RICKY DIMON GIVES US HIS REPORT ON THE LATEST MEN’S TENNIS NEWS FROM LONDON, PRE – WIMBLEDON

Written by: Staff on 22nd June 2015

RICKY DIMON GIVES US HIS REPORT ON THE LATEST MEN'S TENNIS NEWS FROM LONDON, PRE - WIMBLEDON

New balls are called for the quarter final match between Kevin Anderson of South Africa and Spain's Guillermo Garica-Lopez at the Aegon tennis championships at the Queens Club in London, Britain, 19 June 2015. EPA/ANDY RAIN |

Ferrer, Simon among those looking for momentum heading into Wimbledon

They say good things come to those who wait.

Will it be tennis fans, who have to sit around for an extra week this year before Wimbledon begins? Will it be someone like Novak Djokovic, who is not playing a single grass-court event in between the second and third Grand Slams of the season? Will it be the All-England Club, which will host what has all the makings of an epic Wimbledon with Djokovic, Roger Federer, and Andy Murray all in fine form?

Speaking of that extra week, it is the AEGON Open that remains on the schedule before we can turn attention entirely to SW19. In addition to being played seven days later on the calendar in 2015, the tournament is also back in Nottingham (instead of Eastbourne) for the first time since 2009 and the field has expanded from 32 players to 48.

Thus more players have an opportunity to gain confidence heading to the All-England Club. Among those looking for some grass-court momentum in the week leading up to Wimbledon are David Ferrer, Gilles Simon, Dominic Thiem, and two-time defending champion Feliciano Lopez.

Predicting outcomes of 250-point tournaments immediately preceding majors is never an easy task. It is almost impossible to say which players are in it to win it and which ones are more interested in taking their talents to either Melbourne, Roland Garros, Wimbledon (as is the case on this particular occasion), or New York.

But for whatever it’s worth, Lopez appears to have a friendly draw as he bids for a third consecutive AEGON title. The Spaniard’s nearest seed is Andreas Seppi, who did well to finish runner-up in Halle to Federer but now must get back in action right away. Although Simon, Thiem, and Pablo Cuevas are tough customers in the bottom half of the bracket, neither is particularly dangerous on grass. Alexander Dolgopolov and Sam Querrey may be more likely opponents for Lopez in the quarterfinals and semis, respectively.

Feliciano Lopez of Spain returns the ball against John Isner of the US during the second round match of the Aegon tennis championships at the Queens Club in London, Britain 18 June 2015. EPA/FACUNDO ARRIZABALAGA

Unlike Lopez, Ferrer’s danger could come early in the week. The top seed will kick off his Nottingham campaign against Marcos Baghdatis, who can never be counted out (especially not on a fast surface) even though his best days are apparently behind him. With grass-court gurus few and far between in this section of the draw, Ferrer also has to like his projected path to the title match. His most difficult test could eventually come in the semis against the winner of an intriguing first-rounder between Viktor Troicki and Sergiy Stakhovsky.

Sergiy Stakhovsky of Ukraine celebrates after winning his second round match against Swiss Roger Federer for the Wimbledon Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis Club, in London, Britain, 26 June 2013. EPA/TOM HEVEZI

Stakhovsky is a proven winner on grass, and not just because he beat Federer at Wimbledon in 2013. The Ukrainian got back to his winning ways on the green stuff with a routine victory over Steve Johnson on Sunday. Troicki is also adept on grass, but he has to make a quick turnaround after losing to Murray in the Queen’s Club semifinals on Sunday.

Another potential “upset” is Denis Istomin over Juan Monaco. Not surprisingly, the clay-court loving Monaco bypassed the first two weeks of the grass-court swing. Istomin, on the other hand, already has four grass matches under his belt (one in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, two in Queen’s Club qualifying, and one already in Nottingham). The Uzbek opened with a 6-1, 6-4 rout of Nicolas Almagro on Sunday. Don’t be surprised if the surface helps Istomin pull off what would be an upset at least according to ranking and seed.

The story is a similar one for Thomaz Bellucci vs. Alexander Zverev. Bellucci is the favorite on paper, but Zverev has the surface advantage. Just 18 years old and already ranked 76th, Zverev advanced to round two in both Stuttgart and Halle. He kicked off his Nottingham campaign with a 6-0, 6-2 destruction of Mikhail Kukushkin. Bellucci, meanwhile, has not yet ventured onto the slick stuff in 2015.

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

Topics: 10sballs, Aegon Open, All England Club, Andy Murray, djokovic, Federer, Feliciano Lopez, Ricky Dimon, Sergiy Stakhovsky, Sports, Sw19, Tennis News, Wimbledon

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10sBalls_com says:

June 22, 2015 at 10:30 am

-@Dimonator GIVES US HIS REPORT ON THE LATEST MEN’S #TENNIS NEWS FROM #LONDON, PRE – #Wimbledon- http://t.co/A8xo6dbwPq @Wimbledon #SW19
Dimonator says:

June 22, 2015 at 10:48 am

RT @10sBalls_com: -@Dimonator GIVES US HIS REPORT ON THE LATEST MEN’S #TENNIS NEWS FROM #LONDON, PRE – #Wimbledon- http://t.co/A8xo6dbwPq @…