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Estonian Mark Lajal was in a car on his way to site Friday, the day after he qualified for Wimbledon. The 21-year-old was enjoying the ride with his mother, coach and the driver, when he received a shock.

“My friend was looking at the live draw when they were picking the [players] and I remember they called, 'Carlos Alcaraz will play'... and it was like, 'Number 122, Mark Lajal',” he told ATPTour.com. “We all started screaming, everyone screamed in our car. I got scared because they started screaming and then it was, 'Oh my, I'm playing Carlos'.”

The No. 262 player in the PIF ATP Rankings will enjoy a memorable welcome to major main draw action. In his first three attempts to qualify for a Grand Slam tournament, Lajal lost in the first round. Now not only has he qualified, but the Estonian will open the event on Centre Court against the defending champion.

“I don't know if it really has sunk in yet because it's incredible. Once I qualified, obviously, it's a big thing to qualify for me and one of my goals this year was to qualify for a Grand Slam,” Lajal said. “For my first time, I wanted to play someone big, have a big first match. But for some reason, Carlos never crossed my mind. So when I saw Carlos, I was like, ‘Oh my God, I'm playing Carlos’.

“Then my friend told me, ‘You know, you're going to be opening Centre Court’. I was like, ‘Wait, that's true!’ That's tradition. So for me, that's just unbelievable. I'm going to be playing against Carlos on Centre Court as my first match. I don't know if it's sunk in yet. But I'm quite excited, honestly.”

Andy Murray revealed in a press conference Sunday details of his recovery from recent back surgery and explained that he is still pushing to be ready to compete in one final Wimbledon.

“It’s been obviously a tough 10 days or so since Queen's. Obviously had the operation on the back, which wasn't insignificant. Just been trying to do everything that I can to try and get ready to start the tournament here,” Murray said. “I don't know if that's going to be enough. I've been practising for the past few days. I played a set today. It went pretty well, but I still don't have 100 per cent sort of feeling and sensation in my leg yet.

“It's getting better every single day. Like I said a few days ago, I want to give it every single chance that I can to get there.”

The former No. 1 player in the PIF ATP Rankings explained that he will probably make a decision Monday evening regarding his participation in the tournament. The Scot added that there have been positive signs.

“I have no back pain, which is obviously really good. But the nature of the problem that I had was I had quite a large cyst, which was squashing, compressing my nerves, which then obviously lost not all, but a lot of control in my right leg,” Murray said. “That is getting better. But it's kind of like if you sleep on your arm funny, you wake up and you've got a dead arm. It's kind of like that feeling. But it goes on for a lot longer because the nerve has been kind of squashed and a little bit damaged for a number of days. How long that takes to regain its full sort of function again is impossible to say. For some people it takes months; for some people it's weeks.”

Czech stars Tomas Berdych and Jiri Lehecka have made their mark at Wimbledon over the years, with the former reaching the final in 2010 and the latter enjoying a breakout run to the fourth round last year.

Now, 18-year-old #NextGenATP star Jakub Mensik is hoping to be the next man from his country to shine at The Championships this week when he makes his tournament debut.

“I have spoken to Tomas and Jiri before a little about grass. I watched Tomas on TV playing here when I was young, watching him in the final I think in 2010. It was an early memory and an amazing performance,” Mensik told ATPTour.com. “Then Jiri [Lehecka], who I know well, was playing really well here last year and with this game style, it's obvious that he can play really well here. I have a pretty similar style to Tomas and Jiri and now for me to be here is something special.

“I have showed to myself in the past weeks after my first events on grass that I can play also on this surface, so that's great and I'm looking forward to it and I think I can follow [their success].”

The 13-time tour-level titlist Berdych earned victories against Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic en route to the final in 2010, while he also reached the semi-finals in 2016 and 2017. After retiring in 2019, Berdych started coaching 22-year-old Lehecka, but his charge is missing this year’s event due to injury.

Daniil Medvedev is set to make his sixth appearance at Wimbledon, where last year he earned a career-best semi-final run at the grass-court major.

The 28-year-old, No. 5 in the PIF ATP Rankings, holds a 13-5 record at the All England Club. Ahead of this year's Wimbledon, ATPTour.com sat down with Medvedev to chat about his favourite memories at The Championships.

What is your first memory of watching Wimbledon?
It would be Sharapova winning Wimbledon. I do not remember the year [2004], but I was really young. And she won it when she was like 17 or 18. So that was a huge story. I'm not even sure if she was seeded, and I think she beat Serena. I was too young, I don't remember exactly, but it was huge. I remember watching it. It was fun.

