ATP Wimbledon – Men’s Tuesday Preview
Carlos Berlocq vs. Karol Beck
Argentine Carlos Berlocq returns to Wimbledon after three years and is yet to win a match here, in fact is yet to win a set in three encounters. He had some action on the surface as he played in Eastbourne where he managed to beat Dolgopolov before losing to Rochus.
Beck has three matches already here beating Smethurst, Nielsen and Chiudinelli and in the last two years he stopped in second round. Beck is more suited to grass, has a powerful serve to make the difference, he open good the court and advance to the net to finish the points, a tough baseliner who can stay solid in long rallies.
Berlocq too showed some aggressive tennis with a lot of net rushing and quick points, not an easy match but the Slovak played more on the surface and he has 3 matches here.
Andrey Golubev vs. Guillermo Garcia-Lopez
Andrey Golubev is coming after another poor performance in Halle where after he won easily the first set he handed the match to Gimeno-Traver and showed that he has mental issues to close out the match.
Is for the third time here and he had the luck to met Berdych and Tsonga in past years.
The Spaniard lost to Devvarman at his first match on grass and he was a little bit disconnected on court. Garcia-Lopez has the serve and the power from the back of the court, the most important he has the mental, to take this one, he has wins on grass over Tipsarevic, Istomin, Korolov but the Kazakhstan player can explode in some moments, he starts very aggressive but he consume easily still he lost 13 matches in a row, the Spaniard looks favorite to take this one.
Mikhail Kukushkin vs. Roger Federer
Only one win in three appearances on grass managed Kukushkin and that to Lu at Eastbourne. He will play for the first time in Wimbledon main draw and he had the luck to play against Roger Federer.
Kukushkin is offensive in his game and counts on solid serve and pressing baseline shots, he can stay in long rallies, but he tends to go too much on his shots and that leads to more unforced errors, he will want to make a solid match but will meet Federer on his best.
James Ward vs. Michael Llodra
After his good run, the Britt James Ward is under big pressure as he needs to confirm that at Wimbledon too and against a tricky opponent like Llodra. He had practiced with Cox, Garcia-Lopez and Sweeting here. “Llodra plays well on grass with his serve and volley, so it will be tough. But in this sport anyone can beat anyone on their day. I know I can beat players of that ranking from my performances at Queen’s, especially on grass”, said Ward.
The Britt has a powerful serve and attacking game, he can keep the ball in play as he has good ground strokes, he likes to stay solid from the baseline but also advance to the net and he should direct a lot of long balls on opponent backhand as the Frenchman is prone to errors on this wing. Also he needs to retrieve well and play long in the middle to cut off the angles and not allow to the Frenchman to come to the net. Llodra has five exits in first round in Wimbledon in ten apparitions and in a 5 sets match he can be off on serve and against a noisy crowd, Ward has the game to take this one.
David Ferrer vs. Benoit Paire
Spaniard David Ferrer will start off his 2011 Wimbledon campaign against Benoit Paire of France, who is playing in his fifth Grand Slam tournament.
The Spaniard is coming here after he won the Boodles exhibition beating Nalbandian in the final.
The Frenchman is on his second match on grass, and fifth overall including qualifications and won only one match against Klein last year. He has the game to be tricky as he has a powerful serve and pressing baseline shots but his movement on grass is poor and Ferrer is coming in good form.
Juan Monaco vs. Mikhail Youzhny
Tricky match. After Roland Garros, the Russian went to play a Challenger on clay and he injured in quarter-finals forcing him to withdraw from Halle with left foot injury.
He is without match preparation on the surface. He plays well on grass but has loses to Benneteau, Mathieu, Ferrero recently and if he isn’t at his best he might suffer another upset.
The Argentine is without win at Wimbledon but back in 2009 he gave a solid run to Almagro being close to win. Not the best match for the Russian, the Argentine has a solid defense and will force Youzhny to play an extra shot, he has good retrieving skills and still the Russian didn’t looked decisive on serve for a while. An upset isn’t out of cards here but if the Russian will be injury free he should take this one.
