One week after the Roland Garros finals, we’ve already reached the peak of the Wimbledon tune-up season.
Tennis doesn’t give its original surface, grass, much room to breathe. One week after the Roland Garros finals, we’ve already reached the peak of the Wimbledon tune-up season.
On the women’s side, that means Birmingham and Berlin; the latter features Aryna Sabalenka, Coco Gauff, and Naomi Osaka. On the men’s side, it means Halle and Queen’s Club. Once upon a time, Roger Federer would win Halle, Andy Roddick would win Queen’s, and the two would meet in the later rounds at Wimbledon. Might we see the same progression this year from Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner?
Before we get too far ahead of ourselves, here’s a look at this week’s four grass tournaments. Enjoy the lawns while you can.
Terra Wortman Open (ATP)
- Halle, Germany
- $2,584,407
- ATP 500
- Draw is here
You may know this tournament as the Gerry Weber Open, but the title sponsor is now German computer manufacturer Terra Wortman. Name aside, the money and the points are still good in Halle, and so is the draw. The 32-player field includes six of the ATP’s Top 11.
That list begins with newly-minted No. 1 Jannik Sinner. The Italian may not have the best memory of this event; he was forced to retire with an adductor strain in the quarterfinals last year. But that was the 2023 version of Sinner; this version is a very different animal so far. He’s reached a Wimbledon semifinal, won an Australian Open, and nearly made the Roland Garros final last week. But he won’t have an easy start against the steady, and steadily improving, Tallon Griekspoor.
There isn’t much of a drop-off in stature after Sinner. The second seed is Alexander Zverev, a two-time Halle finalist who will look to win his first title on home grass. After that come 2022 finalist Daniil Medvedev, 2023 finalist Andrey Rublev, 2022 champion Hubert Hurkacz, Stefanos Tsitsipas, and 2023 champion Alexander Bublik.
Unseeded and beginning to loom: Matteo Berrettini. With another strong result in Stuttgart this week, the Italian has again come off the sidelines and wasted no time putting himself in the Wimbledon conversation.
First-round matches to watch: Sinner vs. Griekspoor, Hurkacz vs. Flavio Cobolli, Arthur Fils vs. Tomas Machac
Cinch Championships (ATP)
- London
- $2,584,407
- ATP 500
- Draw is here
Halle has the No. 1, Sinner, so it’s only fair that Queen’s has the No. 2: Alcaraz. The Spaniard won his first career grass-court title here last year, and followed it up with his second at Wimbledon—not a bad opening, or second, act. This year Alcaraz, is coming in with the wind at his back, having just won his first Roland Garros.
He’ll have to hope that his momentum carries over to a new surface, because he’ll face a few challenges at Queen’s. First from Francisco Cerundolo; second, possibly, from Stuttgart champion and home favorite Jack Draper; and third from Tommy Paul, who upset Alcaraz on hard courts in Canada last summer.
In 2023, Alcaraz beat Alex de Minaur in the final, and a rematch certainly seems possible. The Australian is seeded second, and just won a grass-court title in Holland. He’ll start against Lorenzo Musetti.
Also in the draw: Holger Rune, Andy Murray, Taylor Fritz, Ben Shelton, Sebastian Korda, Grigor Dimitrov
First-round matches to watch: Rune vs. Jordan Thompson, Milos Raonic vs. Cameron Norrie
Ecotrans Ladies Open (WTA)
- Berlin
- $859,835
- WTA 500
- Draw is here
Did this tournament feel like a bigger deal back when it was called the German Open, it was played on clay, it led into Roland Garros, and Steffi Graf was fending off stiff challenges from Monica Seles, Gabriela Sabatini and Arantxa Sanchez Vicario in successive finals? Probably. But sports needs sponsors, and this event has a new one in ecotrans, a German firm that “specializes in transport and logistics.”
Until a couple of days ago, it also had WTA No. 1 Iga Swiatek, but she pulled out to get some more rest before Wimbledon. That won’t torpedo this tournament, though, because it still includes Top 10 players Coco Gauff, Aryna Sabalenka, Elena Rybakina, Jessica Pegula, Marketa Vondrousova, Zheng Qinwen, Maria Sakkari and Ons Jabeur.
Wild cards of note: Naomi Osaka, Angelique Kerber
