Like any other surface, grass court has its own challenges and only a few have managed to stand up to it. Know about the best grass court tennis players in 2021
The ancient days was when grass courts were the only host for Tennis matches and the sport was known as lawn Tennis. Furthermore, Wimbledon, the only grand slam held on the grass court, is the oldest and the most prestigious majors. As a result, most traditionalists are impressive grass-court players.
However, there are only a few grass-court specialists in the current era. The players as of 2021 are close between the men’s and women’s divisions. Aside from Wimbledon, Halle Open and Queen Championships come under consideration. From the women’s category, Bett1open and Eastbourne International are the reputed ones.
As for the grass-court surface properties, they are marginally faster than clay or hardcourts. The deck also produces variable bounce and some of them keep low. With rallies being quick on the track, players with excellent volleys and serves have the upper hand. But not many have found the consistency.
We take a look at the five best grass court tennis players of 2021
Marin Cilic
Marin Cilic is another player with a formidable record in 2021 in the grass-court season, winning nine matches and conjuring two losses. Though Marin Cilic is yet to reach his potential, the Croatian becomes hard to get past for any player. He won the US Open in 2014 and reached the final of the Australian Open in 2018.
Speaking of his 2021 grass-court season, Cilic lost to Alex de Minaur and Daniil Medvedev in Wimbledon. The 32-year old, who struck the second-most number of aces with 106, would have been most hurt by his defeat to Medvedev. The Russian perhaps won for the first time after being down 0-2 after two sets.
Felix Auger-Aliassame
Felix Auger-Aliassame has been one of the most improved players in recent times, experiencing a meteoric rise. Felix Auger-Aliassame secured the biggest victory of his career when he knocked Roger Federer out of the second round of Halle Open 2021. The Canadian reached the semi-finals of the tournament and lost to Ugo Humbert.
Later, Auger-Aliassame defeated the likes of Alexander Zverev and had a walkover against Nick Kyrgios to make it to the Wimbledon quarter-finals. The 20-year old has accumulated ten wins on the grass-court surface in 2021. The youngster’s 93 aces were the third-most in 2021 and he deserves a spot on this list.
Ashleigh Barty
Ashleigh Barty has enjoyed a perfect record in the grass-court matches in 2021, winning all seven fixtures so far. Incidentally, all her games have come in Wimbledon 2021 and Barty dismantled one opponent after the other. The 25-year old dropped only two sets in the entire tournament.
By beating Karolina Pliskova in the final, Ashleigh Barty clinched her second grand slam title. The world number one also became only the second Australian since Evonne Goolagong Cawley to win the title since 1980. Furthermore, she became the first top seed to win the crown since Serena Williams in 2016.
Novak Djokovic
It is perhaps impossible not to place Novak Djokovic on this list, given his incredible run this year and reigning supreme over the remaining big two. Novak Djokovic does not have the most wins in 2021 on the grass-court surface, but winning Wimbledon ranks above all. He has a perfect record of winning all seven games
The Serb won his sixth title of the grand slam by playing well below his best, making it slightly more special. Djokovic’s 20 grand slams meant he tied for most majors with Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer. Djokovic also became the fourth player in the open era to seal three successive Wimbledon titles after Roger Federer, Bjorn Borg, and Pete Sampras.
Matteo Berrettini
Matteo Berrettini has perhaps been the best performer when taken the number of victories into account in 2021. Matteo Berrettini captures the top spot with 11 wins on the grass-court surface this year. The 25-year old played some of his best Tennis during the Cinch Championship and Wimbledon.
During both the grass-court events, Matteo Berrettini conjured some of the best serves and produced bullet-like forehands to oust the opposition. The world number nine won the Cinch Championships on debut, followed by reaching the Wimbledon 2021 final. Berrettini also performed incredibly well in the decider, but Novak Djokovic proved to be too good.
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