Florian Mayer vs. Daniel Evans
The talented 21-year-old, Daniel Evans, makes his second appearance at the All England Club this week after being handed a surprise wild card. Evans has had an excellent 2011 having reached the final of three Futures and the semi final at a second-tier Challenger event in Bath and seems that he matured his game and comportment. He has three matches on grass this year and took a set to Dimitrov and Sweeting.
Mayer has never failed to get past the first round at SW19 and made the quarter-finals on his first appearance in 2004 and is coming after a quarter-final in Halle.
Hard to see any surprise, Evans has a powerful serve and forehand and he improved his movement but the pressure in on his side but behind a noisy crowd he can steal a set to Mayer who isn’t the most stronger mental player.
Xavier Malisse vs. Michael Zverev
Poor year until now for the German who is coming after five loses in a row, two of them on grass, he also struggles with injuries this year. But he had success in the past on grass and isn’t without chances here, with his powerful serve and left volleys at the net he can be a tricky player especially in a five sets match.
The Belgian is in better form and also likes to play on grass, sometimes needs a challenge to up his game and is often a break down, he opens the court well and mix up well on court.
Malisse is favorite due to his recent form but we don’t see an easy match, Zverev has the game and for a set, two he can keep up the pace with the Belgian.
Ricardo Mello vs. Frank Dancevic
Canadian Frank Dancevic is back on his favorite surface. He qualified here with wins over Stephane, Udomchoke and Crugnola showing a solid form, especially behind the serve.
He has a game suitable for grass, a powerful serve copped with sharp volleys, attacking ground strokes, good retrieving skills as he cuts off the angles from retrieving.
The Brazilian is on his least favorite surface, and is yet to win a match being 0/7 and has loses to Groth, Volandri, De La Nava on this surface. Dancevic has three wins here and if he will keep the same form he will take this one.
Somdev Devvarman vs. Denis GremelmayrWithout a win prior to this year s-Hertogenbosch, the German Denis Gremelmayr managed to reach the quarter-finals wining only one game to Baghdatis. He will be on his second Wimbledon after 2008.
Neither the Indian stays better but he improved a lot this year and he defeated Garcia-Lopez and lost hard to Benneteau in Eastbourne. Both lucks a competitive serve on this surface and both have good retrieving skills.
Also both will try to dictate the rhythm from the back of the court, Devvarman advances more to the net but still he likes to open up the court.
The match will come down at the level of fitness where the Indian stays better and in a 5 set match we see him as the likely winner.
Rik De Voest vs. Ruben Hidalgo Ramirez
Spaniard Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo surprised Cilic at Roland Garros for his best win for a while. But he has limited action on grass, he has only four matches with the last appearance back in 2009 at Newport.
De Voest passed through qualifications beating Del Bonis, Delic and Zemlja and he has his luck meeting the Spaniard in first round. De Voest has a powerful serve which will give him a lot of free points and even that the Spaniard will manage to keep the ball into play, the South African isn’t without chances from the back of the court. Also De Voest has the upper hand in a tie-break and if he will keep his head he will take this one in 3 sets.
Andreas Seppi vs. Albert Montanes
Italian Andreas Seppis managed to win his first title in his career so far beating Tipsarevic at Eastbourne. Was a solid match for the Italian who served well and forced the Serb to advance to the net where he passed him.
Same scenario should be seen here too but the Spaniard has reached the third round in his last two apparitions at Wimbledon but he benefit by a kind draw. Seppi is in good form and had a couple of days off to rest but it will be curious how will play after he won the title. H2h is 3-0 for Montanes with all three meetings on clay but on grass Seppi has the upper hand.
Bernard Tomic vs. Nikolay Davydenko
Bernard Tomic qualified for the main draw and yesterday had a training session with Djokovic, it might help that before Davydenko’s match.
