Tournament favourite Federer could hardly
have been more impressive in his opening three matches, and particularly
yesterday when disposing of Thomas Johansson in straight sets. It's
true, he has won 20 consecutive matches and 31 consecutive sets on
grass, but I'd be very surprised if the big-serving Karlovic does not
force at least one tie-breaker today. From there, a point or two is
likely to decide the set, hopefully falling the way of giant Croatian.
There was a time there when Moya had the
edge on Hewitt, but the worm looks to have turned in recent times, and
on this surface, the Aussie will be very tough to crack. Joachim
Johansson has been given a favour by organisers, back out on the ultra
quick Court 18, he'll have too much firepower for Mayer. Spadea has done
very well to get this far, but he lacks the grass court savvy to get
close to Schalken. The Dutchman will get a lot more free points on
serve. Roddick meanwhile, has the clear class edge over Popp, and while
it might go to a breaker or two, he should progress with relative ease.
Opposed both of these yesterday to no
avail, but unlike the oddsmakers, I don't see there being too much in
this at all. Schuettler was too solid for an apparently less than 100%
fit Rusedski, while Mantilla proved no match at all for the improved
Spadea. The American has been very consistent in recent times and should
be able to match it with Schuettler and perhaps have an edge in the
service department.
Mayer confirmed his up and comer status
with a come from behind win over Guillermo Coria yesterday. The German
has proved his ability on different surfaces and most importantly he is
not afraid to come into the net. Ferreira, in his last appearance at
Wimbledon, has done extremely well to get past Ljubicic and Kucera, but
this will require his full attention.
Malisse was most impressive against Haas
yesterday when coming back from a set down to advance to the third
round, but is still well entrenched in the most inconsistent category.
Karol Beck boasts an excellent grass court record and despite having a
tough time of things in the first round against Marray, his sharp win
over Robredo will have him full of confidence coming into this match.
Roddick looked to be a long way from the
sort of form he'll require to get close to Federer in his match with
Peya yesterday, but he has the clear edge over Dent. Ancic will have far
too much firepower for Hrbaty, who despite notching up wins over Sanchez
and Hilton, is far from at home on the grass. Schalken is another who
has the clear advantage on grass, while Philippoussis looks to be
running into some very nice form and looks to have the edge in the
service department as well.
The Brit looks to be close to a return to
his best tennis and I see no better place than Court One to produce the
goods today. Schuettler did very well to see off Soderling yesterday,
but he is not in the sort of form he was last year and does not have the
grass-court savvy to match his opponent today.
Ferrero pulled out a Houdini performance
against Koubek yesterday, but he'll need to show a lot more for mine to
warrant favouritsim here. Ginepri has amassed a solid grass court record
in the last few years. An impressive win over the dangerous Verdasco
yesterday augurs well for a strong showing today.
The Spaniard Mantilla is never easy to
beat in the best-of-five scenario. It is clearly not his favourite
surface, but by all reports, the courts are certainly not the fastest
they have ever been. Spadea had few troubles with Reid in the first
round, but lets not get too carried away with his grass court
capabilities.
Going with another Spaniard here in what
looks to be a match that will be a lot closer than the odds suggest.
Ferrer was impressive against the floater in Hanescu in the first round
and has shown some more than decent form in recent months. Arazi boasts
some solid grass court form and was workmanlike against Sa first-up
here, but this wont be a walk.
I've taken Chela as the third clay courter
who looks well worth a punt today at some very big odds. Thomas Enqvist
is no world-beater on grass and you don't have to look any further than
his first round struggle with Blanco as evidence of that. Chela is tough
to rein in over five sets and if he reproduces the sort of form that saw
him drop just two games in the final two sets against Burgsmuller, then
I do like his chances today.
The left-handed Lopez has made it to the
fourth round in his first two appearances at Wimbledon, but I have a
feeling that this will be close. He had few troubles with local wildcard
Bloomfield on Monday but his form this year has been rather inconsistent
to say the least. Saulnier has a very impressive 16-6 record on grass
over the past three years and a win over the in-form Llodra in the first
round is a nice confidence builder coming into this.
One would have to assume that a more
experienced opponent would have taken Moya out in the first round. His
serve kept him in the match, but he still looked far from comfortable on
what is his least favourite surface. Moya has never been past the second
round here in six previous appearances, and back out on court four
today, I do like the chances of Stepanek. The Czech is 16-5 on grass
over the past three years and while he was pushed to five sets in the
first round against Corretja, this looks well within his capability.
Thomas Johansson took a while to get going
in his first round match against Kiefer and should be much better for
the run on the SW19 courts up against the fading Frenchman in Santoro.
The talented Dimitry Tursunov upset volatile Russian Marat Safin
yesterday, but he won't be given the pace from the more experienced
Sargsian. The third leg involves Gambill, who barring any mental
explosions, should have relative few problems disposing of Italian
qualifier Bracciali.
It's been a while since the enigma that is
Andre Sa has done anything of note on tour. Having said that, he was
most impressive through Roehampton qualifying when comfortably disposing
of the likes of Goldstein and Bob Bryan. He made a run to the quarter
finals here a few years ago as his best Grand Slam result, so he'll be
confident. The left-handed Arazi is no easy-beat on grass, but an
injured wrist last week at Nottingham is not the ideal prep.
