A LOOK AT TUESDAY’S WIMBLEDON MATCHES, INCLUDING NADAL AND FEDERER BY RICKY DIMON

Written by: Staff on 23rd June 2014

A LOOK AT TUESDAY'S WIMBLEDON MATCHES, INCLUDING NADAL AND FEDERER BY RICKY DIMON

epa04274968 An umpire follows first round action on the outside courts during the Wimbledon Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis Club, in London, Britain, 23 June 2014. EPA/ANDY RAIN |

The second day of action at the All-England Club will feature several past champions, including Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, and Lleyton Hewitt. Jerzy Janowicz, a semifinalist in 2013, is also in action. So, too, are Wimbledon marathon men John Isner and Nicolas Mahut.

(5) Stanislas Wawrinka vs. Joao Sousa: Wawrinka has the misfortune of being seeded fifth despite being ranked third. He also has a relatively tough first-rounder on his hands with Sousa, who is surprisingly capable on grass.

Denis Istomin vs. (32) Dmitry Tursunov: These guys have already played each other four times in 2014 (Tursunov won the opener, Istomin has won the past three). This is not quite as funny as the Wimbledon draw pitting Isner and Mahut against each other in the 2011 first round, but it’s still humorous.

(19) Feliciano Lopez vs. (Q) Yuichi Sugita: Lopez is coming off a title in Eastbourne. Sugita is coming off three qualifying wins. Advantage: Lopez.

Jarkko Nieminen vs. Federico Delbonis: This lefty vs. lefty matchup would be more entertaining on clay. Nieminen at least has somewhat of an idea of how to play on grass—which is more than Delbonis can say.

(WC) Daniel Smethurst vs. (9) John Isner: I thought I had heard of just about everyone in the Top 300. Smethurst may be an exception. His first-ever match on the main tour will be a dangerous one as the Brit attempts to return Isner’s rockets.

(15) Jerzy Janowicz vs. Somdev Devvarman: This is a rematch of the “How many times” incident at the 2013 Australian Open. On grass, however, Devvarman may not be able to make it competitive enough for Janowicz to get similarly hot and bothered.

Lleyton Hewitt vs. Michal Przysiezny: At 33, Hewitt has won only a single match since Houston in early April and just six matches since opening his season with a title in Brisbane. Count out the 2002 Wimbledon champion at your own peril.

(30) Marcel Granollers vs. Nicolas Mahut: This is an intriguing matchup between a grass-court stalwart in Mahut and an underrated all-court player in Granollers. The only guarantee is that it ends sometime before 70-68 in the fifth.

Daniel Gimeno-Traver vs. Santiago Giraldo: Surprisingly, these two guys have played each other seven times in their careers (Giraldo leads the head-to-head series 6-1). Not surprisingly, this will be the first on grass.

Gilles Muller vs. Julien Benneteau: Either one may be able to give Federer some trouble in the second round. But it remains to be seen if the winner will have enough left in the tank because this has five sets written all over it.

Paolo Lorenzi vs. (4) Roger Federer: Federer is consistently dealt easy draw after easy draw in the early rounds of Grand Slams. It does not get any easier than Lorenzi on grass.

(8) Milos Raonic vs. Matthew Ebden: Inexplicably, Raonic has been abysmal on grass throughout his young career. Ebden can only hope that trend continues.

Dusan Lajovic vs. (28) Guillermo Garcia-Lopez: Lajovic has had more good fortune (draws, lucky losers, etc.) in 2014 than some players have in a lifetime. Garcia-Lopez on grass is not a particularly bad first-rounder, either.

(22) Philipp Kohlschreiber vs. Igor Sijsling: I had Kohlschreiber in the Wimbledon semis last year and he lost in the first round to Ivan Dodig. Well, I have some bad news for Kohlschreiber and some good news for Sijsling: I have Kohlschreiber in the semifinals yet again!

Kenny De Schepper vs. (10) Kei Nishikori: As Ernests Gulbis found out at Queen’s Club, De Schepper is a serious wild card on grass. If the underdog serves well and Nishikori is not quite 100 percent, things could get dicey.

(13) Richard Gasquet vs. (Q) James Duckworth: Nadal’s quarter is somewhat wide open. A healthy Gasquet suddenly has to be considered one of the semifinal contenders after finishing runner-up to Lopez in Eastbourne.

(WC) Nick Kyrgios vs. Stephane Robert: Robert is old enough to be Kyrgios’ dad…sort of. Will experience and guile win out over youth and talent? Possibly, but probably not.

(LL) Malek Jaziri vs. (24) Gael Monfils: Monfils should win this comfortably enough to focus on some nonsensical entertainment in addition to his tennis. That would be good news for anyone in attendance.

(29) Ivo Karlovic vs. (LL) Frank Dancevic: Karlovic may be looking ahead to a possible third-round showdown with Rafael Nadal. Or maybe not. Karlovic’s matches are always so closely-contested and determined by just a few points that he can never really look past any opponent—even a lucky loser.

Benoit Paire vs. Lukas Rosol: Will Rosol be looking ahead to Nadal, whom the Czech stunned in 2012? He might be, but he cannot discount Paire—an opponent from whom you have absolutely no idea what you are going to get on any given day.

Martin Klizan vs. (2) Rafael Nadal: Nadal losing in either the first round to Klizan, the second round to Rosol, or the third round to Karlovic are trendy picks. This one may be the least likely of the three, but the good news for Klizan is that at this point in the tournament the grass still plays like…you know, grass!

Topics: Gael Monfils, Jerzy Janowicz, John Isner, Lleyton Hewitt, Nicolas Mahut, Rafael Nadal, Richard Gasquet, Ricky Dimon, Roger Federer, Stanislas Wawrinka, Tennis, Tennis News, Wimbledon

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10sBalls_com says:

June 23, 2014 at 11:04 am

A LOOK AT TUESDAY’S WIMBLEDON MATCHES, INCLUDING NADAL AND FEDERER BY RICKY DIMON (@RD_Tennistalk) – http://t.co/8PU8jJn5YE @Wimbledon
RD_Tennistalk says:

June 23, 2014 at 11:05 am

RT @10sBalls_com: A LOOK AT TUESDAY’S WIMBLEDON MATCHES, INCLUDING NADAL AND FEDERER BY RICKY DIMON (@RD_Tennistalk) – http://t.co/8PU8jJn…