The Russian slowed down once more after he won in Munich and is coming on his least favorite surface, he has 5 exits in first round here from 9 participations. Hard to know where the Russian is with preparation and form. Tomic instead qualified with wins over Rieschick, Farah and Lisnard and has two semi-finals in Nottingham Challenger this year. He qualified last year too and lost to Fish but he made a solid match, this year he matured his game and if his serve will enter he will have the upper hand.
The Russian still has the game and experience to take this one but is an unknown matter for bettors, Tomic looks set for the win considering his recent run on grass.
Igor Andreev vs. Teimuraz Gabashvili
Not the safest match between two Russians at Wimbledon. Andreev plays well on grass and reached a fourth round here but he easily lost to Troicki in Halle being off on serve especially on second one. Gabashvili is coming after a quarter-final in s-Hertogenbosch but he had a kind draw for that. He hasn’t done anything special on the surface and at Wimbledon is 1/3, he managed to beat Delgado last year.
Both have a solid serve and both are tough baseliners but the surface is more receptive at top spin in recent years giving an advantage to Andreev who still has the upper hand on forehand wing and has good passing shots.
Viktor Troicki vs. Maximo Gonzalez
Maximo Gonzalez is on his third Wimbledon but overall is yet to win a match on grass in three apparitions. Even that conditions are on slow side the Argentine luck a powerful serve or ground strokes to make an impact here.
Troicki is coming after a quarter-final in Halle and due to his powerful serve and attacking ground game he has the upper hand. Hard to see a surprise here, Troicki if he will suffer any letdown in his game then he can offer a set but the Serb should win this one easily in 3 sets.
Adrian Mannarino vs. Conor Niland
Conor Niland will make his Grand Slam debut and if he comes through he's likely to set up a dream second round meeting with Roger Federer.
After years of playing on the Futures and Challenger tours, before progressing to ATP events, a Wimbledon debut is rich reward for Niland who beat Ouanna, Jones and Mektic. It was his dream after his father played here. He has a good record against left hander, he is 11/6 in Challenger level and 1/1 in ATP.
Conor has a powerful serve, he wins some cheap points behind the serve, quick around the court, can stay solid from the baseline but also good hands at the net, he can go on both wings on his shots.
The Frenchman is more defensive and he opens up the court well but all will come from a battle from the back of the court, Niland showed some grueling tennis here and a lot of desire, he feels like home here and he will be hugely supported and we back him with handicap.
Marcos Baghdatis vs. James Blake
Blake entered in the main draw after Paul-Henri Mathieu pulled out with a knee injury. He showed little interest on grass and the main problem for the American is to have a good ranking prior to US Open. He played in Challengers but he is without match practice for a month.
Baghdatis made semi-final in s-Hertogenbosch prior to Wimbledon and he likes to play on grass having a semi-final and a quarter-final here.
Blake has a powerful serve and charge the net after that but the Cypriot is good on returns and has good passing shots. He had some downs on serve Baghdatis and this will be the key of the match as if he will serve well the Cypriot will have the upper hand, but will not be an easy match as Blake can play a high level of tennis for a while and can snatch a set.
Yen-Hsun Lu vs. Tommy Robredo
Taipei Yen-Hsun Lu is coming with a lot of pressure as he has a quarter-final to defend, last year he beat Mayer and Roddick here. He had some preparation on grass prior to Wimbledon but failed to impress but he has the upper hand as the Spaniard isn’t a force on grass and is coming without match practice.
The problem for Lu is that he usually loses against powerful hitters on tour as he has lost to Haase, Gulbis, Raonic on faster surfaces this year. He uses good angles on his shots and has good defensive skills with the ability to turn defense into attack fast with a lot of spin in his shots, he is a tough opponent as he runs a lot and covers the full court from the baseline.
The Spaniard is a tough baseliner but Lu has a lot of points to defend and has time in five sets to found his strengths and confidence from last year.
John Isner vs. Nicolas Mahut
After last year when they produced one of the best and long matches they met again on grass. Hard to see the same outcome but we another tough matches is expected.
Both players can hold their serve easily and the matter of tie-breaks will be here. But the American is coming without match practice while Mahut reached the second round in Queens and s-Hertogenbosch.