What is your first memory of playing Wimbledon?
Playing Wimbledon as a junior. It was my first main draw of a junior Slam. The emotions that I had would not compare to right now, they were higher because I was more tired. I was more stressed. I had more adrenaline. Now, I'm kind of used to what I'm doing. At the time, it was something huge for me to be there, to see all the pros close to me, practising, getting ready for their match. It was an unbelievable feeling and I still remember how you arrive, you go on the court. I won the first match. I lost second round and there were big, big emotions.

What is your favourite Wimbledon tradition and why?
Strawberries are really good at Wimbledon, so I would say that's definitely up there as one of my favorites. It's very good. Strawberries are healthy if you don't exaggerate and they're really, really tasty, so that's good. I think they don't have as many [traditions] as we tend to think but all of them are pretty good and I feel like have their meaning, like strawberries.

When the Wimbledon draw was made Friday morning at The All England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club, Jannik Sinner was drawn against German Yannick Hanfmann in the first round.

Hanfmann, a 32-year-old who is No. 95 in the PIF ATP Rankings, was not in the middle of practice, on the physio table or glued to the draw on his phone. The former World No. 45 was a mile away from the tournament venue at the ATP Tour’s London office, participating in the new ATP Player Mentoring Programme.

The objectives of the programme are to help players learn from industry-leading experts about areas of business that interest them, expand their professional networks and support the athletes through their journey as they begin to think about life after tennis and post-career opportunities.

“I'm actually glad that we have something like this. It's new, it's the first time, so thank you to the ATP for actually providing us with this. I'm really excited,” Hanfmann told ATPTour.com. “I just finished the ATP Business Education Programme, which is already a lot of knowledge for us, a lot of great speakers. And now we actually are provided with someone one on one to help with us and to have a mentor to guide you a little bit with the post-career opportunities.

“I think it's amazing, because I'm 32 thinking a little bit of what's ahead. And life is not only tennis, but of course, it's something that we were good at. So now trying to navigate, maybe a little bit the ways after tennis and to get into certain parts of business. And we have great speakers, great people here to help us. The mentors, all of them are excellent leaders. We're really fortunate to be able to be in this programme.”

All eyes will be on World No. 1 Jannik Sinner and Roland Garros champion Carlos Alcaraz at Wimbledon. Not as many fans will be focussed on a player who defeated them both in the juniors: wild card Jacob Fearnley of Great Britain.

Fresh off a distinguished five-year career playing college tennis at Texas Christian University, the 22-year-old will make his major debut as a wild card at The Championships, the same event where he hit with eight-time champion Roger Federer four times as a teen.

Fearnley is well aware that he has not followed the same path as those three superstars, all of whom reached the top of the PIF ATP Rankings. Instead, the Briton put professional tennis on hold and became a four-time ITA All-American for TCU and two-time qualifier for the ATP Next Gen Accelerator, which increases the development pathway for top players in the American Collegiate system by providing direct entry into ATP Challenger Tour events.

Earlier this month, Fearnley, who just completed his college career, had never cracked the world’s Top 500. But everything changed when he entered qualifying at the Rothesay Open in Nottingham as an alternate. After battling through a final-set tie-break in his opening match, he successfully qualified for an ATP Challenger Tour main draw for the first time. One week later, the former college standout lifted the trophy.

On 19 June, Fearnley was awarded a main draw wild card into Wimbledon.

Novak Djokovic provided a positive update regarding his recovery from knee surgery on Saturday ahead of Wimbledon. The 24-time major champion underwent an operation to repair a torn meniscus after withdrawing before his Roland Garros quarter-final.

“I arrived here on Sunday. It's been a week of training. Very good week of training. I had, particularly the past three days, very intense tennis sessions. I had points. Practice sets played with Sinner, with Frances Tiafoe, with Medvedev yesterday, and Emil Ruusuvuori, actually double session, and then today with Rune, as well,” said Djokovic, who is set to play Czech qualifier Vit Kopriva in the first round. “High intensity. Lots of I guess situations on the court where the knee is tested to almost the maximum. Change of directions, so forth.

“The knee has responded very well to all of that so far, which of course then is a great sign for my participation in Wimbledon. That's why I decided to be in the draw.”

Djokovic pointed out that he still has time before he begins his tournament Tuesday, but explained that he is “confident” about the health of his knee and general physical state.

