"Andy Murray isn't alone at Wimbledon... meet the rest of the British players hoping to thrive on home turf,” headlines the UK's Daily Mail, which predicts Australian Open semi-finalist Jo Konta, Heather Watson and Dan Evans “have the best chance of going far.”
Andy Murray tells the Daily Telegraph his first match against Liam Broady, a Wimbledon wildcard ranked 234th whom he helped mentor, could be “a bit strange.” Broady likens the match to a “David and Goliath situation” and the tennis equivalent of “Stockport winning the Premier League in one season from the Vanarama North”.
The Guardian delves into the life story of Briton Marcus Willis, the world No.775 who battled his way through qualifying. Willis, “who wears the startled look of a man who has won the Pools” tells the paper how a few hits with Andy Murray gave him inspiration.
With no “Oranje” football team at the European Championships in France to root for, the Netherlands has gone mad for Kiki Bertens ever since she reached the Roland Garros semi-final.
Although the 26th-seeded Bertens hasn’t played a single official match since then as she recovered from a small tear in her calf, Algemeen Dagblad is optimistic about her chances on the Wimbledon grass.
“Bertens exudes self-confidence,” it wrote. “It’s like she’s taken the confidence she gained from her mega stunt in Paris into a suitcase and taken it to London.”
“Simply forgotten,” headlines the Neue Zuercher Zeitung, referring to 17-time Grand Slam winner Roger Federer. The seven-time Wimbledon champion “has played just 22 matches in six months without winning a single title. Now he wants to kick start his botched season,” the paper added.
Belinda Bencic, the top-ranked Swiss woman, tells Blick about her memories of winning the junior Wimbledon title three years ago, her recent injury woes and her friendship with French Open doubles champion Kristina Mladenovic.
French sports newspaper L’Equipe takes a detailed look at the speed of the Wimbledon lawns.
“In 20 years, the length of the points has doubled at Wimbledon,” the paper said, citing an American statistician who has analysed the length of every rally in the last 223 Grand Slam finals for men and women.
Milos Raonic tells Canada's National Post working with his new grass-court coach, John McEnroe, is a bit different. “There’s been a few times when there’s hitting partners on the court,” Raonic said, “and he’s kind of powered them out of the practice and continued to play.”
Former Wimbledon finalist Eugenie Bouchard tells the paper she’s “on the right path” after reuniting with long-time coach Nick Saviano in April.
A turbulent start to Wimbledon for former semi-finalist Kirsten Flipkens, who according to Belgium's Het Nieuwsblad could play in an old outfit after losing her luggage during a flight from Brussels to London that was delayed for three hours by a storm.
Under the headline “When Stich won in Boris’ living room,” Germany's Bild talks to Michael Stich about beating Boris Becker for the title 25 years ago in an all-German final. “I have images in my head, from the match point, the people in the Royal Box. But I can’t honestly remember much of the emotions from 25 years ago,” Stich said.
