RICKY DIMON’S PREVIEW AND PICKS FOR DAY 5 GENTLEMEN’S SCHEDULES & MATCHES, OH, AND FEDERER HITS A “TWEENER”

Written by: Staff on 2nd July 2015

RICKY DIMON'S PREVIEW AND PICKS FOR DAY 5 GENTLEMEN'S SCHEDULES & MATCHES, OH, AND FEDERER HITS A "TWEENER"

Roger Federer of Switzerland celebrates his win over Sam Querry of USA in their second round match during the Wimbledon Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis Club, in London, Britain, 02 July 2015. EPA/FACUNDO ARRIZABALAGA |

Novak Djokovic will be back in action as the top half of the Wimbledon draw returns to the hallowed lawn courts on Friday. The jam-packed schedule is highlighted, however, by a third-round showdown between Milos Raonic and Nick Kyrgios.

A look at some of the marquee matchups on Day 5:

(1) Novak Djokovic vs. (27) Bernard Tomic: This is not Tomic’s first rodeo against Djokovic. He has faced the world No. 1 three times–including once at Wimbledon–and has lost on all three occasions. Their 2011 quarterfinal clash at the All-England Club, though, went to 7-5 in the fourth set. Tomic is never short on confidence, but the question is: does he have any reason to be confident against Djokovic? Probably not.

(24) Leonardo Mayer vs. (14) Kevin Anderson: In what is an otherwise mouth-watering order of play on Friday, there really is not much to say about this one. Mayer and Anderson are two rock-solid performers, but nothing stands out here. TWEENER will undoubtedly get blasted by Djokovic on the second Monday.

Leonardo Mayer of Argentina in action against Marcel Granollers of Spain during their second round match for the Wimbledon Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis Club, in London, Britain, 01 July 2015. EPA/GERRY PENNY

(9) Marin Cilic vs. (17) John Isner: Cilic has not lost to anyone from the United States since this great nation declared its independence in 1776…or something like that. The truth is the guy never loses to Americans–and he is 4-0 lifetime against Isner. On the bright side for Big John, he disposed of his first two opponents in surprisingly routine straight sets whereas Cilic needed three hours and 34 minutes to get past Ricardas Berankis 7-5 in the fifth on Wednesday.

(WC) Denis Kudla vs. Santiago Giraldo: The July 4 weekend could not get off to a better start for Americans than to see Isner and Kudla reach the second week of Wimbledon. Amazingly enough, it is Kudla who has the better chance. Thanks to Kei Nishikori’s withdrawal, the 22-year-old gets to go up against Giraldo instead of the world No. 5. As for his own form, Kudla is not coming entirely out of nowhere. He played two grass-court Challengers prior to Wimbledon, finishing runner-up in one and winning the other.

(4) Stan Wawrinka vs. Fernando Verdasco: Verdasco has been the marathon man so far in SW19, with five-set victories over Martin Klizan and Dominic Thiem. He will have to raise his level to even greater heights to go five against the French Open champion. Wawrinka may not like grass as much as he does clay, but right now it hardly matters what surface is under this guy’s feet. He could probably walk on water these days.

Marcos Baghdatis vs. (16) David Goffin: Baghdatis will probably win. But I’m picking Goffin…which is probably why Baghdatis will win. The bottom line is that this is brutally tough one to predict. The only guarantee is the quality of ball-striking from the back of the court will be phenomenal.

David Goffin of Belgium in action against Liam Broady of Britain during their second round match for the Wimbledon Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis Club, in London, Britain, 01 July 2015. EPA/FACUNDO ARRIZABALAGA

(11) Grigor Dimitrov vs. (21) Richard Gasquet: Get your popcorn ready for this outstanding matchup between two relatively similar players. Dimitrov and Gasquet are two of the most talented men on tour, but arguably neither has lived up to his massive potential. The array of one-handed backhands on display will be worth the price of admission to the All-England Club.

(26) Nick Kyrgios vs. (7) Milos Raonic: Leave it to Kyrgios to dominate two matches in straight sets but prevent everyone from talking about his tennis. He has thoroughly berated each of his two chair umpires so far, and those incidents have garnered all the headlines. But nothing should take away from the magnitude of this matchup. It was a quarterfinal last year (won by Raonic in four sets) and it should be at least a quarterfinal this time around. But it isn’t. While that is bad news for both Raonic and Kyrgios, it is great for fans.

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

Topics: Atp World Tour, Ricky Dimon, Sports, Tennis News, Wimbledon Tennis

Follow 10SBALLS.COM on:

Facebook:

Twitter:

10sBalls_com says:

July 2, 2015 at 7:27 pm

-@Dimonator’s PREVIEW AND PICKS FOR DAY 5 GENTLEMEN’S SCHEDULES & MATCHES, OH, AND @rogerfederer HITS A “TWEENER”- http://t.co/hCcjhexjl8
Dimonator says:

July 2, 2015 at 7:28 pm

RT @10sBalls_com: -@Dimonator’s PREVIEW AND PICKS FOR DAY 5 GENTLEMEN’S SCHEDULES & MATCHES, OH, AND @rogerfederer HITS A “TWEENER”- http:/…