“Obviously once the tournament starts, I'll have more I guess sensations and more feedback from how knee reacts to a best-of-five Grand Slam match,” Djokovic said. “So far everything that was done was very positive.”

Carlos Alcaraz proved a quick study on grass courts last season, when he won both Queen's Club and Wimbledon. As he was learning to adapt his game to the lawns, he watched videos of Roger Federer, Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal to analyse their play on the surface.

The 21-year-old is still watching footage of those legends this year, but he now has another player to learn from: himself.

"I put in videos of myself last year, I'm not going to lie," he said with a smile. "Just to see what I did or how I did it. Just moving, hitting shots, to do the same as I did last year."

In terms of success on grass courts and in Grand Slams, there are few players in the history of the game who can match or exceed Alcaraz's early return of three major titles. Fewer still have been able to complete the rare Roland Garros-Wimbledon double in the same season, a feat Alcaraz can accomplish this fortnight.

"Winning Grand Slams is difficult. Obviously changing from clay to a grass court, totally different surfaces, totally different game of play," he said when asked about his opportunity. "Let's say I'm going to try. Obviously I want to put my name on that short list to win Roland Garros and Wimbledon in the same year. I know that's going to be a really difficult and big challenge for me, but I think I'm ready to do it.

Taylor Fritz completed his Eastbourne hat-trick Saturday at the Rothesay International, where the American became the first three-time champion in tournament history.

The 26-year-old did not lose a set en route to his eighth tour-level title, defeating Australian Max Purcell 6-4, 6-3 in the final. Fritz dropped just four points behind his first serve in the title match, according to Infosys ATP Stats.

"I'm pumped. I always feel like I play well here," said Fritz, who won Eastbourne in 2019 and 2022. "I kind of just had that feeling coming into the week as well. I did a great job."

Fritz relied on his booming serve and aggressive play to twice dig out of a 0/30 hole in the opening set. The top seed earned a decisive break at 5-4, with Purcell double faulting down set point. Fritz struck the ball cleanly and remained the more consistent player in baseline rallies, winning 12 consecutive points from 2-2 in the second set.

The first-ever 3x CHAMPION in Eastbourne ?

2019 ?
2022 ?
2024 ?@Taylor_Fritz97 | @the_LTA | #RothesayInternational pic.twitter.com/AGglUx0JqI

Entering Roland Garros, there were questions regarding Jannik Sinner’s hip injury. The Italian made clear Saturday ahead of Wimbledon that there are no such doubts entering the grass-court major.

“After Paris I took some days off and then back to work. I mean, there are no secrets. I feel physically much better than in the beginning of Roland Garros because there I arrived with some doubts,” Sinner said. “Here I have no doubts about my body. We have been working a lot in the last days.

“I'm not concerned about my body shape. I'm just happy to be here and hopefully ready to compete.”

The 22-year-old, the first player from his country to reach No. 1 in the PIF ATP Rankings, is the top seed at a Grand Slam tournament for the first time. He carries plenty of confidence into London after claiming his maiden grass-court title at the ATP 500 event in Halle.

“Obviously last week for me was an important week. Last year I played semis here, so in my mind I know that I can play also some good tennis on this surface. Obviously every year is a bit different. In Halle the conditions are different than here,” Sinner said. “I’m just trying to get used to it, building my confidence here on this court. That's it. Thinking about seeding or all the rest, it doesn't make any sense. Everyone wants to win and show their best here.”

Alejandro Tabilo became the first Chilean man to win a grass-court title in the Open Era with his Saturday victory at the Mallorca Championships presented by Waterdrop. The 27-year-old defeated Sebastian Ofner 6-3, 6-4 to win the second title of both the 2024 season and his career.

"It's been an unbelievable year," the fourth seed said post-match. "All the support of all the Chileans at home, my team, my girlfriend. It's been a crazy year. It's been very nice, this whole level I've been playing. Hopefully I can keep it up and just keep showing what I can do."

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Alejandro Tabilo gets past Ofner 6-3 6-4 and becomes the first Chilean man in the Open Era to win a tour-level title on grass!@MallorcaChamps | #MallorcaChampionships pic.twitter.com/0x63vO3zNK

Tabilo will rise five places to a career-high PIF ATP Ranking of No. 19 behind the result, moving one place ahead of countryman Nicolas Jarry on Monday. It will mark the first time since 2005 that two Chileans are inside the Top 20 (Fernando Gonzalez, Nicolas Massu).

