COLUMN BY DEBORAH CURTIS-SETCHELL
It’s unsurprising that the chair of the All England Club, Deborah Jevans, chose Thursday to announce that they were raising the stakes by increasing the prize money at The Championships to a record £50 million (around R1.2 billion), which will benefit all players participating, not only the winners.
Apparently, the demand for Wimbledon tickets has never been higher, which is an indication that The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club (AELTC) is one of the most successful private clubs in the world.
However, this was also intended to deflect bad news delivered the same day, that two of the biggest names in the sport had just withdrawn from the pending tournament.
First, former No 1 Novak Djokovic, post his torn meniscus procured in his marathon win against Francisco Cerundolo at Roland Garros, announced on crutches from the top of of the Eiffel Tower that he had just undergone successful knee surgery, which would prevent him from fighting for the 2024 Wimbledon title.
He did not rule out the possibility that he might be able to tackle the Paris Olympics, that elusive gold medal being his ultimate goal.
Shortly thereafter, his nemesis, Rafael Nadal, dropped the bomb that he too was giving the grass major a miss.
“It was announced yesterday that I will play the summer Olympics, my last Olympics. With this goal, we believe that the best for my body is not to change surface, and to keep playing on clay until then.”
This clears the way for the newly crowned World No 1 Jannik Sinner and World No 2 and defending champion Carlos Alcaraz in their respective quests for the Wimbledon crown.
And one of the few standing in their way, Roland Garros finalist Alexander Zverev, has withdrawn from the Stuttgart Masters, which marks the start of the grass-court season, citing fatigue.
That said, there are other Next-Gen contenders making their mark in Stuttgart.
Britain’s 22-year-old Jack Draper, on debut, defeated France’s Marcos Giron 6-4 3-6 6-3 to reach his third quarter-final on grass.
What a dig from @jackdraper0 🔥#BOSSOPEN pic.twitter.com/QkeFAEgPIO
His previous ones were attained on home soil at Queens Club in 2021 and Eastbourne in 2022.
Italian Lorenzo Musetti, who pushed Djokovic to a five-setter in the GOAT’s opening match at Roland Garros, also reached his third last eight on grass, holding off local Dominik Koepfer in another riveting 6-7(9) 7-6(5) 6-3 showdown.
The Italian failed to convert five match points, and then rallied from 5-3 in the second set to stay alive – shades of Paris and his tussle with the then-World No 1 Djokovic.
The defending champion in Stuttgart is American Frances Tiafoe, who had a successful stint with former South African No 1 Wayne Ferreira as his coach, before they split at the end of 2023.
However, interestingly, Ferreira has hitched his wagon to none other than hot-to-trot Draper, while Tiafoe has hooked up with Argentinian coach Diego Moyano – who, in turn, has also worked with former South African No 1 Kevin Anderson.
Back in the UK on the green grass of home, former US Open champion Emma Raducanu is finally causing a stir for the right reasons.
new season 🌱 fresh start pic.twitter.com/9B4zKUjtZT
— Emma Raducanu (@EmmaRaducanu) June 7, 2024
Rather than crashing out in early rounds of tournaments since her major win in New York in 2021, she has won back-to-back matches and is through to the quarter-finals in Nottingham, surging from No 209 to No 183 in the rankings.
Another win would catapult her to No 164, although the opponents she has beaten at this event – namely qualifier Ena Shibahara and Ukrainian Daria Snigur – can hardly be classified as household names.
This is nevertheless encouraging for British fans, who with Andy Murray playing his overdue swansong at Wimbledon this year, are desperately seeking a rising star at which to redirect their adulation.
Perhaps the rise in prize money will re-incentivise Raducanu.