Last year Mahut was the better player and was a little bit disappointed that he lost, he made his games easily while Isner was tired and overall the American doesn’t came at the same level as last year.
Alejandro Falla vs. Jurgen Melzer
Columbian Alejandro Falla was close to surprise Federer last year in first round and is coming in good form after his good run at Roland Garros.
The Austrian is without match practice, he rested and not forced another injury as he had back problem and failed to defend his points at RG.
Both are left hander and both rely on a powerful serve, overall the Austrian is the better grass court player as he moves better and advance to the net for good volleys while Falla relies on his solid baseline display.
The Columbian played on grass this year but he has a low success on the surface and still the Austrian has the skills to take this.
Kevin Anderson vs. Illya Marchenko
Both players had some match practice prior to Wimbledon, Marchenko was a lucky loser and reached the second round in Eastbourne while Anderson third round in Queens and second in Eastbourne losing to powerful players like Roddick and Dimitrov.
The South African will rely on his powerful serve to win free points and still the Ukrainian isn’t on his best surface, he tends to lose against powerful hitters.
Marchenko will try to retrieve well and keep the ball in play but any short ball will be point for Anderson who is hard to pass him at the net having a wide reach.
Alexandr Dolgopolov vs. Fernando GonzalezThe Chilean had some match practice wining the Liverpool International Tennis Tournament, a tournament held in park.
Gonzalez will be hoping to emulate his best ever Wimbledon showing of 2005 when he reached the quarter-finals, leaning on the confidence gleaned from three days playing on the Calderstones Park grass.
The Ukrainian slowed down and he lost to Berlocq in first round at Eastbourne, while last year he pushed Tsonga all the way in first round.
Both players have a powerful serve with the Ukrainian mixing up on court more while Gonzalez will try to win points with his powerful forehand. Gonzalez looks set for another come back and on this surface can make a better impact.
Florent Serra vs. Andreas Haider-Maurer
After he qualified for Halle the Frenchman managed to lose in qualifications for s-Hertogenbosch to Walter. The years past by Serra and sometimes showed that on court but he has more experience on grass then the Austrian who managed to beat Kavcic for his first win on grass.
The Frenchman is a good all court player with solid defense and simple flat shots. He knows how to keep himself in rallies and rely on opponents’ mistakes as he hasn’t a particular weapon, counts more on consistency.
Haider-Maurer instead counts on his serve, if that will enter he will have the upper hand as in long rallies Serra has the upper hand. Hard to back the Austrian with only one win on the surface, the conditions are still on slow side.
Grigor Dimitrov vs. Cedrik Marcel Stebe
Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov reached the quarter-finals prior to Wimbledon losing to Tipsarevic. He likes to play on grass and is one of his favorite tournaments.
He will meet the German Stebe for the second time in his career, first time was on clay last year.
The German is in good form, he qualified for Halle and pushed Kohlschreiber all the way while here he qualified with wins over Viola, Kudryavtsev and Harrison. He has a powerful serve and will try to win a lot of free points behind that, solid baseline display but also good hands at the net.
The Bulgarian can mix up better, he is better on backhand wing and can mix up more on court, he knows what to expect and even that this time they met on a faster surface, Dimitrov too has a powerful serve and we give him the upper hand in a tie-break.
Kei Nishikori vs. Lleyton Hewitt
Defying a foot injury that put him out of his previous tournament, Lleyton Hewitt practises hard at Wimbledon. Hewitt has not ruled out playing his first-round Wimbledon match on painkillers, but says he will definitely take to the court after his troublesome foot injury improved over the weekend.
''The practice that I've had so far has been pretty good I think and encouraging. I've done absolutely everything'', said the Aussie.
The odds dropped since they release but he hasn’t the most easy first round as the Japanese showed good form on grass, he has a solid serve and can match with Hewitt from the back of the court, he also creates good angles in his shots. Hewitt must await to five sets here as Nishikori is a tricky player.
