ATP / WTA Grass tournaments 2018 (DenBosch/Stuttgart, Queens/Halle, Antalya, Newport)

[PKBasu]

Yuki saved a couple of BPs and held after about 7 deuces to make it 1-1. But he was then broken and is now serving at 1-4 in the first set.

[PKBasu]

But Yuki is broken again at 30. 1-5 first set.

[PKBasu]

From 0-15, Raonic serves four aces to win the first set 6-1.

[PKBasu]

Yuki saves a BP but is broken after one deuce. 1-6, 0-1
Raonic holds at love, with 3 aces! 0-2
Yuki holds at love. 1-2

[ankit1407]

Retires at 1-3 in second set....Hopefully nothing serious and can still be fit enough for Wimby...

[sameerph]

So, except for Yuki's qualifying wins, this is turning out be bad week for our top 3. Both Yuki and Prajnesh retiring injured and RamK losing in first round.

Hope they recover from this at Wimbledon.

[jayakris]

Physical issues continue to trouble Yuki.

[PKBasu]

These three have spoilt us, haven't they? We aren't used to our week ending so soon in singles on the grass courts. Of course, we still have Saketh playing both singles and doubles in Fergana, but the heart of the tennis world is on the grass courts of northwestern Europe, not the hard courts of Central Asia.

Yuki has nearly two weeks to get ready for Wimbledon (and could yet choose to play at Antalya next week if his body recuperates). RamK and Prajnesh will need to be ready a week from now for the qualifiers at Roehampton. Sumit, bizarrely, will arrive at Roehampton without having started his grass season at all!

[vparam]

So Yuki retires with a bad right knee and Raonic immediately gives a walkover citing a bad right shoulder. I know we are all frustrated with the numerous injuries Yuki has had, but can you imagine how he must feel? The guy’s body can never hold up for an extended period of time. Poor guy!

[PKBasu]

Ironically, Raonic too withdrew (from the next round) citing an injury he sustained on the penultimate serve of his match against Yuki. That’s what comes from too many aces! Had Yuki held on for a game or two, he might have won!

[arjun2761]

Good news is Yuki will likely not injure himself while serving. In his 3.5 sets of ATP main draw action on grass he has served exactly 1 ace while being aced 23 times. Meanwhile, his set score in the main draw against ATP level opponents is 6-4, 6-1, 6-1, 3-1. There is probably a good reason why he had hardly played on grass in his career...

[PKBasu]

There is little doubt that Yuki is more comfortable on hard courts than any other surface. But he needn't be allergic to grass -- as he appears to be to clay. That he didn't play much on grass as a junior was a terrible mistake.
But the reality is that his second best win of 2018 -- against Taylor Fritz (USA, 67) -- has come on grass. So he can play on the surface, although clearly not quite as well as on hard courts.

[jaydeep]

Rohan-Edouard lost in the match tie-break against WR #1 pair ... A fighting performance after losing the first set.

At €1.98M Queen's Open 2018, London, Great Britain

[QF] Rohan Bopanna (IND)/ Edouard Roger-Vasselin (FRA) l (1) Oliver Marach (AUT)/ Mate Pavic (CRO) 46 76(6) 7-10

[sameerph]

Yuki is now 2 out from next week's Antalya ATP main draw. Few hours left to see if he makes the main draw. If not, he will be one of the top 2 seeds in qualies. Hope Yuki is fit enough to play here.

[PKBasu]

I presume he will only play there if he makes the main draw. No point travelling all the way there to play qualifiers, I would think, especially since he wasn't fully fit earlier this week.