I briefly previewed the Wimbledon seeds the other day. But now that we have the draw available, I can do a little more in-depth preview of the year’s 3rd Grand Slam.
Roger Federer’s Quarter
This should be Roger’s quarter to lose. On paper at least, nobody sticks out as a real threat to him making the semi-finals. The match to watch for would be his potential fourth round match up against Borna Coric, who just beat Federer in the Halle Open final. Federer is too talented and too experienced to let that defeat get into his head. But the recent victory could provide extra confidence for the 16 seed, who is in the midst of his best year on tour so far.
Other matches to highlight here would be Gael Monfils against Richard Gasquet in the first round, and the potential match of Sam Querrey and Kevin Anderson in the fourth. Monfils and Gasquet are both former top-10 players, likely on the tail end of their careers. Monfils is a personal favorite and is always a fan favorite as well. Querrey and Anderson would match up two of the bigger players (figuratively and literally) currently on tour.
Marin Cilic’s Quarter
I’m going chalk again, thinking Cilic will come out of his quarter into the semi-finals. But his route should be more difficult than Federer’s. He will likely face either Lucas Pouille or Milos Raonic in the 4th round, both former top-10 players. Pouille was ranked 10th as recently as March of this year. Raonic, who battled various injuries throughout 2017, was a finalist at Wimbledon just two years ago. Assuming Cilic makes it into the quarters, Grigor Dimitrov will likely be there waiting for him. I’d love to see Dimitrov break through and finally win a Grand Slam, or even his first Grand Slam finals appearance; I just don’t see it happening here.
Besides the aforementioned Cilic fourth round match, there are only a couple other (on paper) matches to watch for. While Dimitrov should be a favorite to make the quarters, he will first have to get past Stan Wawrinka in the first round. This one wouldn’t exactly be a clash of the titans, but we could see an American duel in the second round with John Isner and Steve Johnson.
Alexander Zverev’s Quarter
You have to think Alexander Zverev will eventually win a Grand Slam. He’s young with lots of time ahead of him and he’s supremely talented. But his path to a championship here will be no easy task. He will likely have to get past either Nick Kyrgios or Kei Nishikori in the fourth round, Novak Djokovic or Dominic Thiem in the quarterfinals, and most likely Nadal in the semis. I think his Grand Slam struggles continue, and he loses to Kyrgios on the fourth round.
There could be a number of intriguing matches in this quarter. If the seeds hold out, we’ll get Djokovic/Thiem in the fourth round. In the third round we can hope for Kyrgios vs. Nishikori. Nishikori is a former top-10 player coming back from injury. This should be a fun quarter to monitor throughout the tournament.
Rafael Nadal’s Quarter
Nadal should coast to the quarterfinals, where his first true test will await in either Juan Martin del Potro or David Goffin. Nadal could face world number 11 Diego Schwartzman in the third round, but Nadal is a perfect 6-0 against the Argentinian. I think Nadal makes it into the semi-finals, but del Potro would pose the biggest threat to those chances.
One Mr. Andy Murray is also in this quarter. He faces France’s Benoit Paire in his return from injury. He won here in 2016 and is a former world number 1, so if he’s back to form, he could disrupt this quarter quite a bit. However, I think the young gun Denis Shapovalov takes him out in the second round. Either way though, we should see a fun third round match between del Potro and the Murray/Shapovalov winner.
Update: In a Facebook post, Andy Murray announced he is withdrawing from Wimbledon.
Predictions
Semi-Finals
Federer vs. Cilic
Djokovic vs. Nadal
Final
Federer vs. Nadal
Winner
Roger Federer captures his 9th Wimbledon title.
Play is scheduled to begin at 11:30 AM London local time on Monday, July 2. ESPN will have full coverage of the entire tournament.
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Bold prediction: Nadal loses 2nd round to the popsicle. He is due for a very early Wimbledon exit. If that doesn’t happen I am calling a Delpo upset over Nadal for sure in the quarters! One more bold prediction, Fed only drops 2 sets the whole tournament.