Grass Roots

The obvious theory would be that Andy Murray should always play two matches on the same day. Last month he took home the first clay title of his career, at a rain-drenched event in Munich, after winning two matches on Saturday. The following week in Madrid he had to do it again, after a match of his didn't begin until close to 1:00 in the morning. And on Sunday at Queen’s Club, Murray was on double duty yet again: In the morning he finished off Viktor Troicki, before coming back out to beat Kevin Anderson for the championship. Judging by the 6-3, 6-4 scores in the final, it was nothing more than a routine wind sprint in the park for the world No. 3.

Just don’t tell him that. When Murray was asked if winning the first match helped him warm up for the second, he shook his head.

“No, I don’t think so,” he said. “I mean, maybe when I was 21 or something...now it’s not as easy as it used to be, unfortunately.”

OK, perhaps Wimbledon’s schedulers shouldn’t try to make him play twice in a day.

The other obvious, and less impeachable, theory behind Murray’s win at Queen’s is that he really likes this tournament. It’s in his adopted hometown, he had won it three times before, he’s close friends with the director, Ross Hutchins, and everyone is there to root him on. What’s not to like?

The last time Murray won at Queen’s, in 2013, he went on to win at Wimbledon three weeks later. Yesterday, he was reminded of that fact. Murray responded by reminding us how little that fact means.

"That means nothing, really,” Murray said, as he shot down media theory No. 2 of the day. “... I think it has only happened six times where someone has won Queen’s and gone on to win [Wimbledon].”

Murray is right, of course; as we just saw at the French Open, Grand Slams take on a life of their own, and the results of the lead-up events can be quickly made to feel like ancient, irrelevant history. Plus, he didn’t beat anyone in the Top 15 at Queen’s.

But the week and the tournament have pushed him in the right direction. He said he found his grass-court form in his comeback win over Gilles Muller in the quarterfinals, and he played better from there. Just as important, Queen’s didn’t allow one of Murray's major Wimbledon competitors, Stan Wawrinka, to find his form on grass. Much to the relief of the rest of the ATP, the French Open champion looked human again in his early loss to Kevin Anderson.

“It’s a great start to my preparation on the grass,” Murray said. “It gives me that little bit of confidence going in [to Wimbledon].”

The theory that does hold up from Queen’s is that Murray is having a quietly excellent season. He's 41-6 on the year, has won three titles, and has reached the semis or better in seven of the 10 events he has entered. He’s 10-0 with new co-coach Jonas Bjorkmann, and he says the work he’s done with his other co-coach, Amelie Mauresmo, on using his variety more effectively is paying dividends. Now he just needs some help. Four of Murray’s losses in 2015 have come to Novak Djokovic; is there anyone out there who can knock the world No. 1 off for him?

It’s hard for a British tennis fan to ask for much more from Murray this year. But that’s exactly what’s about to happen.

Roger Federer knows all about pushing himself in the right direction before Wimbledon. In 2003, at age 21, he lost in the first round of the French Open; a week later he turned his form around at a grass-court event in a little out-of-the-way town in Germany. The next month, he won the first of five straight Wimbledon titles.

Twelve years later, Federer has a street named after him in that little out-of-the-way town, Halle. Even better, he won his eighth title there on Sunday with a 7-6 (1), 6-4 victory over Andreas Seppi. Only two other players have won a tournament at least eight times: Rafael Nadal at Roland Garros, Monte Carlo, and Barcelona; and Guillermo Vilas in Buenos Aires. More important to Federer, most likely, is the fact that on four occasions, he followed up a win in Halle with one at Wimbledon.

Like Murray, Federer didn’t face any top-line competition this past week; No. 27 Ivo Karlovic was his highest-ranked opponent. He also could have been out of the event on its opening day, when he narrowly escaped defeat to Philipp Kohlschreiber in a third-set tiebreaker. But it was his play in that tiebreaker, and subsequent ones in Halle, that made his week a worthy pre-Wimbledon workout. Federer wouldn’t have seven titles there if he hadn’t raised his game in those set-closing pressure cookers over the years.

