Jonny taking it all in his stride
Fed plants a seed of doubt on grass
ROGER FEDERER served a warning of his grass-court form with a 7-6, 6-4 victory over Mischa Zverev at Halle to ensure Wimbledon will see some familiar names at the top of the seedings.
Victory enabled the Swiss to leapfrog Stan Wawrinka into fourth place in the rankings, which means for the first time in a Grand Slam since 2014 the ‘Big Four’ of Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic, Rafa Nadal and Federer will take the four main spots in next Friday’s draw.
British No1 Jo Konta was blasted off court in Birmingham by 2015 Wimbledon quarter-finalist Coco Vandeweghe 6-1, 6-3. The American No30 took just 24 minutes to bully a player 23 places above her in the rankings out of the first set and although Konta fought back in the second, it was not enough to prevent defeat. There is still some home interest in the Aegon Championships, though, after Britain’s Jamie Murray and Brazilian partner Bruno Soares beat Ryan Harrison and Michael Venus 7-6, 4-6, 10-6 to reach the doubles semi-final. RORY McILROY was downbeat after shooting a no-frills three-under-par 67 on day one of the Travelers Championship in Cromwell, Connecticut.
The world No3 hit four birdies along with a bogey but needed 30 putts.
“The good thing is I had 13 straight one-putts in the pro-am yesterday and I followed that up today,” said McIlroy.
“I’ve come off a little disappointed because I gave myself so many chances.” JONNY BAIRSTOW says a philosophical approach has helped him maintain his red-hot form despite being in and out of England’s limited-overs teams.
The Yorkshireman has established himself in the Test side over the past 18 months after becoming a consistent wicketkeeper and runscorer. But his fortunes in the shorter formats have been more fickle, with Bairstow far from assured selection to the one-day and T20 teams despite scoring a glut of runs.
The 27-year-old has made three half-centuries in his past five ODI innings but found himself out of favour for the Champions Trophy until being parachuted in as an opener for last week’s semi-final defeat by Pakistan.
His hopes of maintaining his ODI place ahead of Jason Roy, who he replaced, were boosted by a brilliant unbeaten 60 in the first T20 international against South Africa at Southampton on Wednesday.
That 35-ball innings helped Eoin Morgan’s men cruise to a ninewicket win with 33 balls to spare. And, speaking ahead of today’s second T20 against the Proteas in Taunton, Bairstow revealed not worrying about his place has been the secret behind his stunning form.
“I’m happy with the way I’m playing and striking the ball and if I’m picked in the XI to play then fantastic, and if I’m not then there is nothing I can do about it,” he said.
“I’ve been in squads and out of squads; I’ve played, I’ve not played in different formats and if you look at it and pick it apart you’ll get yourself het up. There is more to life than getting het up about X, Y and Z, you’ve still got to live.
“You’ve got to deal with the fact you might score runs but the next game you might not play. It is a philosophical way of looking at it, even from a Yorkshireman, but it is going all right at the moment.”
Bairstow believes a new-found sense of maturity has been a huge help in dealing with the vagaries of selection. “I have grown up a lot over the last three years,” he said.
“I’m not sure what I can particularly put that down to but naturally you grow up from a boy to a man and you learn about different things. I would have put more pressure on myself to perform each time I play two years ago but I’m at that stage now where I’ve been in and out of the team and had to learn to deal with that, which is a skill in itself.”
Leg-spinner Mason Crane, 20, impressed in his first international on Wednesday and should retain his place, although England could opt to bring in either Lancashire’s spinning all-rounder Liam Livingstone or Surrey seamer Tom Curran.
Liam Plunkett is expected to come in for fast bowler Mark Wood, who is rested for the final two games.
ENGLAND (probable):
IRELAND are eligible to play Test matches after being granted full membership by the ICC along with Afghanistan.
Ireland have been playing as an affiliate member since 1993 and have recorded famous victories over Pakistan, England and the West Indies. But after a unanimous vote at yesterday’s ICC annual conference in London, they will be able to play Test cricket against the world’s best.