Stan Wawrinka, Andy Murray and Milos Raonic had their first taste of competition on Tuesday since appointing their new “super coaches.” Former Wimbledon champion Richard Krajicek was recently introduced to the Swiss’ camp, whilst Ivan Lendl revived his coaching relationship with Murray following the French Open final. Raonic also appointed John McEnroe just prior his French Open exit, and so has now enjoyed a fortnight under the tutelage of the American. So, how did they all fare?
Stan Wawrinka
Last year, Wawrinka was the beneficiary of a lackadaisical Kyrgios performance in the opening round of the historic Queen’s Club tournament. However, this time around, the Swiss faced a far more keyed-in opponent in Fernando Verdasco. With Richard Krajicek and Magnus Norman watching on, the two-time grand slam champion succumbed to the Spaniard 6-2 7-6(3).
Compared to the Roland Garros clay that the Swiss has tasted grand slam success upon, Wawrinka looked less than at home on the prestigious turf of London’s Queen’s Club. The adverse weather the tournament had faced the previous day made for slippery conditions on the grass, and Wawrinka moved with obvious apprehension. Verdasco took full advantage of this, outmaneuvering his opponent with an array of stunning forehand winners that soon had the Queen’s crowd purring. Indeed, the Verdasco forehand proved extremely effective throughout, with Wawrinka’s staple shot – the cross court backhand – simply playing straight into it. A double break soon earned Verdasco a routine 6-2 first set win.
The double Grand Slam champion appeared to be equally tentative in his shot placement, frequently playing far too centrally and allowing Verdasco to dictate the points with his forehand. As Johnson had done to Gasquet the day before, the Spaniard’s use of his cutting slice backhand caused Wawrinka all kinds of problems; Krajicek will have certainly earmarked this as an area to improve on. The two continued to exchange blows until play was suspended at 4-3 Wawrinka, with Verdasco on serve. Rain delays are also something a hardened Wimbledon veteran such as Krajicek will be able to provide Wawrinka valuable advice on.
As the storm clouds lumbered off into the London skyline, both players clung onto their serves to take the match to a tiebreak. It proved to be a straightforward affair: Verdasco immediately opened up a mini break and maintained his momentum in the face of a rapidly self-destructive Wawrinka. The Swiss’ agitation had dissipated, but was replaced by an almost passive acceptance of the match’s course; Verdasco duly obliged, taking the tiebreak 7-3. Such apathy will have certainly been cause for concern for the on looking Krajicek.
However, there are certainly workable technicalities for Wawrinka’s new “super coach” to focus his efforts upon. As well as his inability to deal with the Spaniard’s slice, Wawrinka also struggled with his opponent’s serve. In the ad court, Verdasco was deadly, taking 92% of points on his wide first serve. On the deuce side, he was similarly imperious. Despite the slice down the middle being Verdasco’s more comfortable serve, he was able to expose Wawrinka with the flatter delivery out wide and take 100% of points with such serves.
The Swiss #2’s main vulnerability on grass was also encapsulated by one moment in the latter stages of the second set, when a miscued Verdasco forehand skipped through the court and consequently eluded Wawrinka’s poised racket head. The #2 seed’s typically big backswing was simply unprepared for the ball’s awkward bounce. If Wawrinka is to have real success at Wimbledon this year, shortening that backswing would be as better a place to start as any for Krajicek.
As Wawrinka announced on his Facebook page, Krajicek has been brought in to ‘help during the grass court season.’ Speaking on The Tennis Podcast, Wawrinka seemed utterly confident that the former Wimbledon champion could help him fulfil his potential on grass.
“When you talk with a champion like him who won a grand slam, who has been amazing on the tour for many, many years, I always have a lot of questions,” said the Swiss. If Wawrinka’s results are to improve at Wimbledon, Krajicek better have a lot of answers.
Andy Murray
Reunited with Lendl, Andy Murray also took to Queens’ centre court. He similarly faced a formidable opponent in world #51 Nicolas Mahut, but unlike his top five compatriot Wawrinka, Murray edged through in straight sets 7-6(8) 7-6(1).
