RICKY DIMON TAKES ANOTHER LOOK AT THE 2015 WIMBLEDON DRAW

Written by: on 27th June 2015
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RICKY DIMON TAKES ANOTHER LOOK AT THE 2015 WIMBLEDON DRAW

Novak Djokovic of Serbia performs during a training session for the All England Lawn Tennis Championships Grand Slam tournament in Wimbledon, London, Britain, 27 June 2015. The All England Lawn Tennis Championships will take place from 29 June until 12 July 2015. EPA/PETER KLAUNZER  |

Wimbledon draw: This time it’s Murray and Federer with the tough road

 

By Ricky Dimon

 

Thankfully for the sake of balanced draws there is no repeat of a Novak Djokovic-Rafael Nadal quarter of the bracket that we saw at the French Open. In Paris, the world No. 1 had to face Nadal in the quarters and Murray in the semis. Now it is Djokovic who landed in the favorable half of the Wimbledon draw.

 

That being said, Djokovic’s path to the latter stages of the tournament will not be without intrigue. After kicking things off against Philipp Kohlschreiber, the top seed could meet 2002 Wimbledon champion Lleyton Hewitt. Accomplished grass-court player Bernard Tomic likely awaits in round three and 2013 semifinalist Jerzy Janowicz is a possible adversary in the last 16.

 

Hewitt vs. Jarkko Nieminen is not your everyday clash between two players ranked No. 117 and 91st, respectively. For both well-respected veterans this is the last go-around at Wimbledon. Hewitt plans to call it quits following the 2016 Australian Open and Nieminen recently announced that he is retiring at the end of this season. One year older than the Finn at 34, Hewitt is a mere 1-6 at the ATP level for what has been an abbreviated 2015 campaign. Nieminen is 0-5 lifetime in the head-to-head series, but he owns 10 ATP-level wins this year and he has four grass-court matches already under his belt this summer.

 

You know the top of the men’s game is strong when the quarter headlined by the most recent Grand Slam champion (Stan Wawrinka) is the one in which everyone else wants to find themselves. But that does not mean Milos Raonic will already be penciling himself into the semis for a second straight season. In fact, the big-serving Canadian may be hard-pressed just to make the second week. That has more to do with his draw than the fact that Raonic is coming off a foot procedure that sidelined him from the French Open. He is on a collision course for the third round with 2014 Wimbledon quarterfinalist Nick Kyrgios.

Photo by Dusan Vemic.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

With Raonic, Kyrgios, Grigor Dimitrov, and Richard Gasquet on the other side of this section, Wawrinka has a friendlier road to the quarters. The fourth-ranked Swiss’ nearest seed is No. 32 Dominic Thiem, a familiar foe who is more adept on clay compared to grass at this point in his budding career. Benjamin Becker and Fernando Verdasco are also possible first-week opponents for Wawrinka.

 

Like at the French Open, this is still a lopsided Grand Slam draw. Friday’s ceremony at the All-England Club put Nadal, Andy Murray, David Ferrer, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, and Ivo Karlovic all in the same quarter of the bracket and they are also in the same half as Roger Federer.

 

To lift the trophy for a second time at the All-England Club, Murray may have to beat Nadal, Federer, and Djokovic in succession. And that does not even mention the fact that the crowd favorite could run into either Tsonga or Karlovic in the fourth round. As brutal as Murray’s draw is, perhaps nobody has it worse than Tsonga. The Frenchman opens against big-serving lefty Gilles Muller before a possible date with a confident Istomin in round two. After that, either Karlovic or Alexandr Dolgopolov would likely await. If Tsonga somehow navigates those waters, Murray would likely be the one to finish him off.

 

As the No. 10 seed, Nadal was never going to have it easy. Ferrer is probably the 5-8 seed that the 14-time Grand Slam champion would choose to face in the fourth round, but Nadal will not be looking that far ahead. Not only is the Spaniard in a season-long slump, but there are also dangerous roadblocks that could extend his recent Wimbledon woes. Yen-Hsun Lu and Dustin Brown, who are on course to face Nadal in round two, are both grass-court gurus. A resurgent Viktor Troicki, who is looking good on grass and recently tested Nadal in the Stuttgart final, is looming relatively large as a prospective third-round opponent.

Photo by Dusan Vemic.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Federer did well to avoid Nadal in his section of the bracket, but this is arguably the second toughest quarter. The 33-year-old Swiss should ease past Damir Dzumhur just as he did at the French Open (6-4, 6-3, 6-2 during third-round action) before things could get tricky. Sam Querrey has a history of pushing favored opponents to five sets at Wimbledon and he has some momentum from a runner-up finish in Nottingham. Fellow American Jack Sock is on fire in 2015 and his serve and forehand should be forces on grass. Feliciano Lopez, one of the few Spaniards more effective on the green stuff than on clay, is a possible third-round foe for Federer.

 

If a Federer vs. Tomas Berdych quarterfinal is to be derailed, however, it will likely come at Berdych’s expense. The Czech has to open with Jeremy Chardy, may run into Nicolas Mahut in the last 64, and could eventually see the winner of the Lukas Rosol vs. Ernests Gulbis clash.

 

Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand.

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