Seeds Knocked Out, Tennis Players' Chances Even on Grass Court

HALLE, THURSDAY – Like clay courts, grass courts require specific skills for players to compete comfortably. However, grass courts provide an advantage for players with powerful strokes to earn quick or free points.

The grass court, with its uneven surface, presents a high level of difficulty for tennis players to master. The ball bounces on the court so quickly and in directions that are often hard to predict.

However, the fast character can be utilized by many tennis players who do not like to play rallies. "Just" with a hard serve and forehand, they can get a lot of points.

Therefore, the chances of a tennis player winning a match on grass courts are relatively balanced compared to clay courts, which require physical endurance, the ability to move by sliding, and the capacity to withstand long rallies to find opportunities to score points.

Such court characteristics were utilized by unseeded players when facing Grand Slam champions or the world number one players at the ATP 500 Halle and WTA 500 Berlin tournaments in Germany. Alexander Bublik eliminated the world number one in men's singles, Jannik Sinner, in the second round in Halle, while Wang Xin Yu defeated the women's singles champion of the French Open, Cori "Coco" Gauff, in Berlin on the same day, Thursday (19/6/2025). Sinner, who was the defending champion of ATP Halle, lost with a score of 6-3, 3-6, 4-6, while Coco lost with a score of 3-6, 3-6.

That victory marked the second win for Bublik over Sinner, who has only lost twice in 20 matches in 2025, prior to competing in Halle. Interestingly, both of the Kazakhstani tennis player's victories, who was born in Russia, have occurred in Halle. Bublik defeated Sinner in the quarterfinals of the ATP Halle 2023, although Sinner had to withdraw in the second set due to injury.

"I continue to strive to serve as well as possible because I have a better opportunity here compared to Roland Garros," said Bublik.

With the ball bouncing very quickly, Bublik utilized his serve to earn free points. He made 15 aces, which were part of 36 winners, while Sinner only had three. Of that total, nine were made in the second set.

This is the approach that Bublik could not employ when facing Sinner at Roland Garros, Paris, less than three weeks ago, as the clay court reflects the ball so slowly. Bublik lost 1-6, 5-7, 0-6 in the quarterfinals of the French Open.

"On grass, if you lose your serve, it's hard to keep up with your opponent. I'm a player who doesn't lose serve easily on grass. I can also execute attacks well with my forehand, which is why I was able to steal Jannik's serve in the third set," said Bublik, who defeated the world's top-ranked player for the first time.

While Bublik was able to use his serve to gain a lot of points, Coco experienced the opposite in the WTA Berlin tournament. The world's second-ranked women's singles player and second seed made seven double faults, five of them in the first set, when facing Wang Xin Yu. Wang took advantage of the situation by creating 11 break points, although only four of them could be converted into points.

Serving is still a weakness for Coco, the 2025 French Open and 2023 US Open champion. While she often makes mistakes on her first serve, she tends to make double faults because her second serve is so weak.

Coco became the player who made the most double faults on the 2024 WTA Tour, with 430. This number is much more than Marta Kostyuk in second place with 370 double faults.

The weakness has not been addressed because Coco is still at the top of the list of tennis players with the most double faults in 2025, namely 234, followed by Jelena Ostapenko with 166 double faults.

Wang, who will face Paula Badosa in the quarterfinals, tried to enjoy the second-round match even though the player in front of her is a Grand Slam champion. "After winning the first set, I told myself to enjoy the next moment, whatever happens in the second and third sets," said the Chinese tennis player.

Coco's defeat leaves the WTA Berlin competition with only two seeded players remaining in the quarterfinals. In addition to Badosa, who is the eighth seed, there is the top seed, Aryna Sabalenka, who will face Elena Rybakina in a "big match."

Meanwhile, the five seeded players who were eliminated in the first two rounds are Coco (2), Jessica Pegula (3), Jasmine Paolini (4), Mirra Andreeva (6), and Madison Keys (7). Meanwhile, Zheng Qin Wen, who was initially seeded fifth, withdrew from the tournament.

In the ATP 500 London men's tournament, the even competition has also led to more seeded players being eliminated in the first two rounds. The quarter-finals will only feature three seeds, namely Carlos Alcaraz (1), Jack Draper (2), and Holger Rune (4).

Alcaraz, who will face Arthur Rinderknech in the quarter-finals, nearly became a victim of an early upset. However, the French Open champion managed to survive against fellow Spanish player Jaume Munar in the second round, winning 6-4, 6-7 (7), 7-5.

"I am trying to stay strong both mentally and physically. Honestly, I do not know how I managed to get through the match earlier. Munar played very well; he is a tough competitor," commented Alcaraz on the official ATP website.

In adversity, Alcaraz showed the warrior mentality that he had when he won the French Open final. He defeated Sinner in five sets despite his opponent having three championship points in the fourth set. (AFP/AP)