The Aegon Championships gets under way at the Queen’s Club on Monday. Wimbledon.com takes a look at the storylines to follow…
When Lleyton Hewitt called an impromptu press conference at this year’s Australian Open, the world’s media flocked into the room beneath Rod Laver Arena with whispers of a potential retirement filling the air.
“I’ve thought long and hard,” said Hewitt, who had taken a few days to mull over his options after an agonising five-set loss to Benjamin Becker in the second round. “I plan to play the Aussie Open next year and most likely finish then.”
Twelve more months of Lleyton Hewitt, how lucky were we?
When the 34-year-old announced his intentions to play on for another year he had three things on his mind: Davis Cup, grass-court tennis and a 20th appearance in Melbourne next January. Those three points of focus may explain what has come since, with his only three tournament outings in Miami, Houston and ‘s-Hertogenbosch resulting in three opening round losses.
But now back in West London at the Aegon Championships, an event he has won four times, Hewitt’s ranking of world No.117 seems somewhat insignificant. As history shows, the Australian has the ability to transform his game on the grass of Britain and as he embarks on his 16th and final appearance at Queen’s he, as always, has a fighting chance.
A fifth title would see him become the most successful player in tournament history. Anyone for a fairytale finish?
He opens against the big-hitting Kevin Anderson on Monday.
Who’s playing?
There are a host of big names lining out at Queen’s. Three-time champion Andy Murray headlines the strong 32-man field, which features five of the world’s Top 10 players. Joining Murray at the recently re-categorised ATP 500 event are fellow top 10 players Stan Wawrinka, Milos Raonic, Marin Cilic and Rafael Nadal, while last year’s champion Grigor Dimitrov and runner-up Feliciano Lopez also feature.
Murray aiming for fourth Queen’s crown
A winner here in 2009, 2011 and 2013, Murray will be hoping to add a fourth Aegon Championships title to his collection this year.
The Scot comes into the tournament off the back of his best ever season on clay, winning his first titles on the surface in Munich and Madrid before reaching the semi-final at Roland Garros. His 15-match unbeaten run was halted in Paris by Novak Djokovic, the man who has handed him four of his six losses this season.
"I feel like the past few months consistently I've been playing well at the big events and hopefully that will stand me in good stead,” Murray told ATPWorldTour.com ahead of the tournament.
The Scot also spoke about Jonas Bjorkman, the recent addition to his coaching staff, ahead of his grass-court bow:
“The things that he did extremely well as a player are things I think I could really learn and benefit from with him. He was a very aggressive returner and I think that works extremely well on the grass courts.
“He was very good up at the net. He was the No. 1 doubles player in the world. If you can get yourself up to the net and play aggressive tennis, it can make a big difference on this surface. There are things I'm hoping I can work on and improve upon within my team and see how it goes.”
Murray gets his campaign up and running against qualifier Yen-Hsun Lu on Tuesday.
Two to watch
Rafael Nadal is used to arriving in London with a trophy in tow. This year, however, it takes on a different form. On Sunday, the world No.10 captured his 66th career title on the grass of Stuttgart with a straight sets win over Viktor Troicki in the final. It was his first tournament win on the surface since Wimbledon 2010 and a timely confidence booster for the Spaniard who relinquished his Roland Garros title earlier this month.
The man wearing that crown now is Stan Wawrinka, who captured his second career Grand Slam title and a first in Paris when his stunning run was capped off with a remarkable victory over Novak Djokovic in the final. The world No.4, a semi-finalist here last year, will be hoping to bring his big game together in a similar manner on the turf. If he does, a maiden grass court title may not be too far away either.
Nadal opens against the tricky Alexandr Dolgopolov while Wawrinka takes on the talented 20-year-old Nick Kyrgios.
Dimitrov handed tough draw
If Dimitrov is to successfully defend a title for the first time in his career, he will need to come through a tough draw to do so. The Bulgarian opens against Sam Querrey with a potential second round clash with either Gilles Muller or Mikhail Youzhny. If he negotiates the early rounds, a possible quarter-final meeting with Murray looms while former champion Cilic and last year’s beaten finalist Lopez also sit in his half of the draw.
Dimitrov was at the peak of his powers in West London last year. A fourth title was followed by a maiden Grand Slam semi-final appearance at Wimbledon. Since then, however, the 24-year-old hasn’t had things all his own way and a first round loss to Jack Sock at Roland Garros brought the curtain down on a lean opening half to the season. But with grass underfoot and the memories of that magnificent title run last year, Dimitrov will be one to watch.
Raonic returns from injury
Raonic returns to competitive action for the first time since Madrid after undergoing minor surgery on a trapped nerve in his foot, which forced him out of Rome and Roland Garros. He goes up against wild card James Ward in the first round on Monday.
Teenagers to watch
Two up and coming players to watch out for are 19-year-old Thanasi Kokkinakis and 18-year-old Jared Donaldson. Kokkinakis has impressed this season, climbing to a career-high No.69 last week after a third round appearance at Roland Garros. The Australian, who opens against Jeremy Chardy, is one of four teenagers ranked inside the top 100.
Donaldson came through qualifying for the first time at an ATP World Tour event on Sunday, setting up a first round clash with compatriot John Isner. The American’s only previous appearance at this level came earlier this year as a wild card in Memphis where he reached the second round with a win over fellow rising star Stefan Kozlov.