Wimbledon Men’s Draw: Nadal Could Be Tested Early; Federer, Murray, Djokovic Not So Much
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The Wimbledon men’s draw just came out, and aside from maybe some early anxiety for Rafael Nadal, things are uncommonly quite balanced.
Top seed Novak Djokovic will have Golubev, then perhaps Radek Stepanek, Vasek Pospisil before JW Tsonga in the fourth and then Tomas Berdych in the quarters. The big question mark is now Novak’s wrist. If it’s no issue I think he’ll be fine. Tsonga can be tricky on grass but the Frenchman hasn’t been playing well. Berdych, who I think has a good draw, is certainly a threat, too, and has beaten Djokovic before. At the moment, I have to assume the wrist is OK and Novak will get out the semifinals.
Andy Murray begins his Wimbledon title defense against David Goffin. The young Belgian made a splash a few years ago in Paris but we’ve heard little from him since. Overall, I like Murray’s draw with really only Kevin Anderson a potential early worry until Grigor Dimitrov or David Ferrer in the quarters. Dimitrov’s been playing well while Ferrer’s struggling with a stomach bug, so should the two collide in the fourth I’d give a very slight edge to the youngster.
In the bottom half we find both Roger Federer and Nadal. The 7-time champion Federer has to be happy with how his draw unfolded. He’ll have a Lorenzi to start, then possibly Julien Benneteau (the Frenchman nearly beat him at Wimbledon in 2012) in the second before a seeded path of Granollers and Janowicz, both longshots to even make it out that far. In his quarter Roger I’d take Feliciano Lopez to be the guy. John Isner and Stan Wawrinka are also potential quarterfinal opponents for Federer but I’ll go with the Spaniard who just made the Queen’s final and is in better form than John or Stan who’s fighting an illness.
As I said, Nadal is the only guy with some worry. That’s because in the second round he could get a rematch with Lukas Rosol, then Ivo Karlovic, then former Wimbledon semifinalist Richard Gasquet followed by Milos Raonic in the quarters. That’s a tough road on grass but let’s see who’ll actually make it out to meet Rafa.
So that’s our Wimbledon draw. Overall it’s pretty balanced.
As for an early pick, I really have no idea right now. With Novak’s wrist I’d and with how the draw came out I’d almost rate Murray as my favorite then Federer! Murray only concern in Dimitrov and in best-of-5 on grass at Wimbledon Murray should get through that.
Federer does have Benneteau but the Frenchman has fallen off of late. Maybe Hewitt can catch a spark in that section or Janowicz can somehow rekindle the magic of a year ago, otherwise Roger will come through.
For Nadal, if the worst case does happen – Rosol, Karlovic, Gasquet, Raonic – then someone will get him. It’s just hard to say who. And remember, Rafa’s lost his last 3 matches on grass!
Welcome to a wide open Wimbledon!
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