Grass Tennis Club
Grass Tennis Club Form Book:
Grass Tournament Season, 2026
The grass-court season is the shortest and least forgiving passage of the tennis year, a precious handful of weeks in which the ball skids low, the margins shrink to almost nothing, and reputation counts for rather less than it should. As the players walk out at the All England Club, it is worth pausing to consider all that has gone before. The form book, read with care, tells a story the rankings do not always reflect.
Grass, you will appreciate, is no respecter of status. It rewards the flat strike, the biting slice, and the serve that hurries through low and fast; above all, it rewards a cool head as the points build up in a rush. The world rankings measure a season’s accumulated weight, patiently gathered over a year; the grass court measures something altogether more immediate. And over these past few weeks, the two have been telling rather different tales. So, before a single ball is struck in earnest on Centre Court, allow me to lay the state of play before you, much as a form book would, with the freshest run on the right and the verdict at the foot of the page.
How to read the form
Each marker records the stage a player reached at a grass event this season. The strip runs left to right, earliest to most recent.
Where the season begins
Bonmont Tennis Masters
Before the tour proper stirs into life, the grass season now has an overture, and a rather elegant one at that. Staged across three midsummer days above Lake Geneva, on what is the only grass court in all of Switzerland, the Bonmont Tennis Masters has quietly appointed itself the most civilised way to begin a grass campaign. Six of the leading men gather in an intimate, almost garden-party setting to shake the clay from their shoes and rediscover the particular footwork that the lawn, and the lawn alone, demands. It is, in the truest sense of the word, a prelude: the world’s elite, preparing for Wimbledon, in full and unhurried view.
That such a surface should exist at all is something of a small marvel, a true English lawn coaxed into being in continental Europe, where well-made grass courts remain vanishingly rare. For its third edition, six of the leading men gathered to christen the season; and it was Tomás MartÃn Etcheverry who carried off the honours, the Argentine getting the better of Karen Khachanov in the closing match. It is a genuine pleasure to see the event take its place as the fixture that now opens the road to SW19.
- FinalEtcheverry def. Khachanov 6-3, 3-6, 6-3
- Round robinMoutet def. Rinderknech 6–7, 6–3, 6–4
- Round robinMoutet def. Wawrinka 6–3, 6–4
- Round robinRinderknech def. Wawrinka 7–6, 6–4
- Round robinKhachanov def. Bublik 6–3, 3–6, 6–3
- Round robinEtcheverry def. Bublik
Corentin Moutet, that most inventive of left-handers, rather lit up the round-robin, accounting for both Stan Wawrinka, the home favourite, and Arthur Rinderknech in turn; but it was Etcheverry who held his nerve when the silverware was finally on the line.
The grass season 2026 reviewed
The men: five winners, and not a single one the favourite
Five tour titles were contested on grass this June, and five different names were engraved upon the trophies, yet not one of those names belonged to a player ranked inside the world’s top eight. If one had been searching for a stamp of authority ahead of Wimbledon, some clear indication of who might be the man to beat, the grass court declined, rather mischievously, to provide it.
Kamil Majchrzak opened the account.
A quiet beginning on Dutch grass, the first title of the season claimed before the prestige events had properly got going but a winner’s habit is a winner’s habit, and worth noting all the same.
W MajchrzakFrances Tiafoe defeated Taylor Fritz, 6–4, 6–4.
There was a real sense of release about this one. Tiafoe had not lifted a trophy in some three years, and on a surface that has so often flattered only to deceive him, he found his finest tennis at precisely the right moment. Fritz, beaten in the final, will take consolation from a thoroughly impressive week of his own, not least an eighth consecutive victory over Alexander Zverev along the way. Tiafoe reached the last eight in Stuttgart first, then went the distance in Germany.
QW TiafoeF FritzFrancisco Cerúndolo defeated Tommy Paul, 6–7(5), 6–4, 6–3.
The longest final in the long history of Queen’s, more than three hours, and at the end of it, the first Argentine ever to lift that most English of trophies. That a man reared on the clay of South America should win the most assertive grass title of the season tells you a good deal about how curious these few weeks have been. Paul, it should be said, carried an eight-match unbeaten run at the club into the final, and still found no way through.
