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Kyrgios struggling for full fitness

An injury cloud continues to hover above Nick Kyrgios as the Australian No.1 and 20th seed prepares to kick off his Wimbledon campaign on Monday.

London, UK, 2 July 2017 | Matt Trollope

“It’s not great.”

That was how Nick Kyrgios assessed the hip ailment that has plagued him the past several weeks on tour.

The first signs of it appeared in Madrid, when he took a medical timeout for treatment in that area during a first-round win over Marcos Baghdatis.

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Kyrgios set for Wimbledon

London, UK, 1 July 2017 | AAP

Nick Kyrgios has wrapped up his Wimbledon preparations with another exhibition win at The Boodles in Buckinghamshire.

Kyrgios backed up his straight-sets defeat of Philipp Kohlschrieber with a 6-7 6-2 [10-5] win over Viktor Troicki on Friday.

“Another win so another little bit of a confidence booster going into Wimbledon,” the Australian No.1 said.

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Rodionova qualifies for first Wimbledon

After coming within one match of qualifying in 2011, Arina Rodionova will make her main draw debut at Wimbledon after a stellar week at Roehampton.

London, UK, 1 July 2017 | Matt Trollope

When Arina Rodionova clinched match point against Tamara Korpatsch on Friday at Roehampton, she turned to her team and said one word: “Wow.”

The Australian’s 6-3 6-3 win over the 11th seeded German send her through to her first ever Wimbledon main draw, after coming one win away from qualifying back in 2011.

Rodionova said she’d been so focused during the match that it was almost unreal when she served out victory for the loss of just one point in the final game.

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Wimbledon draw: Kyrgios in tricky quarter

Nick Kyrgios faces the prospect of another fourth-round meeting with top-ranked Andy Murray while Ash Barty has drawn No.4 seed Elina Svitolina in round one at Wimbledon.

London, UK, 30 June 2017 | AAP

Nick Kyrgios may need to pull off tennis’s version of Mission: Impossible to win Wimbledon after being presented with an extraordinary draw at the All England Club.

Kyrgios will open his campaign against Pierre-Hugues Herbert and could potentially face a trio of Frenchman in the first week of the tournament, which starts on Monday.

Then the real trouble awaits.

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After stunning comeback, Whittington qualifies for Wimbledon

Down two sets to love and two match points, Andrew Whittington has produced his biggest comeback of the week at Roehampton to qualify for Wimbledon.

London, UK, 30 June 2017 | Matt Trollope

In the first round of Wimbledon qualifying, Andrew Whittington stared down a 1-4 third-set deficit against Stephane Robert before coming back to win.

In the second round, he dropped the first set to Tim Smyczek before coming through in a tense three-setter.

Yet in the final round of the qualifying event on Thursday, his run looked sure to come to an end when he trailed by two sets to love and faced two match points against Denis Kudla.

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Tomic wins, then loses in Eastbourne

Eastbourne, UK, 30 June 2017 | Reuters/tennis.com.au

Battling Bernard Tomic enjoyed the best win of his stuttering 2017 season, beating Mischa Zverev on Thursday to advance to the quarterfinals at Eastbourne.

Then, later that same day, he lost in straight sets to Gael Monfils to exit the tournament.

Tomic, who has dropped to No.60 in the world after a poor first half of the year, downed sixth-seeded Zverev 6-3 6-2, but couldn’t back that win up against Monfils, falling to the Frenchman 7-6(4) 6-0.

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Aussie results daily update, 29 June 2017

Melbourne VIC, Australia, 29 June 2017 | tennis.com.au

Men

Grand Slam – Wimbledon

Wimbledon 2017 Men’s Singles Qualifying – London, Great Britain (Grass)
R64[19] Alexander Bublik (KAZ)dBlake Mott (NSW)7-5 6-4
R64Tatsuma Ito (JPN)dAlex De Minaur (NSW)6-2 6-4
R64John-Patrick Smith (Qld)dMackenzie McDonald (USA)6-4 7-6(5) 6-3
R64Andrew Whittington (Vic)dTim Smyczek (USA)6-7(4) 6-4 6-4

 Futures

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Smith, Whittington on cusp of main draw

John-Patrick Smith, who qualified for Wimbledon in 2015, is one win away from repeating the feat after subduing Mackenzie McDonald in three sets on Wednesday.

