Serena Williams’ comeback tournament in Eastbourne ended Thursday after her doubles partner, Ons Jabeur, retired from her doubles semifinal due to a knee injury. Jabeur slipped awkwardly in his first-round match, briefly touching his right knee, but then it didn’t look like he was affected by the injury. Jabeur’s retirement is expected to be merely preventive with Wimbledon next week.
After winning the second most important title of her career last week in Berlin, Jabeur is one of the tournament favorites in the women’s draw. Next week she will rise to a new ranking of singles in her No. 2 career, making her the highest African singles player in history.
An early end to his career at Eastbourne was not bad news for Williams, who was only competing for the practice of the match after his one-year dismissal and was pleased with his performances. Williams wasted no time after his departure, returning to London and training Thursday night on the Wimbledon training grounds for the first time since he was forced to retire from the tournament last year.
Later that day, 20-year-old Jack Draper continued his efficient rise as he opened up new ground at the top level, reaching his first ATP semifinal by defeating fellow British Ryan Peniston 6-3. 6-3 in Eastbourne.
On Wednesday, Draper defeated Diego Schwartzman to secure the second victory among the top 20 of his career. With his last win, Draper will rise to a higher ranking of his career of at least 94th. He will face American Maxime Cressy for a place in his first ATP final. Cressy beat British No. 1 Cameron Norrie 7-5, 7-5.
Jack Draper defeated his British compatriot Ryan Peniston in the quarterfinals in Eastbourne. Photography: Andrew Boyers / Action Images / Reuters
Peniston himself started the day well, reaching a second quarter-final of the ATP in his second tournament, finishing with Pedro Martínez by 7-6 (8), 3-6, 6-3 in a postponed match to starting Wednesday before being retired. left by Draper.
Harriet Dart’s run to her first WTA 500 quarterfinals ended in the hands of Petra Kvitova, who defeated her 6-3, 6-4 to reach her first semifinal of the year. After a torrid season, the two-time Wimbledon champion Kvitova has been given the opportunity to find a way to make her a dangerous prospect at her favorite event.
Emma Raducanu will be in the Wimbledon draw on Friday as she continues her recovery from a side injury. He has been training at Wimbledon for the past few days and his team hopes he will compete, although his injury is seen every day.
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In the eyes of Williams and many other players who slipped and fell on the lush turf in the first round of last year’s tournament, which caused multiple injuries, Wimbledon has broken with tradition this year, allowing players to train in the upper tracks in order to break the grass.
Traditionally, Wimbledon only allowed four female members of the All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC) to play briefly on the center court before the opening day. On Thursday, however, Rafael Nadal and Matteo Berrettini opened the track with a 45-minute workout, followed by Novak Djokovic and Marin Cilic. Coco Gauff, this year’s French Open runner-up, trained on track 1.