By Randy Walker
@TennisPublisher
The grass court tennis season is a unique slice on the tennis calendar. Grass tennis is the original surface for this great sport, but in the modern era of the game, the grass court season is only seven weeks long. The cornerstone of the grass court season is, of course, Wimbledon and all of the grass court events are warm-up events that lead to that crescendo (with the exception of the week after The Championships when Newport, R.I. hosts the Hall of Fame Championships on the ATP Tour.)
Wimbledon lasts two weeks – the pinnacle of the grass court season – and since 2015, there has been a three-week grass court season leading into The Championships whereas it used to be only two weeks. For players losing early at the French Open on clay, there are Challenger tournament opportunities during the second week of Roland Garros for players to get an early jump on the grass. Thus, you now have four weeks of tournament opportunities leading into Wimbledon, two weeks of Wimbledon, and then the one week after Wimbledon when Newport is played.
What tournaments do American players play as part of their lead-in to Wimbledon? I did an analysis of men’s and women’s players of challengers and ATP and WTA events leading into Wimbledon and outlined the results below. Since most American players do not excel on the French clay at Roland Garros and are usually eliminated early in the first week or in the qualifying rounds, this gives them an opportunity to go back stateside for a short respite. Part of my analysis is to determine whether there could be a grass court challenger in the United States either the last week of the French Open or perhaps in the two weeks after the French Open leading into the qualifying rounds for Wimbledon, held the week before the start of the tournament. A fledging effort to carve out a pre-Wimbledon grass court tournament in the United States in Pontiac, Michigan at the Wessen Lawn Tennis Club, which features 22 of the best perennial rye grass courts in the United States, located at virtually the same latitude as the All England Club in London. (Read more about it here: http://www.tennis.com/pro-game/2018/06/wimbledon-tune-michigan-one-grass-event-starting-grow/74845/ and watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CzUwqyE59xs&t=36s
WIMBLEDON MEN
John Isner (No. 12)
No Events
Taylor Fritz (No. 31)
S’Hertogenbosch, Halle, Eastbourne
Frances Tiafoe (No. 38)
S’Hertogenbosch, Queens
Reilly Opelka (No. 63)
Eastbourne
Sam Querrey (No. 65)
Eastbourne
Steve Johnson (No. 71)
Stuttgart, Halle, Eastbourne
Bradley Klahn (No. 78)
S’Hertogenbosch, London, Antalya
Tennys Sandgren (No. 94)
Eastbourne
Denis Kudla (No. 111)
Surbiton (Challenger), Stuttgart, Halle, Eastbourne
Bjorn Fratangelo (No. 133)
Ilkley (Challenger)
Tommy Paul (No. 134)
Surbiton (Challenger), S’Hertogenbosch, London
Michael Mmoh (No. 153)
Columbus (HARD COURT Challenger), Little Rock (HARD COURT Challenger)
Marcus Giron (No. 155)
S’Hertogenbosch, Ilkey (Challenger)
Noah Rubin (No. 182)
Little Rock (HARD COURT CHALLENGER)
Mitchell Krueger (No.183)
Little Rock (HARD COURT Challenger), Ilkey (Challenger)
Chris Eubanks (No. 193)
Little Rock (HARD COURT Challnger), Nottingham (Challenger)
Donald Young (No. 197)
Little Rock (HARD COURT Challenger), Columbus (HARD ROCK CHALLENGER)
WIMBLEDON WOMEN
Sloane Stephens (No. 9)
Eastbourne
Serena Williams (No. 10)
No events
Madison Keys (No. 16)
No events
Amanda Anisimova (No. 26)
Mallorca
Sofia Kenin (No. 28)
Mallorca, Eastbourne
Danielle Collins (No. 34)
Eastbourne
Venus Williams (No. 44)
Birmingham
Allison Riske (No. 55)
Surbiton (Challenger), S’Hertogenbosch, Mallorca
Jen Brady (No. 67)
Surbiton (Challenger), Nottingham, Birmingham
Jessica Pegula (No. 72)
Birmingham, Eastbourne
Madison Brengle (No. 85)
Surbiton (Challenger), Manchester (Challenger), Ilkley (Challenger)
Bernarda Pera (No. 90)
Nottingham, Birmingham, Eastbourne
Lauren Davis (No. 95)
Birmingham
Christina McHale (No. 108)
S’Hertogenbosch, Mallorca
Whitney Osuigwe (No. 110)
Manchester (Challenger), Ilkley (Challenger)
Taylor Townsend (No. 123)
None
Vavara Lepchenko (No. 124)
S’Hertogenbosch, Mallorca
Allie Kiick (No. 127)
No events
Sachia Vichery (No. 136)
Surbiton (Challenger), Manchester (Challenger)
Francesca DiLorenzo (No. 159)
No events
Cat McNally (No. 165)
Surbiton (Challenger), Birmingham
Danielle Lao (No. 169)
Surbiton, Nottingham, Birmingham
Ann Li (No. 172)
Surbiton (Challenger), Manchester (Challenger), Ilkley (Challenger)
Robin Anderson (No. 173)
Manchester, Ilkley (Challenger)
Claire Liu (No. 174)
Birmingham
Kristie Ahn (No. 190)
Surbiton (Challenger), Manchester, Ilkley (Challenger)