London, UK, 29 June 2017 | Matt Trollope

John-Patrick Smith stands one match away from the main draw at Wimbledon after a hard-fought win over American Mackenzie McDonald.

So does Andrew Whittington. who for the second match in a row came from behind to score victory – this time over Tim Smyczek.

Smith held firm in a tense final game to beat the 22-year-old McDonald 6-4 6-7(5) 6-3, sealing the one-hour, 54-minute match with an ace.

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Qualifying: great start for Aussie women

Destanee Aiava, Arina Rodionova and Lizette Cabrera were all winners on Wednesday at Roehampton to take one step closer to the Wimbledon main draw.

London, UK, 29 June 2017 | Matt Trollope

Destanee Aiava cruised past Freya Christie and into the second round of Wimbledon qualifying.

There she was joined by Arina Rodionova, who wrested control of the second set against Nina Stojanovic to advance in straight sets.

Later on Wednesday, Lizette Cabrera made it a perfect three-from-three for Australia with an impressive win over Czech Tereza Smitkova.

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Wimbledon: Kyrgios, Gavrilova seeded 20th

Nick Kyrgios and Daria Gavrilova head the Aussie charge at Wimbledon in 2017, with the youngsters both seeded 20th for this year's Championships.

London, UK, 28 June 2017 | AAP

Nick Kyrgios will have to do it the hard way if he’s to progress to the second week of Wimbledon after missing an all-important top 16 seeding for the grasscourt Grand Slam starting on Monday.

Australia’s top title hope has been seeded 20th in line with his world ranking, meaning he’ll be slightly more vulnerable at Friday’s draw in London.

A quarterfinalist on debut in 2014, Kyrgios has fallen in the fourth round the past two years.

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Kokkinakis shines at The Boodles

London, UK, 28 June 2017 | AAP

Thanasi Kokkinakis has continued to improve as he warms up for Wimbledon at The Boodles exhibition event.

Just one week after he upset 2016 Wimbledon finalist Milos Raonic at Queen’s Club, the 21-year-old Australian produced a dominant 6-4 6-2 win over world No.16 Gilles Simon.

“I felt really good,” Kokkinakis said.

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Biggest movers: Barty surges toward top 50

Aussie youngsters Ash Barty, Thanasi Kokkinakis, Olivia Tjandramulia and Alex Bolt all enjoyed significant improvements in the latest release of the WTA and ATP rankings.

Melbourne VIC, Australia, 27 June 2017 | tennis.com.au

Ash Barty’s run to last week’s Aegon Classic final in Birmingham has sent the young Aussie rocketing up the rankings toward the top 50.

Barty vaulted 23 spots to a career-high ranking of No.54, an incredible rise given she ended last season outside the world’s top 300.

Barty is even higher in the WTA Race to Singapore, sitting in 25th position.

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Eastbourne: Tomic wins, Gavrilova falls

Eastbourne, UK, 27 June 2017 | tennis.com.au/AAP

Bernard Tomic is into the second round of the Eastbourne ATP event after beating Norbert Gombos 7-6(3) 6-3 on Monday.

Tomic, the world No.60, needed little more than an hour to get the better of qualifier and world No.90 Gombos, who could only convert one of three break point opportunities.

For Tomic it is a timely win ahead of Wimbledon next week and the third successive tournament the 24-year-old has registered a first-round victory.

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De Minaur, Whittington in come-from-behind wins

Alex De Minaur and Andrew Whittington struggled early but finished strongly in impressive Wimbledon qualifying victories on Monday at Roehampton. Blake Mott and JP Smith also won.

London, UK, 27 June 2017 | Matt Trollope

Alex De Minaur has continued his impressive transition to the professional ranks with a come-from-behind victory against Jurgen Melzer in Wimbledon qualifying.

De Minaur – at 18 just half the age of the 36-year-old Austrian – recovered to beat his ailing opponent 2-6 6-3 6-3 on Monday at Roehampton.

