 6-2 to Radek Stepanek on Thursday. That means he will have had only two matches on grass when he begins his title defense at the All-England Club later this month.

Andy Murray.

“I’m going to take a couple of days off now, because since the Monday before the French Open I have played every single day bar one up to now,” Murray said. “So I will take a couple of days off. Then on Sunday I’ll be back here for the charity match (Rally For Bally). Then I will start practicing Sunday evening and start getting ready.”

What we’re all ready for is a new grass-court schedule. It still won’t be ideal in 2015, but at least it will be better.

Topics: AEGON Championships, Andy Murray, Gerry Weber Open, Rafael Nadal, Ricky Dimon, Tennis, Tennis News, Wimbledon

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10sBalls_com says:

June 12, 2014 at 11:22 pm

EARLY EXITS FOR NADAL AND MURRAY IN THEIR WIMBLEDON WARMUPS BY RICKY DIMON @RD_Tennistalk- http://t.co/FNicLVSkih @RafaelNadal @andy_murray
RD_Tennistalk says:

June 13, 2014 at 4:29 am

RT @10sBalls_com: EARLY EXITS FOR NADAL AND MURRAY IN THEIR WIMBLEDON WARMUPS BY RICKY DIMON @RD_Tennistalk- http://t.co/FNicLVSkih @Rafae…