On the eve of Wimbledon, Alejandro Davidovich Fokina’s title at the Mallorca Championships was a result that continues to resonate.
In his sixth ATP final, and after multiple near-misses, the likeable Spaniard had finally broken through for his first career title. It was a moment he celebrated with a cathartic roar on the lawns of the stadium court.
Strong form ahead of Grand Slam tournaments can have mixed ripple effects, especially when it comes during the compressed grasscourt season. As Australian pro Jaimee Fourlis noted when previewing Wimbledon, triumphant players can take confidence and form into a Slam after hoisting a trophy but can also arrive “quite fried”.
“It works for some players, sometimes it doesn't work,” she told ausopen.com. “It's going to be really interesting to see how that plays out.”
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At Wimbledon in 2026, it’s working quite well. Of the 12 players who won grasscourt lead-in events, seven have progressed to the third round at Wimbledon. Joining them in the last 32 are seven players who were finalists at those events.
By contrast, several players who went deep on clay at Roland Garros have already exited Wimbledon. Five of the eight singles semifinalists – Mirra Andreeva, Maja Chwalinska, Diana Shnaider, Jakub Mensik and Matteo Arnaldi – were eliminated by the second round.
Roland Garros men’s champion Alexander Zverev, finalist Flavio Cobolli and women’s semifinalist Marta Kostyuk remain alive, hoping to buck that trend.
Davidovich Fokina, meanwhile, has been particularly impressive.
Buoyed, rather than emotionally drained, after his long-awaited breakthrough in Mallorca, he crushed the dangerous Fabian Marozsan 6-3 6-0 6-3 in the second round to equal his best result at The Championships.
Wimbledon is the only major at which the 27-year-old is yet to reach the fourth round, but given he’s won 14 of his past 15 sets on grass, that could change in 2026.
Also winning titles in the week before Wimbledon were Zizou Bergs, Madison Keys and Karolina Muchova.
Bergs and Keys triumphed on the south English coast in Eastbourne, with Bergs beating Ugo Humbert in the final then repeating that feat just two days later in the first round at SW19. Set to face 114th-ranked British wildcard Arthur Fery, the Belgian could reach the second week at a major for the first time.
This is a stage at which Keys has frequently appeared, and after her third career title in Eastbourne, could do so for the sixth time at Wimbledon – although she would have to get past No.6 seed Amanda Anisimova, last year’s finalist, in her next match.
“It's obviously the Slam where I've, I guess, done the worst. But I don't know. I would love to make it one step further and make a semifinal and go even further and make a final or be able to lift the trophy,” Keys said.
“A lot of times the game isn't fully dictated by you. So there's been times where I feel like I have played really well here, and I've simply lost because the person on the other side of the net played better. Then I think especially on grass, there's always, I feel like it's just one of those surfaces where things can be going great, and then momentum can shift super quickly. It's just a tougher surface.
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“Obviously Amanda, having made the finals here last year, she's one of the best ball strikers in the game probably ever. Has one of the greatest backhands I think I've ever seen.”
As Bergs and Keys reigned in Eastbourne, Muchova prevailed in Bad Homburg before heading to Wimbledon and snapping a five-match losing streak there.
A quarterfinalist at SW19 in 2019 and 2021, Muchova has dropped just 10 games en route to the third round and next faces Thai qualifier Mananchaya Sawangkaew for a shot at going further.
Naomi Osaka, whom Muchova beat in the Bad Homburg final, is also surging on grass. The four-time major champion faces Daria Kasatkina on Friday night, targeting a place in the fourth round at Wimbledon for the first time at 28 years of age.
Muchova’s fellow Czechs Marie Bouzkova and Linda Noskova lifted grasscourt tournament trophies a week earlier, with Noskova winning the WTA 500 title in Berlin and Bouzkova triumphing in Nottingham.
Bouzkova, a former Wimbledon quarterfinalist, won the Nottingham final over Emma Navarro, and both are through to the third round at the All England Club.
Another Czech, 2024 Wimbledon winner Barbora Krejcikova, reached the final in s-Hertogenbosch to open the grasscourt season, foreshadowing her Centre Court upset of French champion Andreeva. She and Muchova are on course for a fourth-round showdown.
And then there are the Americans, Frances Tiafoe and Taylor Fritz, who have thrived on grass this year and carried that form into Wimbledon. Tiafoe beat Fritz for the biggest title of his career in Halle, a week after Fritz reached the final on grass in Stuttgart.
Should they win their third-round matches at Wimbledon, they will meet in a blockbuster last-16 clash.
As Tiafoe and Fritz were battling it out in the Halle final, compatriots Tommy Paul (Queen’s) and Jessica Pegula (Berlin) were also competing in grasscourt finals, and they too are into the third round at Wimbledon.
With so many players oozing confidence, mastering the grass, and continuing to advance, it sets the stage beautifully for what could unfold this fortnight at the All England Club.