Arthur Fils has broken new ground at Wimbledon but he did so in unfortunate circumstances. 

The 20-year-old Frenchman is through to the third round of a Grand Slam for the first time in his career after his opponent Hubert Hurkacz was forced to call it quits. Fils was leading the match 7-6, 6-4, 2-6, 6-6, when his Polish opponent took a tumble on the ground and suffered what appeared to be a knee injury. As a result, Hurkacz had to retire from the match which is something he hasn’t done since the 2021 Italian Open. 

“It was the first time I had this situation, so I didn’t really know how to handle it,” Fils commented during his press conference.
“I think that I did pretty good. I didn’t know if I had to do one kick serve and just make him play.
“Hallelujah, I passed the first serve. I mean, I played two great points because it wasn’t that easy. Then he stopped. Of course, it’s a sad end, but I’m happy about how I deal with those two points.”

When Hurkacz suffered his fall, he went over the net to check on his peer and help him get back up. 

“I saw a friend. He was in pain and he couldn’t move. I didn’t care about the score. I was just hoping that the guy is well and he can still walk and everything.” Fils commented. 

Fils, who beat Switzerland’s Dominic Stricker in his opening match, is the youngest Frenchman to reach the last 32 at Wimbledon since Richard Gasquet and Gael Monfils in 2005. His breakthrough comes during what has been an encouraging season where he reached the semi-finals in Auckland the quarter-finals at four other events. Last year he recorded wins over top 10 players Casper Ruud and Stefanos Tsitsipas. 

Whilst he is heading in the right direction, Fils admits there is plenty of room for improvement in his game. Especiallywhen it comes to the grass.

“It’s only my second year on grass. Okay, I’m playing better than last year, but I still have so much to improve.” He said. 
“Sometimes my movement, I don’t know how to move on it (the grass). I don’t know if I’m too powerful but I’m always slipping.”

Fils will play Roman Safiullin in the next round. 

Andrey Rublev says he hit his leg repeatedly with his racket because if it did so on the ground it would have gotten him a fine at Wimbledon.

The Russian world No.6 crashed out in the first round on Tuesday after losing 6-4, 5-7, 6-2, 7-6, to Francisco Comesana. It is the first time he has lost his opening match at a major event since the 2021 French Open and is now set to slip down the rankings after his latest defeat.

However, the most concerning thing for Rublev might be what happened during his match. Out of anger, he repeatedly smashed his racket against his leg which eventually drew blood. Something the fiery Russian has done before and he has earned a reputation for his outbursts on court. One of which got him defaulted from the Dubai Tennis Championships earlier this year. 

“It is the main problem I need to improve,” Rublev said of his behaviour.
“Of course, I didn’t behave as in Paris, but I could still do much better. This is not the way.”
“The main priority is to be positive during all of the match.”

Admitting he was ‘a bit lucky’ to not cause any harm to himself, Rublev explained that he felt compelled to do what he did in order to let his emotions out.

“I would not do it if I was able to hit the racquet on the floor. Because we’re not allowed to hit the grass. I don’t know why at that moment, I couldn’t take it any more. I needed to let my emotions out.” He said.

Asked if he watched videos of himself getting frustrated on the court, Rublev said he doesn’t before adding it takes “process and time” to improve. 

Last summer a study by Anglia Ruskin University found that some people have a natural advantage when it comes to endurance training based on their genetics. 

In an eight-week study on 45 participants in the UK aged between 20 and 40, they found 18 single nucleotide polymorphisms which were directly associated with endurance improvements. SNPs explain how a genetic sequence or a single gene can vary from person to person or population to population. Their findings follow up on a separate study which claims up to 44% of a person’s endurance response is down to genetics.

Given these findings, Ubitennis was keen to know what one of the world’s best tennis players who has a sporting family think about this topic. Sebastian Korda is currently ranked 21st in the world and has one ATP title to his name. He is the son of former Australian Open champion Petr Korda and former WTA top 30 player Regina Rajchrtova. Meanwhile, his sisters, Jessica and Nelly, are pro golfers on LPGA Tour.

“I don’t think it really has anything to do with it,” Korda said at Wimbledon on Tuesday.
“My parents did all they could do to allow us to have the opportunity to play professional sports and we’re all very grateful for that.
“It definitely helps when you have athletes in your family, they can help you in certain situations.
“But at the end of the day, you gotta work hard and you gotta wank to improve every day. Those are the keys for any athlete in the world.”

Korda’s Wimbledon journey came to an abrupt end in the first round where he suffered a shock 7-6(5), 6-7(4), 7-6(6), 6-7(4), 6-3, loss to big-serving Frenchman Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard who hit an incredible 51 aces during the five-set thriller. It is a bitter pill for the American to swallow after he impressed on the grass in the warm-up events. Reaching the final in ‘s-Hertogenbosch and then the semi-finals in Queen’s.

“I wasn’t surprised,” Korda replied when asked about his opponent’s high level of tennis.
“I thought it wasn’t going to be as good as that, but I knew he was an unbelievable server. I’ve watched some videos of him. I watched him when he won his title in Lyon at the French a little bit. 
“I’m sure he’s only going to get better for the years to come and I wish him all the best.”

As for the near future, a disappointed Korda was unsure when asked if he might now take a brief break from the sport. 

“I don’t know what I’m gonna do right now. It’s too, too soon to know what’s going on.” He concluded. 

It is the first time the 23-year-old has lost in the first round at Wimbledon since 2019.