Six must-watch players of the 2023 grass court season
The stage is set, the names have been announced and we’re gearing up to British tennis fans’ most anticipated period on the tennis calendar: grass court season.
With tennis’ biggest stars set to take to the grass over the next two months, we’ve highlighted six must-watch players of this year’s grass court swing that you won’t want to miss!
Elena Rybakina
2022 saw Elena Rybakina make history when she became the first Kazakh Grand Slam champion in history, after pulling off a come-back win to defeat Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur in the Wimbledon final.
Since then, the 23-year-olds career has gone from strength-to-strength, having finished runner-up at the Australian Open this season as well as sweeping up two WTA 1000 titles at Indian Wells and the Internazionali BNL d’Italia.
Aside from heading back to SW19 in July to defend her title, Rybakina will also head to the South Coast where she will enter the Rothesay International Eastbourne as the second seed. Could the world No.4 be set for another summer of dreams on the grass?
Carlos Alcaraz
He’s conquered the hard courts, he’s proven himself as a connoisseur of the clay, but how will world No.1 Carlos Alcaraz fair up on the grass this summer?
The reigning US Open champion needs little to no introduction when it comes to the ever-growing list of achievements and records he has broken over the last 18 months of his young career.
With the Spaniard headlining a star-studded line-up at the cinch Championships at Queen’s Club before making the short journey across the Thames to the Wimbledon Championships to surpass his tournament-best of fourth round, can Alcaraz carry his spell-binding form into the summer events and pick up a maiden title on the grass?
Cam Norrie
Cam Norrie had the tournament of his life at last year’s Wimbledon Championships, where he became only the fourth Brit to reach the semi-final of the men’s singles event in the Open Era.
Despite his dream of a first Grand Slam title coming to an end at the hands of six-time champion Novak Djokovic, Norrie will undoubtably return to the All England Lawn Tennis Championships with a point to prove.
Fast forward almost 12 months later and the British No.1 is back within touching distance of the ATP’s top 10 and has picked up a first ATP 500 title in Rio after overcoming world No.1 Alcaraz. Now, Norrie’s focus will turn to the grass, where he will kick-off his British summer at the cinch Championships at Queen’s Club as the fifth seed.
Jodie Burrage
Runner-up at the Lexus Ilkley Trophy, semi-finalist at the Lexus Surbiton Trophy and a first career-win against a WTA top 10 player – it’s safe to say Jodie Burrage made her mark at last year’s grass events.
The current British No.2 took down the experienced Petra Martic before going on to cause one of the biggest upsets of the summer when she defeated then world No.4 Paula Badosa in straight sets at the Rothesay International Eastbourne.
Having clinched the biggest title of her career so far at the W60 Croissy-Beaubourg in April and the grass being one of her favourite surfaces, Burrage is undoubtably one to watch this summer as she looks to break new ground on home soil.
Beatriz Haddad Maia
Beatriz Haddad Maia was one of the names on everybody’s lips during the 2022 grass court swing.
Having only played five tour level matches on the grass prior to last summer, the Brazillian outplayed the field at the Rothesay Open Nottingham and Rothesay Classic Birmingham events to claim back-to-back titles. A dominant force during her momentous fortnight, the world No.14 took down some of the biggest names on the WTA tour, including Maria Sakkari, Simona Halep and Petra Kvitova and will be returning to both tournaments this summer in a hope to defend her titles.
Alfie Hewett
After winning his maiden Australian Open title back in January, world No.1 Alfie Hewett has only one Grand Slam trophy missing from his expansive collection: the Wimbledon title.
The 2022 grass swing saw seven-time Grand Slam singles champion Hewett reach a new milestone in his career when he reached his maiden Wimbledon singles final, but the Brit will be hungry to go one step further to clinch the title this year.
With four singles titles, five doubles and the World Team Cup crown already under his belt this year alone, it’s hard to determine whether anyone will be able to stand in the way of Hewett and the silverware at Wimbledon.