DOMINIC THIEM BEGINS WIMBLEDON CAMPAIGN ON TUESDAY, AMERICANS ISNER AND TAYLOR FRITZ ALSO IN ACTION BY RICKY DIMON WHO’S ALMOST AT THE ALL ENGLAND CLUB

Written by: Staff on 27th June 2016

DOMINIC THIEM BEGINS WIMBLEDON CAMPAIGN ON TUESDAY, AMERICANS ISNER AND TAYLOR FRITZ ALSO IN ACTION BY RICKY DIMON WHO'S ALMOST AT THE ALL ENGLAND CLUB

epa05352991 Taylor Fritz from the US in action against Roger Federer from Switzerland during their second round match at the ATP tennis tournament inÂ Stuttgart, Germany, 09 June 2016. EPA/Marijan Murat |

Dominic Thiem recently made a run to the French Open semifinals and now that he finds himself in Stan Wawrinka’s wide-open quarter of the bracket, he is a trendy pick to do the same at Wimbledon. But the 22-year-old Austrian has a tough opener on his hands against Florian Mayer on Tuesday. Fellow Americans John Isner and Taylor Fritz are also aiming for spots in the second round.

Ricky previews three of the best men’s singles matches on Tuesday and makes his picks:

(8) Dominic Thiem vs. (PR) Florian Mayer

Thiem will be playing a second consecutive match against Mayer on Tuesday. A recent semifinal contest on the grass courts of Halle saw Mayer upset Thiem 6-3, 6-4 on the German’s way to the second ATP title of his career. For Mayer, the success came almost completely out of nowhere. The injury-plagued 32-year-old had been just 2-4 at the ATP level in 2016 and was barely inside the top 200 when the Halle event started. He skyrocketed 112 spots to 80th in the rankings and will have direct entry into the U.S. Open and various other events later in 2016 (he used a protected ranking to get into Wimbledon).

Dominic Thiem of Austria in action against Mikhail Youzhny of Russia during the ATP tournament in Stuttgart, Germany, 10 June 2016. EPA/Marijan Murat

Thiem’s loss to Mayer halted what was an incredible and borderline improbable hot streak. His Roland Garros semifinal appearance was not a terribly big surprise because he has always been a force on clay and he benefited from Rafael Nadal’s withdrawal in his section of the bracket. Prior to this season, though, Thiem had been a relative novice on grass. But he maintained momentum from his French Open performance to capture the Stuttgart title and reach the semis in Halle. Desperately needing some rest, Thiem will have not played in more than a week by the time he faces Mayer again. That could be a significant factor against an opponent who is 0-5 in his last five Grand Slam matches and has not picked up a single victory at a slam since the 2014 Australian Open.

Pick: Thiem in 4

(18) John Isner vs. Marcos Baghdatis

Isner and Baghdatis will be facing each other for the seventh time in their careers on Tuesday. The head-to-head series is being swept 6-0 by Isner, who last defeated Baghdatis 6-3, 6-3 in the 2015 Atlanta final when the Cypriot was compromised by a leg injury. All six of their previous encounters have come on outdoor hard courts, perhaps the most entertaining of which took place in round one of the 2011 U.S. Open–Isner got the job done 7-6(2), 7-6(11), 2-6, 6-4.

John Isner of the USA returns the ball during the first round match against Argentina’s Juan Martin Del Potro at the Aegon Tennis Championships at the Queen’s Club in London, Britain, 15 June 2016. The ATP World Tour 500 Tournament takes place from 13 to 19 June 2016. EPA/WILL OLIVER

Even though Isner is one of the biggest servers on tour, grass has never been and never will be his best surface. The American’s spin serve does not get as much kick as it does on other surfaces and he is often hitting balls too low out of his strike zone. That being said, he did–of course–once hold 84 consecutive service games against Nicolas Mahut at the All-England Club in their famous 2010 marathon. Isner is coming off a fourth-round performance at Roland Garros, while Baghdatis advanced to the last 64 before squandering a two-set lead over Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. Ranked 23 spots below his opponent at No. 40, Baghdatis went 2-2 in his grass-court warmup events with defeats of Tomas Berdych and Dustin Brown plus losses to Jan-Lennard Struff and Alexander Zverev. The 31-year-old is playing well enough to make this competitive, but maybe not to the extent that he will completely erase the demons of his 0-6 lifetime futility against Isner.

Pick: Isner in 4

Taylor Fritz vs. (4) Stan Wawrinka

Wawrinka is a two-time Grand Slam winner (Australian Open in 2014, French Open in 2015) and has triumphed on two different surfaces. The grass of Wimbledon has so far proven to be too tricky for the Swiss, who has never even reached the semis. Wawrinka, has, however, reached the quarters in each of the past two summers; he came painfully close to going one step farther in 2015 but lost to Richard Gasquet 6-4, 4-6, 3-6, 6-4, 11-9. The world No. 4’s title defense at Roland Garros ended with a four-set setback against Andy Murray in the semis, which preceded a grass-court setback in the Queen’s Club first round to Fernando Verdasco.

Up first for Wawrinka is Fritz, whose rise to relevancy has been nothing short of meteoric. As recently as this past October, the 18-year-old registered as low as No. 694 in the world. Fast forward eight months and he is heading into Wimbledon at 63rd in the rankings. In fact, it took Fritz only six months to soar from 694th into the top 70, thanks in part to a runner-up performance in Memphis and a quarterfinal run in Acapulco as a qualifier. On grass this summer, the American fell to Roger Federer 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 in the Stuttgart second round before a more disappointing loss at the hands of Yuichia Sugita during first-round action in Halle. Fritz has never won a main-draw match at a major and getting his first at Wawrinka’s expense looks like too difficult of a task.

Pick: Wawrinka in 4