Thompson looking to recapture grass form
Facing 11th seed Sam Querrey in round one, Jordan Thompson is looking to find the grass-court form that led him to victory over Andy Murray at Queen's last year.
London, UK, 2 July 2018 | Darren Walton (AAP)
Jordan Thompson has limited time to rediscover his scintillating grass-court form of last year or face almost certain Wimbledon extinction.
And he knows it.
Thompson has undoubtedly the most daunting assignment of the five Australians in first-round action on Monday.
The world No.99 confronts 11th seed Sam Querrey, the big-serving giant slayer who spectacularly ended Andy Murray’s title defence 12 months ago and Novak Djokovic’s reign the year before.
“Tough draw,” Thompson said.
“The coach sent through that I’ve got Querrey, so a semifinalist last year, he’s played well on the grass. He’s beaten Novak here, he’s beaten Andy here.
“Yeah, he’s more than capable. I’ve got to get in a lot of return practice, make sure I get my serving percentage quite high.
“It’s a tough match. He is so big and it is grass so it’s a unique surface and generally favours the big servers, so I’ve got to definitely be on my game.”
Thompson, though, hasn’t been particularly on his game in 2018, failing to win a single ATP Tour match after climbing to 63rd in the world last season.
But he can see light at the end of the tunnel after venturing to the quarterfinals of a grass-court event in Yorkshire, where he lost to the eventual champion, then showing further signs of life in the Antalya ATP event last week in Turkey.
The 24-year-old knows on his day he can compete with the world’s best, as evidenced by his memorable victory over Murray at Queen’s last year.
“That was pretty good form last year. That form is there. It’s just a question of recapturing it,” said the Sydneysider.
“It’s been a little bit of a disappointing year so far – (losing) first round of the Australian Open, first round of the French, both five-setters,” Thompson added.
“I haven’t won too many of those matches, but better late than never.”