RICKY DIMON REPORTS: GET READY FOR WIMBLEDON: ROGER FEDERER & ANDY MURRAY HEAT UP THE GRASS COURTS WITH TITLES IN THE “WARM UPS”

Written by: Staff on 21st June 2015

RICKY DIMON REPORTS: GET READY FOR WIMBLEDON: ROGER FEDERER & ANDY MURRAY HEAT UP THE GRASS COURTS WITH TITLES IN THE "WARM UPS"

Andy Murray of Britain lifts the trophy after winning against Kevin Anderson of South Africa during the final match of the Aegon tennis championships at the Queens Club in London, Britain, 21 June 2015. EPA/FACUNDO ARRIZABALAGA |

Going into the French Open, there was Novak Djokovic and then there was everyone else. Although he may not have ended up winning it, Djokovic entered Roland Garros as a clear and overwhelming favorite. That will not be the case at Wimbledon.

Right behind Djokovic in the world rankings are Roger Federer and Andy Murray, and both men captured grass-court titles on Sunday. Federer triumphed over Andreas Seppi at the Gerry Weber Open and Murray got the best of Kevin Anderson at the AEGON Championships.

Federer lifted the Halle winner’s trophy for the eighth time in his career after defeating Seppi in one hour and 48 minutes. Seppi, who upset the Swiss at the Australian Open, had four break points–including two set points–in the opening set but could not convert. The lone service break of the day came in the final game with the Italian serving at 4-5, when Federer clinched victory with an overhead at the baseline.

Swiss tennis player Roger Federer celebrates winning against Andreas Seppi from Italy during their final match at the ATP tournament in Halle, Germany 21 June 2015. EPA/MAJA HITIJ

“I think that I did very well here in the tiebreaks,” Federer reflected. “I served well which you have to on the grass. I was able to mix it up, so I created a good pattern going into the tiebreak. My opponent wouldn’t quite know where it’s going to go and if he knew where it was going to go it was going to be tough for him to defend. I think I did a really nice job this week on these situations.”

Aside from Halle, perhaps no tournament has been a better situation for the 17-time major champion than Wimbledon. Federer has won it seven times and has positioned himself well to triumph again for the first time since 2012.

Murray, who prevailed at the All-England Club in 2013, had to work double duty on Sunday. The third-ranked Scot started by playing his rain-delayed semifinal, in which he dismissed Viktor Troicki 6-3, 7-6(4). Murray then came back out and made quick 6-3, 6-4 work of Anderson to secure the title. The top seed faced zero break points over the course of one hour and four minutes.

“I served extremely well,” said Murray, who has now won at Queen’s Club four times. “I wasn’t expecting to have loads of opportunities with the way [Anderson] had been serving this week and the way the courts were playing…. I felt like once I got into the rallies I was doing really well, but it was obviously tough to do that some of the times. He served an extremely high percentage of first serves and was serving big. But it was a good performance.”

“He’s a terrific player and has had such great success on all surfaces,” Anderson said of his conqueror. “It’s just tough playing him here.”

It will be tough playing either Murray or Federer at Wimbledon; that much was known long before this latest week of success. But with respective titles at Queen’s Club and in Halle, additional messages have been sent to Djokovic and the rest of the serious contenders.

Get ready for a fun fortnight at SW19.

Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand.

Topics: AEGON Championships, Andy Murray, Gerry Weber Open, Halle, Queen's Club, Ricky Dimon, Roger Federer, Tennis News, Wimbledon

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10sBalls_com says:

June 21, 2015 at 7:49 pm

-@Dimonator REPORTS: GET READY FOR #WIMBLEDON: @rogerfederer & @andy_murray HEAT UP THE #GRASS COURTS WITH TITLES… http://t.co/R6mNau5PzK
Dimonator says:

June 21, 2015 at 8:07 pm

RT @10sBalls_com: -@Dimonator REPORTS: GET READY FOR #WIMBLEDON: @rogerfederer & @andy_murray HEAT UP THE #GRASS COURTS WITH TITLES… http…