Tennis365’s A to Z of tennis for June: From bromances to Peter Crouch and X-rated scenes

We give you an A to Z snapshot of some of the important things that happened in the world of tennis during June that you may have missed.

A is for Amelie Mauresmo: The Frenchwoman continues to break down barriers as she has become the first female to be appointed captain of France’s Davis Cup team. She will take over from Yannick Noah in 2019.

B is for bromance: Alexander Zverev and journalist Jonathan Pinfield’s bromance was one of the highlights at Roland Garros. Hopefully we’ll see the two continue the love story at Wimbledon.

C is for comeback: Andy Murray is back. It wasn’t quite a comeback with a bang as he lost in the first round at Queen’s Club to Nick Kyrgios, but it was nevertheless good to see him back on court.

D is for diplomatic immunity: In an attempt to stop bankruptcy proceedings against him, Boris Becker claimed diplomatic immunity. The German said he was sports attache for the Central African Republic, but officials from the African country denied it. The auctioning of his Wimbledon trophies and other memorabilia were put on hold after his lawyers applied for an injunction.

E is for eleven: Rafael Nadal is now up to 11 Roland Garros titles and 17 Grand Slams after his 2018 French Open success. Will he equal or surpass Roger Federer’s 20 majors?

F is for Forbes sports rich list: Roger Federer was the highest-placed tennis player on the latest Forbes list for the highest-paid athletes in the world. Federer earned $77.2m, which puts him seventh overall. The other tennis stars to make the top 100 are Rafael Nadal (20th – $41.4m), Kei Nishikori (35th – $34.6m) and Novak Djokovic (86th – $23.5m

G is for grass court: Yep, it is Wimbledon time and you can read all about the art of preparing the perfect grass court.

H is for hearsay: “I think the book was 100 per cent hearsay,” Serena Williams on some of the comments about her in Maria Sharapova’s autobiography.

I is for incredible: “It’s incredible,” was how Mischa Zverev described winning his maiden ATP Tour singles title after beating Lukas Lacko in the Eastbourne final. He added: “You’re the last one standing at the end of the week and you have the trophy, so it’s definitely a very unique feeling.”

J is for Julien Benneteau: Frenchman Julien Benneteau, who announced in May that he is to retire at the end of this year, has been named as France’s Fed Cup captain. He will take over from Yannick Noah in 2019.

K is for Kyrgios: Lleyton Hewitt labelled Nick Kyrgios “box office” and it is hard to disagree with the former world No 1 when his fellow Australian comes up with things like this.
And here is more proof why Kyrgios, along with Gael Monfils, is entertaining.

L is for losing out: Dominika Cibulkova was the player to lose out after Serena Williams was named 25th seed for Wimbledon. While most other players were in favour of Williams’ seeding, the Slovak felt it “wasn’t fair” on her.

M is for Marco Cecchinato: The man who had a magical run to the semi-finals at Roland Garros, beating David Goffin and Novak Djokovic along the way. The Italian’s previous best performances at Grand Slams were four first-round exits.

N is for Nike: Roger Federer is set to leave Nike after 20 years and he will apparently sign for Japanese company Uniqlo.

O is for overthrown: The King of Halle, Roger Federer, was overthrown by Borna Coric, who claimed the biggest title of his career when he beat the nine-time champion in the Gerry Weber Open final.

P is for Peter Crouch: In an exclusive, former England striker Peter Crouch talked to Tennis365 about his love for tennis, his big serve and what might have been.

Q is for Queen’s Club Championships: Marin Cilic won this year’s coveted trophy, beating Novak Djokovic in the final. This year’s event marked Andy Murray’s return to action, Djokovic reaching his first ATP Tour final in nearly a year and our tipster Deggsy Bilton getting the 7/1 winner.

R is for Roger Federer: With the 39-year-old Ivo Karlovic dropping to No 112, it means the Swiss Maestro is now the oldest player in the ATP top 100 rankings.

S is for Simona Halep: The Romanian can finally call herself a Grand Slam winner after she won the French Open with a three-set victory over Sloane Stephens.

T is for three hundred and fifty: That’s how many days Andy Murray went between ATP Tour match wins. He claimed his first win since Wimbledon 2017 when he beat Stan Wawrinka in the first round at Eastbourne.

U is for UHD: The BBC will broadcast Wimbledon in Ultra HD. After broadcasting World Cup matches in 4K, the public broadcaster has extended the service to The Championships. It will be available through the iPlayer app or external devices.

V is for VAR: It’s the Hawk-Eye equivalent that’s being used at the FIFA World Cup, but Johnny Nic feels sport should be judged by humans.

W is for winners and losers: We picked our winners and losers from Roland Garros 2018.

X is for X-rated: Nick Kyrgios was fined £13,190 by the ATP for simulating a sex act during his Queen’s Club semi-final match against Marin Cilic. Here is the incident in question.

Y is for Yorkshire accent: Here is the famous Yorkshire accent that baffled and bewitched Alexander Zverev at the French Open.

Z is for zero expectation: Andy Murray admitted he had zero expectation upon his return to action, but he’s done well. Losing in three sets to Nick Kyrgios at Queen’s before beating Stan Wawrinka in his opener at Eastbourne. However, he again has zero expectation for Wimbledon.

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