"It's an unreal feeling," said Tabilo, who was just inside the Top 150 this time last year. "I can't believe it. Hopefully I can keep on going up."

ATPTour.com looks at five ATP Challenger Tour players to keep your eyes on during Wimbledon.

Billy Harris
Set to enter Wimbledon at a career-high No. 116 in the PIF ATP Rankings, Harris arrives at the All England Club following a semi-final run in Eastbourne, his career-best tour-level result. The week prior, the 29-year-old was a quarter-finalist at Queen’s. Harris holds an 11-4 grass record across all levels this season, including semi-final appearances at the Surbiton and Nottingham Challengers.

The British wild card will make his major main-draw debut against Spaniard Jaume Munar.

Zizou Bergs
The 25-year-old, who reached the Roland Garros third round, advanced through qualifying for the second straight Slam. Bergs first cracked the Top 100 after his run on the Parisian clay, where he took a set off 10th seed Grigor Dimitrov. The Belgian also pushed seventh seed Stefanos Tsitsipas to four sets at the Australian Open.

An eight-time ATP Challenger Tour champion, Bergs has enjoyed grass-court success at that level, having won in Ilkley in 2022, then ranked World No. 207 in the PIF ATP Rankings. Bergs seeks his first Wimbledon main-draw victory against Frenchman Arthur Cazaux.

Ben Shelton is set to make his second appearance at Wimbledon, having experienced his first taste of the grass-court major last summer.

The 21-year-old American, who faces Italian qualifier Mattia Bellucci in the first round, caught up with ATPTour.com before this year's event to discuss his early memories of watching The Championships, Wimbledon traditions, the stories of his dad Bryan Shelton playing at the major and much more...

What is your first memory of watching Wimbledon?
The memory that's clearest to me is probably the 2019 final between Novak and Roger. It was probably the first time I had the attention span to watch a five-set match. I’d say when I was younger, I probably wasn't as interested in watching tennis or watching some tennis matches. But that final really grabbed me.

What are your first memories of playing Wimbledon?
I got an opportunity to practise for a week at Wimbledon before playing Queen’s last year. It was a great experience for me, seeing the site kind of empty. Then when I got back from playing the tournament in Mallorca, the site was full, the tournament was getting started, it was a completely different feel.

What were your early thoughts about the aura of the venue?
I always think it's cool when you're able to see two sides of the tournament. The more closed-off side, which feels exclusive, like no one else is there. I quite like that as well, the week before. You can walk around and it is chill and you really get to see the site.

The grass-court season hits its high point at Wimbledon, where the world’s best players can earn as many as 2,000 PIF ATP Rankings points.

One year ago, Carlos Alcaraz won the title in a thrilling final against Novak Djokovic, and current World No. 1 Jannik Sinner reached the semi-finals. Alcaraz (2,000), Djokovic (1,200) and Sinner (720) are defending a big chunk of points, which does not make them ideal selections for the PIF ATP Rankings Predictor.

Who could be good choices for your team? ATPTour.com takes a look at three players to consider.

Make Your Picks Now!

Casper Ruud — dropping 45 points
The Norwegian star will be the first to tell you grass is not his favourite surface. The 25-year-old has only played 10 tour-level matches on the surface in his career.

Australian Max Purcell reached his first ATP Tour final on Friday at the Rothesay International, where he ended the run of British wild card Billy Harris.

The qualifier battled hard to earn a 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 win at the ATP 250 grass-court event in Eastbourne.

"I have a new coach this week and I feel everything is coming together this week," Purcell said. "It feels good. Qualifying last week in Halle gave me confidence, a couple of straight sets matches there. I felt that I was due to get a couple of wins."

In Saturday's final Purcell will face two-time champion Taylor Fritz, who held firm in two tie-breaks to defeat another Aussie, Aleksandar Vukic 7-6(5), 7-6(4). Fritz has been dominant on serve all week, dropping just two points on first-serve against Thiago Seyboth Wild in the opening round, four against Shang Juncheng in the quarter-finals and two against Vukic.

"I felt like I had a lot of chances to break and I just couldn't make it happen,” Fritz said. “Perhaps one or two I could have done better but for the majority he played very well, so credit to him. It doesn't feel good just scraping by in 'breakers but it gives me a lot of confidence that I am finding ways to win.

Neal Skupski and Michael Venus captured their second consecutive title Friday when they saved two championship points to triumph at the Rothesay International.