W CerúndoloF PaulS NakashimaAlejandro Davidovich Fokina defeated Ethan Quinn, 7–6(4), 6–3.
A maiden tour title at the sixth time of asking, sealed with an ace on home Spanish grass, five previous final defeats erased in a single, joyous afternoon. He arrives in south-west London seeded twenty-two and, for once in his career, travelling without the weight of what might have been.
W Davidovich FokinaZizou Bergs defeated Ugo Humbert, 3–6, 6–1, 6–4.
The fairy tale oplayer, and a thoroughly improbable one. Bergs arrived on the south coast in the grip of a six-match losing run and departed it the first Belgian man ever to win an ATP title on grass, lifted to a new career high in the process. Humbert, the beaten finalist, had earlier brought Jack Draper’s encouraging comeback to a close. The sting in the tail came with the draw: Bergs and Humbert were promptly paired together again in the Wimbledon first round.
SF HumbertW BergsThe grass season 2026 reviewed
The women: a wavering world No.1, and a run of first-time champions
If the men wanted for a king, the women produced a genuine and rather compelling subplot: the world’s leading player looking distinctly fallible, while around her a succession of contenders gathered up the breakthrough grass titles of their careers.
Linda Nosková defeated Jessica Pegula, 6–4, 4–6, 6–3.
A fine week’s work indeed: Nosková took both the singles and the doubles, the first player to complete that particular double at a single event since Conchita MartÃnez in the year 2000, and broke into the world’s top ten for the very first time. The louder stories, though, came in the semi-finals. Pegula handed the world No.1, Aryna Sabalenka, a chastening 6–0 in the deciding set; and a fearless 21-year-old, Alex Eala, swept past Vekić, Rybakina and Svitolina in succession on her Berlin debut before the run was finally halted.
W NoskováF PegulaS Sabalenka · EalaKarolina Muchová defeated Naomi Osaka (retired, 6–1, 1–0).
A first grass-court title for Muchová, in unfortunate circumstances with Osaka unable to continue but enough to restore the elegant Czech to the world’s top ten at the most opportune of moments. Hers is, to my eye, the most grass-literate game in the women’s draw: variety, soft hands, and a slice that sits down and stays low.
W MuchováF OsakaMadison Keys defeated Tatjana Maria, 7–5, 6–4.
A third Eastbourne crown, which places Keys alongside only Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova among the women to have won this title three times or more, and an eleventh of her career. The flat, heavy, first-strike hitting is precisely the sort of game that carries straight from one lawn to the next, and she arrives at Wimbledon seeded twenty-six and genuinely warmed-up.
W KeysF MariaMarie Bouzková defeated Emma Navarro, 7–6(5), 4–6, 6–2.
And another first grass title, another career high, with Bouzková climbing to around No.22 just before the cut-off for seeding. It became the recurring theme of the entire tournament: handing trophies to players who had never before managed one on the grass court stage.
W BouzkováF NavarroFour first-time grass champions, and a world No.1 who has now conceded 6–0 deciding sets at consecutive events. The form book and the ranking list are, for the moment, not reading from the same hymn sheet.
Wimbledon 2026
Who is missing, who has returned, and what it does to the draw
The draw was made on the 26th of June, and the casualty list had reshaped both halves of it before a ball was struck. The 139th Championships run from the 29th of June to the 12th of July; the prize fund has risen by a fifth, to £64.2 million, with each singles champion now departing the world’s best-known grass tennis club tournament some £3.6 million the richer.
- Out · MenCarlos Alcaraz (right wrist), the two-time defending champion and last year’s finalist, withdrawn. This is the headline absence by some distance: it opens up the men’s draw considerably, and removes the one player most expected to trouble Sinner.
- Out · MenLorenzo Musetti (thigh), Holger Rune and Valentin Vacherot are also absent from the fortnight.
- Out · WomenEmma Raducanu withdrew on the eve of the Championships. The “niggle” managed since Queen’s having worsened leaving Cameron Norrie as the only seeded British singles player in either draw.
