Former American tennis star John Isner described the grass courts at the Queen’s Club as “diabolically slippery” after Frances Tiafoe’s injury and his claim was approved by Australia’s Thanasi Kokkinakis.

After playing in Stuttgart last week, world No. 28 Tiafoe kicked off his second grass tournament of the year on Monday at the Queen’s Club. Playing against world No. 98 Rinky Hijikata, Tiafoe slipped on the grass in the second game of the third set, and after being in clear pain, the American tennis player retired from the match due to a hip injury.

Isner, a former world No. 8, made his Queen’s debut in 2008 and he also made three consecutive appearances at the tournament between 2015 and 2017. In those four appearances, Isner’s best Queen’s result came in 2015 when he was a quarterfinalist.

Isner: Queen’s one of the best events but their courts are diabolically slippery

On the ATP Tour, Queen’s has always enjoyed a strong reputation and has been regarded as one of the best-organized tournaments. That has earned them five ATP 500 Tournament of the Year awards so far.

Reacting to Tiafoe’s injury, Isner praised Queen’s as the event but then called out their courts.

“Queens is undoubtedly one of the best events of year, but the courts are diabolically slippery, especially on Monday and Tuesday. Just ask DelPo. Sucks for Frances, hope he can recover for SW19,” Isner wrote on X.

Kokkinakis, who is currently ranked at No. 94 in the world, responded to Isner’s post by writing: “Yuppp.”

Meanwhile, a hip injury came for Tiafoe at the worst possible time since Wimbledon is just around the corner and soon the North American hard court swing is also starting. It remains to be seen if Tiafoe will recover in time for Wimbledon, and if he manages to play at The Championships, how it will all look.

Bianca Andreescu reveals she learned a valuable lesson from Roger Federer when the Swiss tennis icon explained how staying calm, never giving up and delivering in the key moments was one of the biggest reasons behind his success.

Last week, former world No. 4 Andreescu came close to winning her first title since the 2019 US Open, but unfortunately for her, she was beaten by Liudmila Samsonova 4-6 6-3 5-7 in the ‘s-Hertogenbosch final. But before Andreescu made a deep ‘s-Hertogenbosch run, Andreescu was a set away from losing to 357th-ranked Dutch qualifier Eva Vedder in the first round but survived after completing a 4-6 6-3 6-2 comeback.

Two rounds later, Andreescu clinched another hard-fought win after edging out four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka 6-4 3-6 7-6 (3). While Andreescu ultimately didn’t manage to win ‘s-Hertogenbosch, she still earned four wins at the tournament and also survived two very tight meetings before falling just short to Samsonova.

And Federer deserves a bit of credit for that because the Canadian tennis star learned some lessons from him.

“He just points out how he won 80 percent of his matches, but he only won like 54 percent of those points, which is so crazy to think. Any match can go any way. Like, I think in my match against Kalinskaya in the second round at Roland Garros, I think I lost more points than I won. Never giving up is the main thing and I feel like I’m starting to get that back more and more, which is nice,” Andreescu said on the WTA Insider podcast.

Andreescu on maturing and learning to put less pressure on herself

In 2019, Andreescu introduced herself to the tennis world in a big way when she won two WTA 1000 titles and also became a Grand Slam champion at the 2019 US Open. At the time, Andreescu was widely regarded as one of the most talented players in the women’s game and one of the players who was the future of the women’s game.

Five years later, Andreescu – who turned 24 on Sunday – has been to a couple of finals since but she has yet to win a title. One of the reasons why Andreescu’s rise stopped was the big pressure and expectations that she was putting on herself but also injury struggles. That also led to Andreescu taking breaks to address her mental health.

But now 24-year-old Andreescu is a more matured person and she is taking a healthier approach to setting expectations for herself.

“Everything basically changes when you win a big tournament. The pressure is there, people know you, people want to beat you. And I know how that feels because I’ve been on the other side where I am playing top-level opponents and for some reason my level increases because I am playing a higher-ranked player,” Andreescu explained.

“I’ve been using this phrase, ‘divine timing’. I’m trying to go with the flow, see what happens, not force too much, surrendering in a way. Yes, I want to win this match. There’s no doubt in my mind that every time I step on court that’s how it is. But I don’t want to be too attached about how it’s going to happen.”

Andreescu on what she learned during her breaks from tennis

As mentioned above, Andreescu in the past took a break to address her mental health. That happened in late 2021, when Andreescu announced she was taking an indefinite break. The Canadian ended up being out of action until 2022 April.

Also, there were periods when Andreescu was sidelined because of injuries. Most recently, that happened last August, when the 24-year-old sustained a back injury and didn’t play again until this year’s French Open.

Missing action is never great but Andreescu took her time away from tennis to learn better to control her emotions.

“Every break that I have, I gained different tools and different perspectives that really help me overcome certain things,” Andreescu said.

“For now, I feel like I’m managing my emotions very well. That’s one of the main things that come out and can disrupt me, but at the same time, it’s like a superpower. But also it’s — I don’t want to say weakness, I don’t like that word — but you get what I’m saying.”

Also, Andreescu has a phrase she constantly repeats in her head.

“I have this phrase in my head. ‘I’m relaxed, I’m focused, stay in the present’ and that just brings me back in the present moment. Sometimes. Most of the time!”