Another player who has performed very well
in the past is going around at very big odds. Xavier Malisse made the
semis here in '02 and if his recent form on the clay courts is anything
to go by, he is running into some very nice form. We will have to
overlook at Nottingham loss to Arvind Parmar as his only lead-up match
however. Novak has been consistent if nothing else on grass over the
years, but I'm at a loss to explain his short price today.
Todd Reid always works hard for his wins,
but with his wealth of experience on grass, he looks a genuine chance in
this match-up. Four matches at Queens and a couple at the Stoke Park
exhibition should have him ready for this. Spadea has failed to
replicate his hardcourt results on grass to this stage and on recent
form looks most vulnerable today.
Andy Ram has failed to impress at tour
level this year, but if his qualifying results are anything to go by,
he'll be in with a shot in this one. He knocked out the in-form Flanagan
0 & 1, then notched up wins over Karanusic and Peya - both who have
shown some decent form in recent times. Pavel has not done anything of
note on grass for a while now, so I don't believe he deserves to start
this short.
The soft and low bouncing conditions are
against the Paraguayan, but I still think he can push the sometimes
erratic American today. He beat Mahut and Gimelstob in
qualifying to come into this full of confidence. Dent has a wealth of
experience on grass but had a very poor finish to his match with Thomas
Johansson last week at Nottingham.
The up and coming Russian has shown enough
recently to suggest that he can get past an injury-plagued Van Lottom.
Robredo, Enqvist and Schalken should all go the wire, while impressive
youngster Peya should have too much for the veteran Salzenstein. The
Austrian had a narrow loss to Ram in the final round of quallies but
this looks easier.
I like the chances of old man Todd Martin
in these conditions. His serve and volley game will be hard to get past
for the running Canas. I would be surprised if Ancic and Gonzalez were
challenged. Frenchman Julian Benneteau may have lost a tight five-setter
in the final round of quallies, but he should be well acclimatised to
conditions in comparison to Berdych who is coming off a clay challenger
final on Sunday.
There really should not be much in this
cracking first round encounter. Thomas Johansson went 7-1 through
qualifying to the final last week at Nottingham and should have won the
match against Srichaphan when finding himself a set and a break up.
It won't be easy backing up for this on the fresh courts at SW19 up
against a very solid grass courter in Kiefer. The German is in some of
the best form of his career and is sure to go close.
Patience qualified at Roehampton with some
solid play after he had three matches under the belt at Queens. Those
two weeks on grass should bode well today. Moya pushed Ljubicic to a
couple of breakers at the Stoke Park hit and giggle last week, but at
just 4-6 here and in his first appearance at SW19 since 2001, is surely a risk
today.
It may sound like an unlikely scenario to
see the 2002 champion out in the first round two years on the trot, but
I feel that he will really be pushed today. Hewitt doesn't have a
physical weapon to win matches easily, and when Melzer starts cracking
winners from all over the court he is very hard to stop. The Aussie has
a clear mental edge, but whether that will be enough remains to be seen.
Coria certainly surprised many last week
with wins over grass-savvy players such as Beck, Clement and Ancic on
the way to a runner-up to Llodra. It wont be easy to get up for this the
day after that final in The Netherlands. He faces Moodie, who despite
some indifferent form, is still at home on the surface and is sure to
mix things up for the clay-loving French Open runner-up.
This is widely believed to be the final
competitive tour appearance for the veteran South African as he sets a
record for consecutive Grand Slam appearances. He has won the last three
meetings between the two, including a match here in '02, but all have
been very close. He did manage to take a set off eventual winner
Srichaphan last week at Nottingham, but a third set tiebreak first round
win over Alberto Martin might be more representative of where his game
is at. Ljubicic had three matches at the Stoke Park exhibition last week
so I do think he'll be ready for this.
The Dutchman Sluiter has gone a
disappointing 2-2 in the lead-up, but he is in some of the best form of
his career and will be sure to go close here. Bjorkman is coming off a
career best quarter final here last year, so he'll be very keen to
defend the points. He has also gone 2-2 in the lead-up, but for mine,
his game has clearly dropped back from the levels seen last year.
The American will fancy his chances today.
He was competitive against Karlovic at Queens and got past Moodie at
Nottingham. Mirnyi has never played his best tennis on grass. His
lead-up form of losses to Mahut and Thomas Johansson is hard to read but
his overall grass court record over the past four years of 6-10 must be
taken into consideration.
Robby Ginepri is no mug on grass, but
he'll need to be on his game today up against the fiery Tipsarevic, who
looks to one of the youngsters to watch. He qualified very impressively
and despite a relative inexperience on the grass, is no stranger to
playing well on faster surfaces. Ginepri had a sharp loss to H-T Lee
(who failed to qualify here) before some exhibition play, but this will
be far from easy.
I can't see too much going wrong with this
four-leg multiple. Julian Knowle may have been mixed up in some 'dodgy'
business a while back, but if he turns up today, he should have few
problems on this surface against fellow qualifier Falla. Corretja makes
his first appearance at SW19 since '98 but won't last long against the
capable Stepanek, Herandez straight off a clay challenger is just
turning up for thr prize money, while Ollie Rochus should see off the
Frenchman Carraz who has had somewhat of an injury plagued lead-up.
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