Ernests Gulbis vs. Dmitry Tursunov
Russian Dmitry Tursunov won the title in s-Hertogenbosch and is coming with a lot of confidence. But here he needs to play five sets and Gulbis isn’t the easiest choice in first round even that the Latvian showed little recently. Gulbis fails in Grand Slam but here twice advanced to the second round being stopped by Nadal and Murray.
Both players have a big serve and few exchanges will be seen, both hit with a lot of power and both have good hands at the net but overall the Russian is coming in better form. But Tursunov might relax as he achieved his goal to win the title and the points.
Both keeping their serve easily will come to tie-breaks where anything can happen and in 5 sets Tursunov might feel the busy last week schedule, Gulbis isn’t without chances.
Nicolas Almagro vs. Jarkko Nieminen
Nieminen returned to training courts after he had 5-2 and match point against Gremelmayr in s-Hertogenbosch and lost the match. He played well, fast and solid behind the serve but he relaxed and then was harder to reenter the match.
He will meet Almagro in first round and he needs to improve his game, the Spaniard isn’t a grass court player but with his solid serve and ground game he reached the third round here back in 2009.
Still the Spaniard lost to Berrer recently on grass and has three exits in first round at Wimbledon. If Nieminen will serve consistently during the match he will have the upper hand, he moves well on court, he has a good backhand slice to move Almagro to the net and pass him, good volleys at the net.
Go Soeda vs. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
The Frenchman is still without trainer but he is in good form, he played a tough final in Queens to Murray and then he lost to Stepanek in Eastbourne.
Soeda is a lucky loser here, he lost in the last round of qualifications to Lacko and even that he had some success in the past on grass he tends to lose to powerful hitters, he lost to Stepanek, Fischer, Witten, Przysiezny or Amritraj on the surface.
Soeda has hardly any Grand Slam experience despite his age, he is a defensive player with quick feet on the ground and force the opponents the play an extra shot but as long as Tsonga will keep his game and serve big.
David Nalbandian vs. Julian Reister
David Nalbandian lost the Boodles exhibition tournament losing to Ferrer. He also played in Queens where he lost in third round to Verdasco. He returns to Wimbledon after his exit in first round back in 2008 to Dancevic and is one of his favorite tournaments playing the final back in 2002.
The German last year was a qualifier while now is coming in poor form. He has a solid serve and is a tough baseliner who advance to the net from time to time but still hasn’t much experience on the surface, the Argentine played more matches on the surface and will see this as a good opportunity to grab some points.
Jeremy Chardy vs. Novak Djokovic
Hard task for Chardy to play in first round against the player who lost only one match. H2h is 5-0 for the Serb but the Frenchman is coming in good form as he reached the final in Nottingham Challenger and reached third round last year in Wimbledon.
Chardy has a powerful serve which is his main weapon, if that will enter he can push the Serb all the way. He can hit hard from the back of the court but sometimes tries to go too much on serve and shots and makes a lot of errors.
The Serb is favorite to take this one, still Chardy is showing some solid tennis and has the game to keep close.
Robin Soderling vs. Philipp Petzschner
Tricky first round for Soderling, the German pushed Nadal all the way last year.
They have a meeting on grass but back in 2008 won by the Swede. Petzschner reached the final in Halle where he withdrew but was more a precautious retirement, he pulled out with an ailing lower back. He played well until then with his serve working well.
Both have a powerful serve, a plus for the Swede here, with the Swede being the more defensive player and hitting hard from the back of the court while Petzschner will advance more to the net and will try to dictate with his backhand slice which will stay low and will force the Swede to bend his knee. Not the easiest first round for the Swede, the German can play a high level of tennis and we will go for over games.
Andreas Beck vs. Andy Roddick
American Andy Roddick showed a good form and desire to play in Queens where he reached the semi-final, losing to eventual champion Andy Murray. When his serve enters things are easily for him but when he fails behind that he is in trouble. He still has the upper hand in tie-breaks. He will meet German Andreas Beck for the first time.
