A pair of Tar Heel men’s tennis products will be taking part starting this week in doubles competition at Wimbledon, the sport’s most hallowed tournament.
Nicholas Monroe and William Blumberg both are competing on separate teams as doubles action begins on Thursday June 30. Monroe is teaming with American Tommy Paul. The pair advanced to the quarterfinals of the French Open in 2020. They will face Ramkumar Ramanathan and Tomislav Brkic in the first round of gentlemen’s doubles.
Monroe and Paul will play in the same quarter of the doubles bracket as Blumberg and Norwegian Casper Ruud, who is ranked No. 6 in the world in singles and reached the French Open final earlier this summer. Blumberg and Ruud are slated to play Nicolas Barrientos and Miguel Angel Reyes-Varela in the first round.
“It’s such a special place,” Blumberg says of Wimbledon. “There’s nothing that’s out of order, there’s nothing that isn’t perfect and everything’s clean. It’s like the Augusta [National Golf Course, home of The Masters] of tennis.They do such a nice job of maintaining the grounds, the grass is so perfect.
“Coming here as a professional, there are a ton of different areas where I’m allowed to go now,” he continued. “To go in the men’s locker room is something I always dreamed of, and so playing Wimbledon for the first time is something that’s really special to me.”
Monroe lettered at Carolina from 2001-04, helping lead the Tar Heels to the 2002 Alantic Coast Conference championship. He turned pro after graduating from Carolina and has 152 career doubles wins and four titles to his name. Monroe reached a career-high world ranking of No. 30 in 2017. Monroe and partner J.P. Smith reached the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open that year.
Blumberg is making his professional debut at Wimbledon, returning to London after competing the tournament’s juniors event in 2016. Blumberg is the most decorated player in Carolina history and the only 10-time All-America in ITA history. He helped lead UNC to the 2021 ITA Indoor National Championship.
William Blumberg talks how special his to return to @Wimbledon is as a professional since last competing in Junior Wimbledon in 2016. pic.twitter.com/SmLnsu26Xb
— Carolina Men’s Tennis 🐏🎾 (@carolinatennis) June 28, 2022
Nicholas Monroe (’04)/Tommy Paul are in @Wimbledon Doubles draw; same quarter as…
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