Grass Court Danger: Spotlight on Arthur Son

Arthur Son

• Age: 20 years old
• Classement ATP : 34e
• Best result at Wimbledon: 1st round
• Result at Wimbledon 2023: 1st round

His season so far: Rather disappointing. But isn’t the year following the explosion always so? In 2023, Arthur Fils rose from 251st to 36th place in the world, winning his first title in Lyon, before reaching the final in Antwerp. After changing his structure in the off-season, moving from Laurent Raymond to the Sébastien Grosjean-Sergi Bruguera duo to train him, he recently separated from the Spaniard to only work with the Frenchman. Since January, Son has been searching for himself a little…

Why he is dangerous: Because the move to grass seems to have breathed a new dynamic into his tennis. More aggressive and enterprising, particularly on the forehand side, he gave an interesting reply to Ugo Humbert in Rosmalen before confirming it in Halle where he seriously upset Alexander Zverev in the quarter-final. If he still lacks consistency on his first ball, he is playing his best tennis of the year at the moment. After discovering Wimbledon last year, he can do some damage there.

Son’s flair: he anticipates Zverev’s smash and deceives the German

Jordan Thompson

• Age: 30 years old
• ATP ranking: 39th
• Best result at Wimbledon: 3rd round in 2021
• Result at Wimbledon 2023: 2nd round

His season so far: The best of his career, quite simply. Aside from a spring on clay (which he hardly likes like many Australians) to forget, Jordan Thompson has reached a milestone late in his career. In Brisbane, he was the executioner of Rafael Nadal, before falling with honors against the future champion Grigor Dimitrov in the semi-final. And above all, he won the first title of his career in Los Cabos, achieving two Top 10 finishes in a row in the semi and final (Alexander Zverev then Casper Ruud).

Why he’s dangerous: Because Jordan Thompson’s clean, no-nonsense tennis thrives on grass. His career at Queen’s shows it: Holger Rune and Taylor Fritz, also rather comfortable on the surface, fell under his blows, before Lorenzo Musetti stopped him with difficulty in the half. Last year in the 2nd round at Wimbledon, he did well against Novak Djokovic. The mustachioed-turned-bearded man is a player to be taken seriously.

What show ! Musetti winner of a beautiful duel with Thompson

Jan-Lennard Struff

• Age: 34 years old
• ATP ranking: 41st
• Best result at Wimbledon: 3rd round in 2018 and 2019
• Result at Wimbledon 2023: None

His season so far: The clay woke him up. Before the spring, Jan-Lennard Struff had not reached a quarter-final on the circuit in 2024. But once on ocher, a surface which quite surprisingly suits his rather offensive game and his climbs to the net, he found a very interesting level with a title in Munich and a round of 16 in Madrid where he was close to beating Carlos Alcaraz. At Roland Garros, Alex de Minaur stopped him in the 3rd round.

Why he is dangerous: Because his serve and his volleyball skills are formidable weapons on grass. He also reached the final in Stuttgart last year where he withdrew before his quarter this year due to illness. But he made up for it in Halle where he unceremoniously took out Stefanos Tsitsipas before taking Jannik Sinner to the decisive tie-break. For his last participation at Wimbledon, he pushed Carlos Alcaraz to five sets in 2022. This is not trivial.

Sinner had to battle against Struff

Christopher Eubanks

• Age: 28 years old
• ATP ranking: 42nd
• Best result at Wimbledon: Quarter-final in 2023
• Result at Wimbledon 2023: Quarter-final

His season so far: Bad, to put it bluntly. If Christopher Eubanks is still in the world Top 50, he owes it above all to his achievements last year when he reached the quarter-finals in the Masters 1000 in Miami and in the Grand Slam at Wimbledon. Out of 13 tournaments played in 2024, he lost 9 times in the first round, a record to which we must add two entry defeats in Challengers.

Why it is dangerous: Because no surface highlights your tennis as well as grass. In Halle, Eubanks brought down the defending champion Alexander Bublik and regained some of the panache-filled tennis that had carried him into 2023 in Mallorca then at the All England Club where he took out Tsitsipas then pushed Medvedev to five sets in the quarter. In addition to a powerful serve and forehand, the variety of his one-handed backhand, as dangerous when he drops it flat as it is poisonous in a slice, wreaks havoc on grass. It will be difficult for him to make as strong an impression as last year, but it will nonetheless remain a delicate problem to resolve.

Christopher Eubanks faces Stefanos Tsitsipas at Wimbledon

Credit: Getty Images

Matthew Berrettini

• Age: 28 years old
• ATP ranking: 60th
• Best result at Wimbledon: Final in 2021
• Result at Wimbledon 2023: Round of 16

His season so far: Frustrating. In line with a 2023 season spoiled by injuries, Matteo Berrettini has played very little since January. He has only competed in five tournaments on the ATP circuit and one Challenger in Phoenix. But the Italian showed on these rare occasions that he still had the tennis to hurt. In Arizona, he reached the final on hard court. And moving on to clay, he found a way to win a title in Marrakech, before… getting injured again and giving up in particular at Roland-Garros.

Why he is dangerous: Because on grass, he instantly finds a very high level with his serve, his forehand and his backhand slice. After not playing for two months, Berrettini reached the final in Stuttgart, notably inflicting a scathing 6-4, 6-0 on his compatriot Lorenzo Musetti, who was a brilliant finalist the following week at Queen’s. It was at Wimbledon that he reached his only Grand Slam final in 2021. And last year, he woke up there even though he was at the bottom of the hole a few weeks before. No one will want to face him at the All England Club, that’s a certainty.

Draper overcomes Berrettini to open his prize list

2024-06-24 22:36:00
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