The left hander player is a qualifier here beating Bubka, Baker and Zopp to enter for the second time in the main draw in Wimbledon.
Beck is a big-hitting lefty who plays well on grass mainly because he has more impact with his powerful game, he has three quarter-finals in Halle while here reached second round last year. The German tends to lose against players that had a suitable game for grass like Muller, Petzschner, Blake, Kohlschreiber, but has the game to force tie-breaks here.
Radek Stepanek vs. Fernando Verdasco
Spaniard Fernando Verdasco reached the quarter-finals in Queens but he lost easily to Roddick spreading a lot of balls outside and was poor on serve, that continued in his exhibition match in Boodles against Ferrer.
The Czech reached third round in Queens and quarter-finals in Eastbourne and lost to Nishikori being a little bit absent on serve.
The conditions will be on slow side as the weather will be low and the ball heavier, the Czech has only one exit in first round in Wimbledon, back in 2008 he lost to Mathieu while the Spaniard has 2, including the one from last year.
Tricky match as the Czech is a five set match might suffer in physical compartment while is hard to back Verdasco confidently showing little fight and low confidence on court.
Olivier Rochus vs. Kenny De Schepper
De Schepper will play on this occasion his first Grand Slam match and even his first game in a ATP tournament. He beat Kellner, Ebden and Bolelli to advance in the main draw and even that the Italian might not pushed too much still was the Frenchman who putted a lot of fight on court.
The left hander Frenchman is imposed by the service and is compared with American John Isner or Ivo Karlovic. If his serve will enter he will earn free points and will force tie-breaks, like he did against Bolelli wining two of them from three, where anything can happen. He has a good variety on his serving side and advance to the net a lot to finish the points with volleys but he isn’t without chances from the back of the court.
Rochus has a good slice on backhand wing and will force De Schepper to bend his knee to hit well, he came after a quarter-final appearance in Eastbourne but he struggled to beat Berlocq needing two tie-breaks. His last success at Wimbledon is back in 2008, he has more variety in his game to trouble the inexperienced Frenchman.
Arnaud Clement vs. Lukasz Kubot
Veteran Arnaud Clement needed a WC invitation for the main draw. He qualified for s-Hertogenbosch and Queens and showed a good form losing to Cilic and Baghdatis. But when his serve let him then his game fell apart and also in a five set match the physical problem will be a question mark. He plays well on grass but those days are over. He will meet qualifier Kubot who beat Ciric, Mesaros and Gensse and that mainly due to his serve as still on court failed to impress.
Kubot has the serve to win free points if his game on court will suffer while Clement hasn’t the same comfort on serve, the Frenchman needs to finish the match in three sets to have a chance as in a five set match the Polish will have the upper hand.
Ivan Ljubicic vs. Marin Cilic
Interesting meeting. Both are coming for Queens where Ljubicic lost in second round while Cilic withdrew in quarter-finals with ankle injury.
The Croat is in poor form and lucks matches on the surface, he plays without confidence in his game and that showed at French Open against Ramirez-Hidaldo where he failed to put some fight and was off on serve.
Last success for Ljubicic in Wimbledon is back in 2007 and despite that he won in s-Hertogenbosch he never excelled on grass. Both are tall with a powerful serve, a plus for Ljubicic here, but if Ljubicic is coming more to the net then Cilic likes to dictate from the back of the court even that he has good hands at the net. In a 5 set match Cilic is favorite, still Cilic showed little on court recently.
Ivo Karlovic vs. Janko Tipsarevic
Janko Tipsarevic is still listed to play with Ivo Karlovic in first rounds but the Serb it might withdraw. In Eastbourne final he stretched too much by a ball being catches on the wrong foot and he complained by thigh pain. He managed to lose another final and he was nervous on court but he looked good on serve and from the back the court.
Also, they met in Delray Beach this year and the Serb won in 2 tie-breaks. The Croat has the serve on his side to win cheap points and will charge the net to finish up quickly, the Serb once more needs to be accurate on his own serve and keep his focus but it will be interesting how he will play after his strange final in Eastbourne.
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