On the adjacent court, another Aussie, Andrew Whittington, stormed from 1-4 down in the third set to beat French veteran Stephane Robert 3-6 7-5 6-4.

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Gavrilova, Tomic in Eastbourne, Wimbledon quallies begins

Daria Gavrilova and Bernard Tomic head to Eastbourne this week as Matt Ebden features at the new event in Antalya. Meanwhile, nine Aussies will contest Wimbledon qualifying.

London, UK, 26 June 2017 | tennis.com.au

Daria Gavrilova faces a third-round meeting with top seed Angelique Kerber at the Aegon International Eastbourne, the final women’s grasscourt tune-up event before Wimbledon.

Gavrilova, seeded 16th, received a first-round bye and in the last 32 will take on Spaniard Lara Arruabarrena.

Should she win that, she faces a projected third-round meeting with Kerber, who must get past the winner of the match between Kristyna Pliskova and Naomi Broady.

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Aussie results daily update, 26 June 2017

Melbourne VIC, Australia, 26 June 2017 | tennis.com.au

Women

WTA

Aegon Classic Birmingham – Birmingham, Great Britain (Grass)
QFLucie Safarova (CZE)d[9] Daria Gavrilova (Vic)6-7(4) 6-3 7-6(5)
QFAshleigh Barty (Qld)d[Q] Camila Giorgi (ITA)5-2 Ret.
SFAshleigh Barty (Qld)d[6] Garbiñe Muguruza (ESP)3-6 6-4 6-3
F[7] [WC] Petra Kvitova (CZE)dAshleigh Barty (Qld)4-6 6-3 6-2

 ITF

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Barty falls to Kvitova in Birmingham final

Ash Barty put up a great fight but ultimately could not stop Petra Kvitova winning her first title since returning to tennis after a knife attack.

Birmingham, UK, 26 June 2017 | Matt Trollope

Ash Barty’s brilliant week in Birmingham came to an end on Sunday with a three-set loss to Petra Kvitova in a high-quality final.

Barty, who was playing in her first grasscourt final and first WTA Premier-level decider, fell 4-6 6-3 6-2 to the Czech.

It was a heart-warming result, with this being just Kvitova’s second tournament back after she was the victim of a knife attack that damaged her playing hand in December 2016.

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Barty stuns Muguruza to reach final

Ash Barty has scored the biggest win over her career over Garbine Muguruza to reach the first grasscourt final of her career at the Aegon Classic in Birmingham.

Birmingham, UK, 25 June 2017 | Matt Trollope

What a season Ash Barty is having.

The talented Australian, just 21 years of age, weathered an early storm from Garbine Muguruza to beat the Spaniard 3-6 6-4 6-3, advancing to the WTA Birmingham final.

It’s her second final of the season – but first on grass, and first at WTA Premier level – and there she’ll meet Czech Petra Kvitova, who earlier on Saturday got past injured compatriot Lucie Safarova.

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Barty into first grasscourt semifinal

Birmingham, UK, 24 June 2017 | Matt Trollope

Ash Barty will line up against Garbine Muguruza in the semifinals of the Aegon Classic in Birmingham after opponent Camila Giorgi retired from their match on Friday.

Barty was controlling the match with a 5-2 lead when the Italian called for the trainer and then abruptly called it quits without attempting to play on.

The result sends Barty through to a last-four clash with the Spaniard, who also advanced via retirement when CoCo Vandeweghe withdrew from their quarterfinal early in the third set.

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Gavrilova falls in thriller to Safarova

In a high-quality match spanning more than three hours, Lucie Safarova got the better of Daria Gavrilova to advance to the semifinals in Birmingham.

Birmingham, UK, 24 June 2017 | Matt Trollope

Lucie Safarova saved three match points to beat Daria Gavrilova in a Birmingham epic on Friday, advancing to the semifinals of the Aegon Classic.

Safarova, a former world No.5 and 2014 Wimbledon semifinalist, outlasted the Australian 6-7(4) 6-3 7-6(5) in three hours and three minutes.

Incredible battle. Actually can't believe how many times I've played Lucie since being on tour only for like 2.5 years£ https://t.co/NU224AcV4x

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