In relation to mobility, Murray was the polar opposite to Wawrinka in the opening exchanges. The world #2 moved with complete assuredness – his transition to the grass looked to be a seamless one. But as Murray would later admit in a post-match interview with the BBC, he had actually had little time to recalibrate to the grass at Queens. Poor weather had obstructed any coherent training schedule, and so Murray looked more and more unprepared as his wily French opponent tested his movement with a string of smart volleys midway through the opener.
Mahut soon secured the break to go 3-2, but then failed to capitalize on a 40-0 lead on his own serve. Throughout the clash Murray indeed played the clutch points with great composure, saving set points in both sets. He would in fact take the first set in a grueling 10-8 tiebreak. The calming influence of Lendl is perhaps already palpable. “I think we would have had a lot more conversations going at his box if Lendl hadn’t been there,” John Lloyd speculated.
However, Murray did move to smash his racket when Mahut took a 4-1 lead in the second set. With the Frenchman producing some wonderful net play, Murray’s movement became increasingly tentative, stirring irate complaints to the umpire.
Yet the #1 seed battled against the Mahut onslaught, steering a range of irretrievable passing shots at the Frenchman’s feet or up the line. Murray eventually clawed the match back to 5-5 where both men held. Mercifully, the tiebreak that followed was a much more routine one for Murray, with a 7-1 victory rounding off an ultimately accomplished afternoon back on the grass – especially when considering the impressive form of Mahut, who was fresh off the back of winning the Ricoh Open.
“It was tough,” Murray conceded. “Nicolas won the tournament last week [the Ricoh Open] and that’s the third time we’ve played at this event. He’s a very accomplished grass court player.”
Aside from the result though, one other outstanding positive was evident. In the French Open final, Murray hit just 6 winners across the second and third sets. But back under Lendl’s tutelage, Murray looked intent on injecting the aggression into his game – particularly on the forehand side – that characterised his previous success with Lendl and drove his historic Olympic, US Open and Wimbledon triumphs.
Milos Raonic
Milos Raonic also kickstarted his Aegon Championships campaign, under the watchful eye of his unlikely new coach John McEnroe. Many considered the appointment to be a mismatch of tennis minds – one, a rather self-effacing and conserved character on court and the other, once the most controversial and expressive figure of tennis. Facing Nick Kyrgios, a player whose volatile temperament is in fact much more akin to that of McEnroe’s, the Canadian sought to – as the Queen’s announcer rather conspicuously declared – “come in to the net a lot more often.” This tactic proved to have mixed success for Raonic, and the match was suspended at one set apiece as night time closed in.
Despite conceding only four points on serve, Raonic dropped the first set in a tight 7-5 tiebreak. Kyrgios played some typically glorious winners, but also appeared to possess a slightly greater tactical astuteness. The Australian pushed Raonic from side to side, as well as playing a few cute drop shots to exploit the Canadian’s limited movement – especially on the moist turf. More concerning for McEnroe though was how Raonic also seemed deficient in his movement on the offensive at times, striking several forehands wildly long on some of Kyrgios’ slower balls.
Nevertheless, the ever-unflappable Raonic soon grabbed a key break in the second set – moving into a 3-2 lead after a lengthy deuce game. The World #9 passed up a multitude of break points before finally clinching the game via no less than a low backhand volley winner into the corner of the court.
It has been widely speculated that the McEnroe appointment was motivated by Raonic’s desire to improve his volleys. At six foot five inches, the Canadian can simply not compete at the baseline with the game’s very top players. Indeed, Raonic has a 21-45 win-loss career record against top 10 players, and having been a relatively consistent top 10 presence since 2014, that is a record that has to improve. McEnroe certainly bears the expertise to improve Raonic’s adeptness around the net, and perhaps that volley at 2-2 – amongst others – was the first fruits of the two’s labour.
Once Raonic had secured the break, Kyrgios looking increasingly disinterested, and there was little doubt that the world #9 would close the set out. And close the set out he did, taking it 6-4. Along the way, Raonic also exhibited some of the best of his astonishing kick serve, stretching even the six foot three inch Kyrgios. As Edberg did with Federer, McEnroe will surely encourage that particular serve to be used on the serve volley. Such curveballs to the usual powerhouse game of Raonic could be exactly what the Canadian needs to elevate his game in time for Wimbledon.
