The 2023 grass court season is well and truly underway and our contributor Alex Mann writes it. Katie Boulter wins her first title and more…
Katie Boulter Wins Here First Title
With only 2 weeks to go until the start of Wimbledon, the clock is ticking for the ATP and WTA players to swap their clay court shoes for grass ones in preparation for the third major of the year. Let’s look at who’s making early marks on the grass.
Brit, Katie Boulter also made strides, winning her first WTA title on the grass in Nottingham, defeating fellow Brit Jodie Burrage, 6-3, 6-3.
With the victory at her home tournament, Boulter catapults herself to career-high singles ranking of 77.
She is no stranger to causing upsets on the grass, having two wins over former world number 1 Karolina Pliskova at Eastbourne and Wimbledon last year.
Boulter will be unseeded come Wimbledon, but her grass-court tennis is way above her ranking, so it could cause some upsets.
Andy Murray’s back-to-back titles
Two-time Wimbledon champion, Andy Murray has had a stellar start to this year’s grass court season, winning back-to-back challenger titles in Surbiton and Nottingham.
Although the Brit lost in the first round of Queen’s to Alex de Minaur, a title he has won a record five times, the early grass court form shows he will be a threat to any top player at SW19.
Frances Tiafoe Wins the Boss Open
The American, Frances Tiafoe couldn’t have asked for a better start to the grass court season, winning the title in Stuttgart.
By defeating some quality opponents, such as Lorenzo Musetti, Marton Fucsovics and the home favorite, Jan-Lennard Struff in the final, Tiafoe’s victory means he climbs to a career-high of number 10 in the ATP singles rankings.
With the win, Tiafoe becomes one of the few active ATP players to have won titles on clay, hard, and grass.
Who wins Queens 2023?
The second week of grass court tennis is already underway, with many top players entered into the ATP 500 Queen’s Club Championships and Halle Open and the WTA 500 German Open and WTA 250 Birmingham Classic.
ATP World number 2, Carlos Alcaraz avoided a narrow defeat to Arthur Rinderknech in his Queen’s debut. The Spaniard came through a tough three-set match, winning 4-6, 7-5, 7-6 (3). His lack of grass-court experience was evident, but if Alcaraz gets a few matches this week, it will put him in good stead for Wimbledon.
Alcaraz is the top seed at Queen’s, while Holger Rune is the second seed. Find out more about Carlos Alcaraz racquet.
Players to look out for this week at Queen’s are Frances Tiafoe, Taylor Fritz and Cameron Norrie, who all have grass-court pedigree.
A tough field in Halle
There is a stacked lineup in Halle, Germany with Daniil Medvedev, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Andrey Rublev, Jannik Sinner, Alexander Zverev, and defending champion Hubert Hurkacz all taking part.
Venus Williams shows that age is but a number in Birmingham
In Birmingham, top seed Barbora Krejcikova will look to improve in her surprising first-round loss at the French Open, but former Wimbledon semi-finalist and second seed Jelena Ostapenko will be hot on her heels.
5-time Wimbledon singles champion Venus Williams has made an impactful return to the tennis tour, defeating Camila Giorgi in a three-hour marathon match in Birmingham. It was only her second singles victory in two years.
The German Open, WTA Berlin
If you want a sneak preview of what to expect from the best WTA grass court players at Wimbledon, tune into the German Open.
Arguably the best two grass-court players are reigning Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina and 2021 Wimbledon semi-finalist and reigning Australian Open champion, Aryna Sabalenka. Both players are entered into the German Open, so will look to continue their rivalry and put down an early marker to see who’s the player to beat at Wimbledon.