“I think that I did very well here in the tiebreaks,” Federer said. “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 was 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.”

It made sense that Federer would be happy with his play in the opening tiebreaker against Seppi; it was the Italian who handed Federer his most surprising defeat of the year by winning two of them from him at the Australian Open. This time, Federer’s old coach, Paul Annacone, now a commentator for the Tennis Channel in the U.S., gave Federer a C for his play in the first set, but an A for his play in the breaker.

Federer, like Murray, shook off any grass-court rust as the tournament progressed.

“This week has been great if I look at the whole thing,” Federer said. “I don’t think I got broken anymore the last four matches I played. The first match was extremely close, but I won all the tiebreaks this week, which gives obviously big confidence knowing that in the crucial moments my game was right there.”

Clutch serving, getting in the first strike, coming through in tiebreakers, keeping matches as short as possible: Those will be key to Federer’s attempt to match his Halle haul with an eighth Wimbledon title. But the point that kicked Federer into gear against Seppi, the one that brought his game from a C to an A, was a defensive gem that won him a big point late in the first set. Three times, Seppi hit what appeared to be a winner; three times Federer tracked the ball down, scraped it off the grass, and forced Seppi to do it again.

We don’t typically think of defensive shots as requiring confidence, but there was a look in Federer’s eyes when he made those gets that said, “I know that you’ll eventually miss if I give you a chance." He was right: Seppi, after playing a brilliant point, finally hooked a forehand into the net. He had fired all of his bullets. After that, the world No. 2 didn't look back.

Twelve years later, Federer is still turning things around in Halle.

Last week's men's tune-ups each helped one player throw his hat into the Wimbledon ring. On the WTA side, the tournament in Birmingham helped two players serve notice of their grass-court potential: Champion Angelique Kerber reminded us that she’s a former semifinalist at the All England Club, while the woman she beat in the final, Karolina Pliskova, let us know that she has a lot of things going for her on turf. You can start with her barrage—there’s no other word for it—of 52 winners in the final.

Yet after many ups and downs, advances and retreats, Kerber survived that barrage and won, 6-7 (5), 6-3, 7-6 (4). She won despite squandering service-break leads in the first and last sets. She won, in the end, by making just 14 unforced errors over more than two hours of desperate, scrambling play.

“Karolina is a great player,” Kerber said of Pliskova. “She served unbelievably well in the important moments, and she was hitting the balls so close to the lines. I had no chance in the big moments in the first set.”

In Birmingham, it felt as if Pliskova, after biding her time on clay, was set free again on grass. She’s of the go-big-or-go-home school, and her flat, well-timed strokes and fluid serve—she leads the tour in total aces in 2015, with 262—will make her a threat against anyone on the surface. Including herself, unfortunately: Pliskova’s 52 winners came with 42 unforced errors. Still, it was an up week for the young Czech, who moved to a career-high No. 11 in the rankings. Her 6-2, 6-2 win over No. 9 Carla Suarez Navarro in the quarters was a clear sign that a new season, and a new surface, is upon us.

“I did everything I could, so I’m not really disappointed,” Pliskova said after her loss to Kerber. “We all saw what she can do on grass—I felt like she was just everywhere.”

Kerber can give you that impression. Since the start of the clay season in Charleston, she’s 22-4, with three titles. But her whirling defense may be even more effective on grass, which gives her flat shots an extra charge. While she didn’t beat anyone in the Top 10 in Birmingham, she did record wins over Pliskova, Jelena Jankovic, and another perennial Wimbledon contender, Sabine Lisicki.

Is Kerber herself a Wimbledon contender? Judging from her performance there last year, when she beat Maria Sharapova before losing to Eugenie Bouchard, she may fit the role of spoiler better. But as we saw in the French Open men’s draw two weeks ago, it doesn't take much to turn a spoiler into a champion.