- Out · WomenVictoria Mboko (knee, sustained at Queen’s), the highest-ranked woman to miss out.
- Back · WomenSerena Williams returns on a wildcard, in both the singles and the doubles alongside her sister Venus, her first singles appearance since the 2022 US Open. The draw could, intriguingly, set the seven-time champion against the defending champion, Iga Świątek, as early as the third round.
- Seeded · WomenAlex Eala, seeded twenty-nine on the strength of that breakout grass run; her form story now carrying a number beside her name.
The draw, in brief
The men. Sinner, the defending champion, begins against Kecmanović; Zverev arrives as the freshly crowned Roland Garros champion; and Djokovic, seeded seventh, sets out in pursuit of a record 25th major and a record-equalling eighth Wimbledon. The cruellest line in the whole draw, however, belongs to an unseeded Jack Draper, now with Andy Murray in his corner, who must face the sixth seed, Taylor Fritz, a semi-finalist here a year ago, in the very first round.
The women. Sabalenka leads despite her recent wavering; Rybakina, the champion of 2022, may return to No.1 with a deep run; and Świątek defends a title she claimed last year with a quite remarkable 6–0, 6–0 final. Gauff, the new Roland Garros champion Andreeva, and the in-form pair of Keys and Muchová all sit comfortably within range.
The form book · contenders
The men’s draw
The defending champion, the world No.1, and a very stron pick point in a draw that has lost its second favourite. He required no warm-up title to be the standard here; the withdrawal of Alcaraz merely widens an already considerable gulf.
In pursuit of history on two fronts at once; a record 25th major, and an eighth Wimbledon to match Federer. The seeding is generous to a man of this grass pedigree, and the draw has handed him a kind opening.
A semi-finalist here last year and a Halle finalist this June, with a fresh win over Zverev in the bank. The serve is tailor-made for the lawn but he has been dealt the draw’s most testing opener, against a Murray-coached Draper.
Elevated to the No.2 seeding, and arriving as the newly minted Roland Garros champion. His pedigree is beyond question; the grass record remains the open question and that stubborn hex against Fritz lurks in the half below.
A genuine form selection: the Halle champion, blessed with a temperament for the grand occasion and the rare gift of carrying a crowd along with him. When the grass clicks for Tiafoe, top-five names have a habit of falling.
Two more from the form file. Cerúndolo, the Queen’s champion, is living proof that a non-grass player can ride confidence a remarkably long way; Bergs, the Eastbourne champion, is white-hot but opens against the very man he beat in that final. Both are up for a run; neither, in honesty, is a banker.
The form book · contenders
The women’s draw
The defending champion, and the manner of last year’s title, a 6–0, 6–0 final, was the most ruthless grass-court performance in years. Her current form is patchier than at its peak, but nobody in this draw owns the surface as she did twelve months ago.
Still the favourite the rankings demand and, on current form, the most opposable No.1 in some years, having conceded those 6–0 deciding sets at consecutive events. Her power wins major titles; tbut he wobble is real, and worth watching closely in the early rounds.
The champion of 2022, and the quiet danger player in the draw; a flat, skidding game built expressly for grass, and a ranking incentive to go deep, with the No.1 spot within reach. The defeat to Eala in Berlin is the one blemish to file away.
The two who actually finished holding silverware. Keys brings flat, first-strike power that travels from lawn to lawn; Muchová brings the most grass-literate variety in the field, and a top-ten ranking regained at exactly the right hour.
The breakout player, and a thoroughly fearless one. She beat Rybakina and Svitolina in consecutive matches at Berlin, earned herself a seeding, and plays entirely without inhibition. No seed in her quarter will relish the sight of her name.
Vera’s verdict
The form calls
Three calls for each draw, offered, I should stress, as form judgements rather than as any sort of betting advice. The Banker is the most solid name on the page; the Value is the one the form rates above the noise; and the Dark Horse is the outsider with a clear route through.
The men’s draw
The women’s draw
The grass season 2026 reminds us that reputation is a negotiable thing. For the Wimbledon fortnight, the courts are now open to settle the opinons and rankings.