The fourth seeds, who last week were crowned champions at Queen’s, extended their winning streak to eight by overcoming third seeds Matthew Ebden and John Peers 4-6, 7-6(2), 11-9. Ebden and Peers served for the title at 5-4 in the second set and were one point from victory when they lost a deciding point.

"It was very up and down match, very tricky decisions," Skupski said. "Them boys played great for nearly all the match. Mike kind of took over at 4-5 down [in the second set], hit some amazing shots. He gave me belief, we stuck around and that is doubles really, it is fine margins. It is great to come away with a win like that, it gives us confidence."

Skupski and Venus saved another match point at 8/9 in the Match Tie-break, tallying three consecutive points to win the Eastbourne crown after one hour, 45 minutes. The British-Kiwi duo fended off 11 of 13 break points faced, according to Infosys ATP Stats.

Cash/Galloway reach second grass final of season in MallorcaJulian Cash and Robert Galloway advanced to their second final of the grass swing at the Mallorca Championships presented by Waterdrop. The British-American duo outlasted Germans Constantin Frantzen and Hendrik Jebens 6-7(3), 6-3, 10-8.

Top seed Jannik Sinner and defending champion Carlos Alcaraz headline Monday’s schedule at Wimbledon, where Daniil Medvedev will also be in action on Day 1 of main draw play. Seven-time winner Novak Djokovic will begin his title quest Tuesday.

Alcaraz holds the honours of Wimbledon’s tradition — the previous year’s champion kickstarts the tournament. The top half of the draw will play Monday, when third seed Alcaraz faces Estonian qualifier Mark Lajal.

Sinner, who is the top seed at a major for the first time, will start against Yannick Hanfmann. The Italian is aiming for his second major title after triumphing at the Australian Open in January.

Among other matches Monday, Medvedev, World No. 5 in the PIF ATP Rankings, meets American Aleksandar Kovacevic, eighth seed Casper Ruud goes against Alex Bolt and 10th seed Grigor Dimitrov faces Dusan Lajovic.

Djokovic begins his 19th appearance at the All England Club Tuesday. The Serbian starts against Czech qualifier Vit Kopriva. Djokovic is aiming to tie Roger Federer for the most Wimbledon titles (8) and become the oldest champion (37).

Alejandro Tabilo’s career-best season keeps getting better and better.

The Chilean advanced to his third final of the year Friday when he rallied past Frenchman Gael Monfils 2-6, 6-2, 7-6(3) at the Mallorca Championships presented by Waterdrop.

The 27-year-old joins Jaime Fillol Sr. as the only Chilean men in the Open Era to reach tour-level finals on clay, grass and hard courts. A champion in Auckland and runner-up in Santiago, Tabilo is the first Chilean to reach three ATP Tour finals in a single season since Cristian Garin in 2019.

“I couldn’t have even imagined the first week of the year, winning my first ATP [title],” Tabilo said. “We are here now and hopefully we can keep going with this level.”

The fourth seed recovered from a slow start, leaning on his serve and forehand to dig him out of trouble. After falling a double break down in the opening set, Tabilo quickly regrouped and did not drop a point behind his first serve in the second set. The lefty frequently moved forward in critical moments, winning 20/26 net points, according to Infosys ATP Stats.

Cooling down after a tennis match is essential to aid in recovery, prevent injury, and reduce muscle soreness. Here are some effective steps and tips for a proper cool-down routine: 1. Light Jog or WalkDuration: 5-10 minutesPurpose: Helps to gradually lower your heart rate and increase blood flow to help remove metabolic waste from the muscles.2. S...

#NextGenATP Shang Juncheng has climbed one spot in the PIF ATP Live Race To Jeddah after reaching the quarter-finals at the ATP 250 event in Eastbourne.

The Chinese lefty advanced through qualifying to reach his second tour-level quarter-final of the season at the grass-court event and is now third in the Live Race To Jeddah. Shang is aiming to make his debut at the Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF in December.

PIF ATP Live Race To Jeddah

Czech Jakub Mensik and American Alex Michelsen also tasted success on grass at tour-level events this week. Mensik, 18, defeated Christopher Eubanks and Fabio Fognini en route to the last eight in Mallorca, with 19-year-old Michelsen falling to Sebastian Ofner at the same stage of the ATP 250.

Mensik, who is second in the Live Race To Jeddah, is now set to make his Wimbledon debut and will play 23rd seed Alexander Bublik in the first round. Fourth-placed Michelsen takes on South African qualifier Lloyd Harris at The Championships, with Shang facing Chilean qualifier Cristian Garin.