RICKY DIMON’S PREVIEW AND PICKS FOR THE DAY 3 MEN’S SCHEDULE AT WIMBLEDON TENNIS

Written by: Staff on 30th June 2015

RICKY DIMON'S PREVIEW AND PICKS FOR THE DAY 3 MEN'S SCHEDULE AT WIMBLEDON TENNIS

Tommy Haas of Germany in action against Dusan Lajovic of Serbia during their first round match for the Wimbledon Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis Club, in London, Britain, 29 June 2015. EPA/ANDY RAIN |

Ricky’s preview and picks for the Day 3 men’s schedule at Wimbledon

By Ricky Dimon

The top half of the men’s singles draw will be back in action at Wimbledon on Wednesday. Jarkko Nieminen just barely managed to keep his career at this event alive during first-round competition and his reward is a date with Novak Djokovic. Another underdog veteran, Tommy Haas, is continuing his campaign against Milos Raonic.

A look at some of the marquee matchups on Day 3:

(1) Novak Djokovic vs. Jarkko Nieminen: In a first-rounder between two players looking to prolong their Wimbledon careers, Nieminen (retiring at the end of 2015) outlasted Lleyton Hewitt (retiring at the 2016 Australian Open) 11-9 in the fifth set. The 33-year-old Finn obviously has nothing to lose in this one–except for the match–so he can just go out and enjoy his swan-song. Djokovic will make sure that Nieminen is on vacation for his 34th birthday (next Thursday).

Novak Djokovic of Serbia returns to Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany during their first round match for the Wimbledon Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis Club, in London, Britain, 29 June 2015. EPA/FACUNDO ARRIZABALAGA

(Q) Pierre-Hugues Herbert vs. (27) Bernard Tomic: Both players recovered from two sets to one down to survive in five on Monday. Herbert’s 10-8 in the fifth win in an all-young gun affair with Hyeon Chung propels him into another all-youngster clash (although not as young as Chung, of course) with Tomic. The stakes are high, especially because the Herbert-Tomic winner will likely be on Centre Court versus Novak Djokovic on Friday.

Marsel Ilhan vs. (14) Kevin Anderson: We could have had Anderson vs. Jerzy Janowicz. Instead we have Anderson vs. Ilhan. That’s bad for fans, but it’s great for Anderson. The South African should coast into the third round, and he also has to like his chances to reach the second week and face Djokovic next Monday.

(9) Marin Cilic vs. Ricardas Berankis: Berankis earned the distinction as the first winner at Wimbledon in 2015. He took the court right away on Day 1 and got a second-set retirement from Andreas Haider-Maurer. So…I guess he didn’t really “earn” the aforementioned distinction. But he will have to earn everything he can get against the reigning U.S. Open champion. Cilic looked strong in round one while disposing of qualifier Hiroki Moriya.

(WC) Matthew Ebden vs. (17) John Isner: Isner fired 38 aces and served at 82 percent against Go Soeda on Monday. As a result, his first match lasted nine hours and 20 minutes shorter than his 2010 marathon against Nicolas Mahut. Ebden is a solid grass-court performer, but few people are going to fare well at Isner’s expense if the big guy keeps putting in 82 percent of his missiles.

John Isner of the USA in action against Go Soeda of Japan during their first round match for the Wimbledon Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis Club, in London, Britain, 29 June 2015. EPA/ANDY RAIN

(WC) Denis Kudla vs. Alexander Zverev: Not unlike Tomic and Herbert, these two future stars (we think? we hope?) persevered through five tough sets to punch a ticket for what will be an intriguing second-round collision. Kudla upset Pablo Cuevas after trailing by two sets, while Zverev fought past Teymuraz Gabashvili 6-3, 1-6, 6-3, 3-6, 9-7. This is a massive opportunity for both players.

Fernando Verdasco vs. (32) Dominic Thiem: Verdasco has the edge on grass. Thiem has the edge in that he did not spend three hours and 57 minutes on the court to win 13-11 in the fifth set in his opening match? The only guarantee is that this one will be entertaining.

(WC) Liam Broady vs. (16) David Goffin: Last year Goffin had to play Andy Murray in the first round. His reward for being dealt such a tough hand appears to be what may have to be considered the easiest draw through two rounds this year: Horacio Zeballos followed by Broady. That’s not to take anything away from Broady, who deserves huge props for pulling off the biggest win of his career and doing so from two sets down against Marinko Matosevic.

(11) Grigor Dimitrov vs. Steve Johnson: Johnson did America proud by overcoming Lukas Lacko in five sets. Yes, it is a match Johnson was supposed to win. But any five-set victory, especially on a surface that isn’t your favorite, is commendable. Dimitrov will be difficult, but an upset is not entirely out of the question.

(26) Nick Kyrgios vs. Juan Monaco: Draws do not get much better than seeing two Argentine clay-courters on the other side of the net in your first two matches. Kyrgios made mincemeat out of Diego Schwartzman and he should do the same to Monaco. Milos Raonic in round three is where things will start to get tricky for the outlandish Aussie.

Nick Kyrgios of Australia in action against Diego Schwartzman of Argentina during their first round match for the Wimbledon Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis Club, in London, Britain, 29 June 2015. EPA/ANDY RAIN

(PR) Tommy Haas vs. (7) Milos Raonic: Haas did extremely well to see make relatively routine work of Dusan Lajovic in round one. Even though Raonic did not look overly impressive in a four-set win over Daniel Gimeno-Traver, an upset by the 37-year-old German is too much to ask. Isn’t it? Either way, it is awesome to see Haas achieving success at this point in his career.

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

Topics: 2015 Wimbledon Championships, All England Lawn Tennis Club, Atp World Tour, Bernard Tomic, Fernando Verdasco, GRIGOR DIMITROV, Marin Cilic, milos raonic, Nick Kyrgios, Novak Djokovic, Ricky Dimon, Sw19, Tennis News, Tommy Haas, Wimbledon Tennis

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10sBalls_com says:

June 30, 2015 at 6:59 pm

-@Dimonator’s PREVIEW AND PICKS FOR THE DAY 3 MEN’S SCHEDULE AT @Wimbledon #TENNIS- http://t.co/h0ZuGqdOGA #SW19 #Wimbledon2015 #Wimbledon
Dimonator says:

June 30, 2015 at 7:43 pm

RT @10sBalls_com: -@Dimonator’s PREVIEW AND PICKS FOR THE DAY 3 MEN’S SCHEDULE AT @Wimbledon #TENNIS- http://t.co/h0ZuGqdOGA #SW19 #Wimbled…