NEWPORT, R.I.—On July 4th, just before 11 a.m. ET, Andrey Rublev struck an ace to eliminate Adrian Mannarino from Wimbledon. Mannarino, who turned 37 while playing in SW19, won three qualifying and two main-draw matches at The Championships, his fourth grass-court tournament in four weeks.
For his efforts, Frenchman afforded himself four days rest. On July 8th, just after 11 a.m. ET, Mannarino struck his first shot at the Hall of Fame Open in Newport, Rhode Island. The ATP Challenger Tour event, 3,316 miles away from the All England Club, awards 125 ranking points and $28,400 to its champion—exactly 1,875 less points, and roughly four million dollars, short of Wimbledon’s winner’s haul.
“Was a tough decision for me to come here,” admits Mannarino. “My goal [is] to make the cut for the main draw in the US Open, and I saw after the [Rublev] match that I was still a little bit short.
“So I needed to come here to get a couple of wins if I want to make it.”