ATP Wimbledon – Men’s Thursday Preview

Karol Beck vs. Guillermo Garcia-Lopez

After managing to qualify the Slovak Karol Beck kept the form and passed by Argentinean Carlos Berlocq in five sets to advance in second round at Wimbledon. Only once in four attempts until now he managed to go through this stage and that back in 2004. He struggled against Berlocq, his aggressive game paid off in the end but also forced him to make a lot of errors, 41 unforced errors and 72 winners.

Spaniard Garcia-Lopez advanced much easily as Golubev preferred to withdraw when he was already two sets down. The level of fitness will be crucial for Beck here as he has the game to take this one but in three, four sets as in a grueling five sets the Spaniard might have the upper hand.

The Slovak has a powerful serve and pressing shots from the back of the court with a lot of depth, great touch at the net and as long he will play aggressive he will have the upper hand but the Spaniard plays well on the surface and he has wins over Istomin, Benneteau, Tipsarevic, Almagro on grass.    

Kevin Anderson vs. Novak Djokovic        

South Africa's Kevin Anderson said he would have to play his absolute best to shatter Novak Djokovic's dreams of winning Wimbledon.

"I'm very excited about it, really looking forward to it and that's why I play the sport - to be at Wimbledon playing one of the best players in the world", said a boosting Anderson.

But he struggled to hit through Marchenko’s defense in first round making 45 unforced errors and 57 winners in five sets while the Serb annihilate the powerful serve of the Frenchman.

Anderson too will count on serve as from the back of the court he will not have many opportunities to win against the Serb. They met this year twice and the Serb won both matches comfortably, he needs to take this one quickly and not be interrupt by rain.  

Marcos Baghdatis vs. Andreas Seppi

Marcos Baghdatis won in five sets in opening round to set a meeting with Andreas Seppi. He broke opponent’s serve in the opening game and was set for a routine win but the American relying on power shots and good retrievals forced him to play a decisive set.

Blake broke Baghdatis in the first game of the final set but helped by darkness and the luck of rhythm in a tense match of the American was the key and the Cypriot managed to win.

Seppi continued his good run with a confident first round against Montanes. The Italian is coming with a lot of morale and counts on consistency on court, something that Baghdais misses recently. Seppi can force long rallies and showed solid tennis recently going for his shots and being more decisive on serve, not an easy match as in a five sets match he might suffer in physical compartment but we see the Italian in better form while still the Cypriot lucks rhythm and consistency.    

 

David Nalbandian vs. Andreas Haider-Maurer

Haider-Maurer came to Wimbledon with a 2-5 record but he was solid in first round against Serra firing 39 aces and wining 89% points behind the serve but his game looks easy when opponent put little resistance, still important win for the Austrian who will have another challenge on court against Nalbandian.

The Argentine made a solid match against Reister making only 16 unforced errors. Hard to see any surprise here even that the Austrian will serve once more big, Nalbandian has good retrieving skills and his advances to the net are sometimes unprepared and will be easily pass.    

  

Fernando Gonzalez vs. Rik De Voest      

Chilean Fernando Gonzalez returned with a win at Wimbledon. He made a solid match pounding winners all over the court with solid serve, he fired 25 aces with only one double fault and won 80% points behind first serve, he made 19 unforced errors but he produced 50 winners. He was all over the court, he kept the points short and surprised the Ukrainian.

He will meet now De Voest who beat veteran Ramirez Hidalgo in first round. The qualifier was solid but against a player without rhythm on grass and a barely contested serve. If the Chilean will play the same he will win this one comfortably.    

Florian Mayer vs. Xavier Malisse

Playing more at a higher level was the key of the match for the German Florian Mayer against local player Evans. The German struggled on court but he the experience come out in tie-breaks, also things might have being different if Evans had won the second set.

Malisse advanced with a better composure against Zverev in first round with the Belgian producing 41 winners and only 16 unforced errors. They met once on tour and the Belgian won and the match stays on his racquet.

Mayer looked without rhythm on court and was more the Britt who came up with the aggressiveness but Malisse is on his best surface, he has good angles and good retrieving skills.

Viktor Troicki vs. Yen-Hsun Lu

Taipei's Yen-Hsun Lu advanced to the second round of the men's singles tournament at the Wimbledon Championships after defeating Tommy Robredo in straight sets. Robredo was a strong opponent and that it was not an easy game but he took advantage of the grass and the fact that his opponent was making his debut after recovering from an injury.

He will have a tough task against Troicki who even that wasn’t brighter he won against Maximon Gonzalez.

The Serb has the serve on his side t win free points and hit with the lot of power to hit through Lu’s defense, the Taipei player will rely on pressing shots from the back of the court forcing long rallies but any short ball will be point for Troicki.

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Ricardo Mello vs. Michael Llodra

Eight minutes past three hours needed Brazilian Ricardo Mello for his win over Danvevic for his first win SW19. The conditions were tricky with a lot of winds and the Canadian started well giving little opportunities to Mello but he lost his intensity in third set while in fourth set Dancevic missed two match points, since there was the Brazilian who controlled the match. L

lodra advanced with a solid display against local hope Ward who putted a lot of fight but was the Frenchman who kept better the errors low. Hard to see another surprise for Mello here.

"The serve and volleys Llodra, comes a lot of the network. I have to return well and make him play as much as possible", said Mello about his opponent.

