MY FIRST EXPERIENCE AT THE ATP • WTA NATURE VALLEY INTERNATIONAL TENNIS TOURNAMENT IN EASTBOURNE

Diego Schwartzman of Argentina during his practice at the Nature Valley International in Eastbourne, Great Britain, on Sunday, June 24, 2018. The tournament runs from June 24 – 30.

 

 

Eastbourne – Upon arriving at the Nature Valley International tennis today in Eastbourne, I felt like it was not going to be like the Fever-Tree Championships, where I was last week. And that’s not a bad thing, this site is just smaller than the Queen’s Club, or so it felt like it.

 

I made my way to the practice courts to check out who was playing, and the first people I saw practicing with each other were Johanna Konta and Karolina Pliskova. I then walked towards the catering garden, where I saw Taylor Fritz, who looked in great form, hitting the ball with Mikhail Kukushkin on Court 4, so I stuck around to try and get a few photos of them.

 

I took a look at the last practice court, and I noticed Diego Schwartzman hitting a few balls, so I thought I’d go watch him for a bit after I got a couple of good photos of Fritz. Diego moved great and looked ready to play tennis!

 

Courts Four, Five, and the four practice courts were all down the line, reminding me of Roehampton, where the players qualify for Wimbledon. You can really get up close and watch great tennis as the players get ready for tomorrow.

 

Many tennis fans by the catering garden, next to the practice courts, were laying on the grass eating strawberries & cream while enjoying the sun and tennis on the big screen. It’s not tennis in the UK without strawberries and cream!

 

There’s a lot of great tennis action for tomorrow. Andy Murray plays Stan Wawrinka, Americans Jared Donaldson and Taylor Fritz play against each other, and Caroline Wozniacki will play either Camila Giorgi or Irina-Camelia Begu. Andreas Seppi, Karolina Pliskova, David Ferrer, Agnieszka Radwanska, & more also to play tomorrow, so come by and check out some great tennis!

A map of the Nature Valley International tournament. Photo by Alejandro Gonzalez/10sBalls.

 

Taylor Fritz hits a backhand to Mikhail Kukushkin during their practice session on Court Five at the Nature Valley International in Eastbourne, Great Britain, on Sunday, June 24, 2018. Fritz will play Jared Donaldson in his first round match.