WIMBLEDON TENNIS 2016 MEN’S SINGLES DRAW ANALYSIS: RICKY’S PICKS FOR 10SBALLS

Written by: Staff on 25th June 2016

WIMBLEDON TENNIS 2016 MEN'S SINGLES DRAW ANALYSIS: RICKY'S PICKS FOR 10SBALLS

epa05387821 Roger Federer of Switzerland on his way to a training session at the All England Lawn Tennis Championships in Wimbledon, London, Friday, June 24, 2016. The Wimbledon Tennis Championships 2016 will be held in London from 27 June to 10 July. EPA/PETER KLAUNZER EDITORIAL USE ONLY/NO SALES/NO ARCHIVES |

By Ricky Dimon

Novak Djokovic’s Wimbledon draw is not a particularly favorable one, and part of the reason is that he is on a semifinal collision course with Roger Federer. The top-ranked Serb also has Milos Raonic in his quarter. On the other side of the bracket, Andy Murray could face Nick Kyrgios as early as the fourth round.

Djokovic’s quarter

Serbia’s Novak Djokovic hits a ball during a training session at the All England Lawn Tennis Championships in Wimbledon, London, Tuesday, June 21, 2016. The Wimbledon Tennis Championships 2016 will be held in London from 27 June to 10 July. EPA/PETER KLAUNZER

Djokovic’s trek through the All-England Club should be plainly obvious: Raonic in the quarterfinals, Federer in the semis (unless the 34-year-old Swiss is still hampered by a back injury), and Murray in the title match. Before any of that happens, though, the No. 1 seed will likely dispose of two Brits in James Ward and Kyle Edmund. The Sam Querrey-Lukas Rosol winner will be a potential third-round adversary for Djokovic, while David Ferrer and Philipp Kohlschreiber are possible fourth-round foes.

On this surface, Raonic should not have any real trouble advancing to the quarters. David Goffin may have been a substantial roadblock on the clay courts of Roland Garros and the same goes for Jack Sock, but neither is at his best on the green stuff. At 100 percent, Kevin Anderson would be a serious threat to Raonic in round four. But the South African’s 2016 campaign has been plagued by injury and he is not the same guy who led Djokovic by two sets at Wimbledon last summer.

One first-round matchup to watch in this section is Jack Sock vs. Ernests Gulbis. Surprisingly, they have never faced each other. Sock is a clear favorite on paper, but he is a mere 1-2 lifetime at Wimbledon and Gulbis is coming off a fourth-round performance at the French Open.

Federer’s quarter

Federer would have preferred to land in Murray’s half, but the rest of the Friday’s draw ceremony was a kind one for the 17-time Grand Slam champion. He missed Roland Garros due to his balky back and lost in the semifinals in both Stuttgart and Halle. So Federer needs match practice–and that is exactly what the third seed should get in the early rounds. Up first is Guido Pella, and then either Ricardas Berankis or Marcus Willis. The pace would pick up thereafter, but at that point Federer will presumably have shifted into high gear.

The unseeded floaters in this section are where the seeds are weakest, so upsets could take place early and often. Look out especially for Sergiy Stakhovsky (beat Federer at the All-England Club in 2013), Gilles Muller (recent ‘s-Hertogenbosch runner-up), Andrey Kuznetsov, and Borna Coric.

Gael Monfils, who has not played since Rome (he skipped Roland Garros because of a virus), could be ripe for an upset at the hands of fellow Frenchman Jeremy Chardy. All five of their contested sets have gone Monfils’ way, but they have not squared off since 2009.

Wawrinka’s quarter

Stan Wawrinka of Switzerland returns a ball during a training session at the All England Lawn Tennis Championships in Wimbledon, London, Thursday, June 23, 2016. The Wimbledon Tennis Championships 2016 will be held in London from 27 June to 10 July. EPA/PETER KLAUNZER

There are three clear-cut Wimbledon favorites, even though those three are not on the same tiers (there’s Djokovic, and then there’s Murray, and then there’s Federer, and then there’s everyone else). The top-four seed on the outside looking in is Wawrinka, who is a two-time major winner but has never even advanced to the Wimbledon semifinals. As such, his quarter was always going to be the most intriguing in terms of competitiveness. And the draw did nothing to change that.

Dominic Thiem, Tomas Berdych, Roberto Bautista Agut, Bernard Tomic, and Alexander Zverev are all worthy contenders, but none is immune to being bounced early in the first week. The unseeded contingent in this section is headlined by Florian Mayer, Fernando Verdasco, Juan Martin Del Potro, and Taylor Fritz. Use a pencil while filling in your picks in this quarter of the draw, because an eraser may have to be utilized often.

Speaking of Thiem, he has a rematch on his hands right off the bat. The last man he played against was Florian Mayer, and the 22-year-old Austrian will meet Mayer again on Tuesday. After upsetting Thiem, the veteran German captured the Halle title. Thiem, meanwhile, recently made a run to the Roland Garros semis. This should be a high-quality encounter.

Murray’s quarter

If Murray’s 13-16 seed had been David Ferrer, Roberto Bautista Agut, or Gilles Simon instead of Kyrgios, his draw would have been just about ideal. As it stands, the second seed’s only tough test prior to the semifinals could come against Kyrgios in the fourth round. Prior to that, Murray face Liam Broady before likely running into Yen-Hsun Lu and then either Benoit Paire or John Millman. Kyrgios, on the other hand, will deserve a gold star if he manages to navigate his way into the last 16 against Murray.

If the seeds hold to form, the other fourth-rounder in this section would pit Jo-Wilfried Tsonga against Richard Gasquet in another all-French affair. Tsonga, as usual, is an injury question mark after retiring from a match against Gulbis at Roland Garros. Gasquet, on the contrary, thrived in Paris by reaching the quarterfinals for the first time in his up-and-down career. But the world No. 10 is a mercurial performer whose momentum can evaporate just as fast as it came. John Isner, Marcos Baghdatis, and 2015 quarterfinalist Vasek Pospisil could capitalize if Gasquet and Tsonga stumble.

Isner and Baghdatis have to go head-to-head in round one. The 6’10” American is sweeping the series 6-0, but don’t be fooled. Baghdatis has taken a set in three of their last four meetings and the only exception came in last summer’s Atlanta final, during which the Cypriot was compromised by a leg injury. Their only previous Grand Slam showdown also came during first-round action, with Isner prevailing 7-6(2), 7-6(11), 2-6, 6-4 at the 2011 U.S. Open.

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

Editors Note: We disagree with Ricky. We think Stan Wawrinka has a really tough first round against Taylor Fritz. We love that Richard Krajicek is working with Stan but he did lose first round at Queens.

First rounds of Slams all the players are very nervous. Very. And seeded players especially. Taylor is 18 years old and has a great future in tennis. His Grandpa David May The Second would be the proudest man on the planet. The man had a great love and passion for tennis. He was a Great Patron Of The Game (sport?)

Tennis needs its patrons. (LJ)

Topics: 10sballs.com, 2016 Wimbledon, Andy Murray, Atp World Tour, Grass tennis, Novak Djokovic, Ricky Dimon, Roger Federer, Sports, Stan Wawrinka, Tennis News, Wimbledon Tennis

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June 25, 2016 at 12:50 pm

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10sBalls_com says:

June 25, 2016 at 6:59 pm

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June 26, 2016 at 2:47 pm

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