Berdych Beating Roddick on Monday at Wimbledon? Stay Tuned!
We are less than seven days from crowning two (new) Wimbledon champions, so what’s to come? Well, for one, I’ll stick with my initial picks at the start of the tournament, Roger Federer and Venus Williams and for two, looks like with many of the seeds getting through, we are shaping up for a great last week of tennis from London, and it begins on a high note with a tremendous Monday schedule.
Despite Andy Murray’s improved play and his Queen’s title, Federer is still leaps and bounds ahead of what’s left of the field on a grass court, and my gut tells me Robin Soderling will find that out again Monday.
Murray shouldn’t have many problems either against his pal Stanislas Wawrinka and the third pick, Novak Djokovic, figures to cruise past Dudi Sela (though I am rooting hard for Dudi! Did that come out right? Oh boy!).
On the other hand, one of my longshots Tomas Berdych is making all the shots and absolutely destroying his foes. Granted Alex Bogdanovic, Paul-Henri Mathieu and Nikolay Dayvdenko have limited grass abilities, but I really like his chances against the sub-par Andy Roddick. The fact that Roddick’s lost serve five times and he’s dropped sets to Igor Kunitsyn and Jurgen Melzer absolutely gives me pause, so I’m picking Berdych in an upset here. Remember, the Bird Man was playing well enough to have Federer dead to rights in Melbourne so I expect a similar performance Monday against Andy, except this time I think Tomas finishes the job.
I also like Ivo Karlovic over Fernando Verdasco, Gilles Simon over Juan Carlos Ferrero, Tommy Haas beating Andreev and Lleyton Hewitt to beat Radek Stepanek. For me, Hewitt’s been the biggest surprise of the first week on the men’s side. Who would have guessed Federer, Djokovic and Roddick would all lose more sets than Hewitt. So Hewitt thus far is clearly the biggest beneficiary of Rafael Nadal’s absence.
As for the women, all things still point to Venus-Serena in the final, and I still like Caroline Wozniacki to come out against Venus with Elena Dementieva losing to Serena in the semifinals.
Also Check Out:
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Djokovic Stunned, Serena Escapes Again at French Open
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