Tennis Atlantic

Newport at Wimbledon: Almost All American 1st Round Winners Got Next @TennisHalloFame

The main draw of the 2013 International Tennis Hall of Fame Championships in Newport, Rhode Island has 10 players who hail from the United States, and 4 out of the 5 left standing in Wimbledon after the first round will be playing on the New England grass in less than two weeks.

John Isner, Denis Kudla, James Blake and Rajeev Ram are headed to Newport, but not until their business is finished in London. That’s because they all advanced to the second round at Wimbledon. Throw in our Canadian brothers Vasek Pospisil and Jesse Levine, who both made the second round, and that adds up to 6 of the 8 North American men left in Wimbledon are up next at Newport.

Regardless of nationality, the top 15 seeded players for the HOF Championships posted a decent 10-5 record in the first round. In the finest performance yet at SW19 this year, Lleyton Hewitt made quick work of #11 Stan Wawrinka. Look out for him at the Newport Casino.

James Blake was on fire against Thiemo De Bakker.

Denis Kudla got his first Grand Slam win.

And then there was Newport top seed Sam Querrey losing to Bernie Tomic.

There are 13 days until main draw play begins at the American Wimbledon. Let’s hope one or more of these guys shows up a little late to Little Rhody because he was too busy playing quarterfinals at Wimbledon.

—S. Fogleman