But the Frenchman is coming also with a low and deep slice, drop shots and he needs to use better the contra-pie as still misses a lot from run.     

 

Grigor Dimitrov vs. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga

Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga had a solid preparation for Wimbledon and is expecting to go deep in the tournament, he beat easily Soeda in first round and now he will face tricky Dimitrov.

Tsonga was solid on serve and even that he missed some points he controlled the match. The Bulgarian closed out his first match in 2 days due to rain beating surprising qualifier Stebe. He also served well on court but he tried to be more aggressive and missed a lot.

Dimitrov won the Junior title back in 2008 and now he won his first match in the main draw, he likes to play on grass and the resemble with Federer puts him under pressure, but he is coped with a big serve and he step up on court to be decisive, he has all the shots in his arsenal and in a given day can be a hard nut to crack, Tsonga is favorite to advance further but we don’t see an easy match.     

David Ferrer vs. Ryan Harrison

In his first career match at Wimbledon, Ryan Harrison made quick work of Ivan Dodig. Harrison attacked the Croatian's second serve and was the better player from the back of the court and his own serve worked solid through out the match.

The Spaniard advanced after also a three win over Paire and his superior consistency on court was the key of the match as Paire didn’t made a poor match.

Harrison has all the shots in his arsenal and the win will give him a boost of morale, he has a solid serve and can match with Ferrer from the back of the court but also he needs to step up on court and be more aggressive and not let Ferrer to dictate the rhythm.

The American has wins over tough baseliners like Russell, Machado, Prodon, De La Nava or Sweeting, he will need some time to set his rhythm against Ferrer but he has the game to not give free points.

 

Igor Andreev vs. Bernard Tomic

There are chances to see an Aussie battle in third round if Tomic and Hewitt will win their matches, especially after Tomic handled well the Russian Davydenko in first round.

Tomic made a solid match with few errors on court and solid serving, he faced only three break points against one of the best returners on tour losing his serve just once.

“ … the way I played was really good. I got a lot confidence off that match. I can't wait for my next round", said Tomic.

Andreev won a Russian battle to advance further and even that his serve worked he made a lot of errors on court having some downs during the match. Andreev has a powerful serve and big forehand, with his deep baseline shots will try to push Tomic way behind the baseline but the Aussie handled well Davydenko wining a lot of rallies and he has the upper hand against Andreev who moves often to hit the forehand, the Aussie looks favorite to advance further but is hard convincingly at these low odds considering his experience on grass.    

Dmitry Tursunov vs. Jurgen Melzer

After wining the title in s-Hertogenbosch the weather was on Russian side who needed two days to win against Gulbis where few points made the difference. They met this year indoors at Marseille and Tursunov won in three sets and overall leads the head-to-head with 3-1. Tursunov handled well the pressure of Gulbis being more a battle of serve.

Melzer was without match practice on the surface and after a sluggish start he managed to take the control against tricky Falla.

Tursunov has a good record against left hander, he is 20/18 in ATP and 14/5 in Challenger level, but he is 1/2 against Zverev, 2/3 against Lopez, 0/2 against Nieminen, 2/0 against Berrer other left net rushers.

The Russian is favorite due to his recent run but the Austrian is fresher and looks injury free after a bad period.  

 

Somdev Devvarman vs. Mikahail Youzhny        

Five first round losses in the lead up to Wimbledon made Somdev Devvarman a nervous starter against German Denis Gremelmayr. But a dominating start of the opening round match and an injury-related withdrawal by his opponent saw India's player cross the big hurdle.

Next up for Somdev is the seed Mikhail Youzhny who needed five sets to beat Monaco showing some discomfort. But Somdev isn’t giving much thought to the fitness of his rival.

“Youzhny is a really good player, and 100% fit or not he’s a tough competitor. It’s going to be a good match and I’m looking forward to playing him”, said Devvarman.

The Indian is another tough competitor and if he will managed to push Youzhny all the way like Monaco did then he will have the upper hand in a five set match as the Russian isn’t at his best and is under injury clouds.

Nicolas Almagro vs. John Isner

In a replay of the longest match in history played last year, the American John Isner emerged easily this time victorius. The match was dictate by serve with Isner facing only two break points and losing his serve once.

The Spaniard showed some nerves on court but he managed to win against Nieminen, he fired 18 aces wining 80% points behind the serve. Tricky match as Isner never passed this stage further in Wimbledon while Almagro only once had passed the second round, back in 2009 he won against lucky loser Karol Beck.

Both have a powerful serve with Isner coming at the net more while Almagro will try to keep his on the baseline and force long rallies but the American can save with his serve.

Tricky match as neither excelled in first round and benefit by opponent errors but if Almagro will keep his head and will not be impatient and he will go when he will see an opportunity he will have a chance.    

Adrian Mannarino vs. Roger Federer

Roger Federer started with a three sets win in 2011 Wimbledon edition. The Swiss didn’t excel, he made an economics match but was enough to advance in three sets.

He will meet for the first time Mannarino who advanced after a battle of errors against Niland, he was down in decider but he managed to win five consecutives games.

The Frenchman relies on his solid defense, he made 64 unforced errors and only 47 winners and will try to put everything back. He served well but he faced 19 break opportunities losing his serve seven times. Federer is favorite to advance in 3 sets, he will need some time to adjust the pace to Mannarino’s game but he will have the upper hand in tie-break.    

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