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Jack Draper will make his long-awaited return from injury at the Lexus Eastbourne Open this week, with several Brits in action on the grass for the final set of preparations ahead of Wimbledon.
The 24-year-old has not played a competitive match since early April – in Barcelona – but feels ready to be back out there after fighting a number of injuries and is faced with a difficult start on the south coast, taking on Brandon Nakashima in the first round.
Taking to the court for the first time in nearly 10 weeks, he will have the former number one and three-time Grand Slam singles champion, Andy Murray, in his corner at Eastbourne, having been brought on Draper’s team last month.
Fellow Brit Jack Pinnington Jones will take on Argentina’s Camilo Ugo Carabelli, while Jacob Fearnley will face Thiago Agustin Tirante.
Following his dream run at Queen’s, reaching the quarter-final of an ATP 500 event for the first time in his career, he begins his Eastbourne campaign against Roman Burruchaga of Argentina.
Jan Choinski and Giles Hussey have also booked their spot in the main draw at Eastbourne after coming through qualifying. Choinski will face Australian Alexei Popyrin while Giles Hussey will take on Roland Garros semi-finalist Matteo Arnaldi.
On the women’s side, Francesa Jones, who has been given a wildcard for the main draw, has been tasked with a first round clash against the third seed and former champion Jelena Ostapenko.
Hannah Klugman, who earned her first WTA win last week in Nottingham, will face Czech Republic’s Tereza Valentova while Harriet Dart has a qualifier in the first round.
Alicia Dudeney has enjoyed a fine start to the year, winning back-to-back titles at W15 level in March and, in May, she achieved her first W35 title at Nottingham before following up with another W35 title at Estepona.
Having received a wildcard for the singles and doubles main draw at Wimbledon, the 23-year-old will make her debut at her home tournament against Jessica Bouzas Maneiro.
In the doubles draw, on both the men’s and women’s sides, there are a number of Brits in action at Eastbourne, including number one seed Julian Cash and Lloyd Glasspool as they take on Argentine pair Camilo Ugo Carabelli and Juan Manuel Cerundolo.
Men’s singles – first round at Eastbourne
Jack Pinnington Jones vs Camilo Ugo Carabelli
Brandon Nakashima vs Jack Draper
Jan Choinski vs Alexei Popyrin
Thiago Agustin Tirante vs Jacob Fearnley
Roman Andres Burruchaga vs Arthur Fery
Matteo Arnaldi vs Giles Hussey
Women’s singles – first round
Jelena Ostapenko vs Francesca Jones
Hannah Klugman vs Terez Valentova
Alicia Dudeney vs Jessica Bouzas Maneiro
Zeynep Sonmez vs Harriet Dart
Men’s & Women’s doubles – first round
Luke Johnson & Jan Zielinski vs Ben Jones & Joshua Parris
David Stevenson & Marcus Willis vs Orlando Luz & Rafael Matos
Miyu Kato vs Kamilla Rakhimova vs Emily Appleton & Alicia Dudeney
Asia Muhammad & Fanny Stollar vs Freya Christie & Eden Silva
Maria Kozyreva & Katarzyna Piter vs Isabelle Haverlag & Maia Lumsden
Julian Cash & Lloyd Glasspool vs Juan Manuel Cerundolo & Camilo Ugo Carabelli
Rajeev Ram & Joe Salisbury vs Terence Atmane & Lucas Sanchez
Sadio Doumbia & Arthur Reymond vs Christian Harrison & Neal Skupski
Wimbledon qualifying begins tomorrow
Qualifying for Wimbledon gets underway on Monday (22 June) at Roehampton – and there are a number of Brits in action to secure a spot in the main draw at their home Grand Slam.
Having not received a wildcard for the main draw in what is set to be his final appearance at Wimbledon, after announcing his retirement following the Championship, Evans will now need to win three matches in the qualifying tournament to secure one of the 16 places available in the singles draw.
He will face Juan Carlos Prado Angelo in the first round.
20-year-old Henry Searle, who has been coached by Dan Evans in recent months, won his first ATP Challenger title at the weekend in Dublin and will head into the qualifiers in strong form, starting against China’s Zhang Zhizhen.
11 other Brits are also in action at Roehampton this week – Anton Matusevich, Billy Harris, Oliver Tarvet, Johannus Monday, Jay Clarke, Oliver Bonding, Liam Broady, Max Basing, Mark Ceban, Oliver Crawford and Paul Jubb.
Women’s singles qualifying draw has yet to be released as of Sunday 21 June.
Men’s qualifying draw – first round
Anton Matusevich v Rei Sakamoto
Jay Clarke vs Andrea Pellegrino
Dan Evans vs Juan Carlo Prado Angelo
Johannus Monday vs Tristan Schoolkate
Max Basing vs Francesco Maestrelli
Oliver Crawford vs Jurij Rodionov
Paul Jubb vs Pierre-Hughes Herbert
Oliver Tarvet vs Alex Bolt
Oliver Bonding vs Federico Coria
Mark Ceban vs Roberto Carballes Baena
Henry Searle vs Zhang Zhizhen
Liam Broady vs August Holmgren
Billy Harris vs Stefano Napolitano
