T-3 days and they are off!!
Who got lucky, who can cry? I think Federer and Djokovic are happy and Nadal a little stressed out. Why? Well, Fed and Novak are in the top half, which is a pain for the two… but the road TO the semis is actually pretty aaaight. Federer got Soderling (AGAIN!!) early on, Monfils (AGAIN!!) or Nishikori?… Many interesting names, but all of whom lose big time to the FedXpress.
Djokovic will get players like Berrer, Safin, Seppi? and Wawrinka and last but not least, the bagel and breadstick specialist Nalbandian in a potential QF. Federer-Djokovic semifinal should be a very safe bet.
Nadal, on the other hand will get some of his good old battle horses like Youzhny, Murray, Fish, Stepanek… well not really any big threats. His only problem has been Youzhny, and could pose a threat in a R16.
How about Davydenko, the newly crowned Warsawa champ on clay? I think he will pass the 1st round, but players like Bjorkman, Ljubicic, Mathieu can and will get him out on grass. If not, Roddick in a QF is a pretty safe pick.
Yes, how about the grass lover Roddick? He finally got himself on the bottom half, away from Fed. He will face Tipsy in 2nd, MAHUT!! in 3rd, and possibly Blake in 4th. There are quite a few qualifiers who can make it, but it’s hard to tell who. I see that there are some new east-europeans and a few unknown latinos. There are some upsets lurkin in the back of people’s head….
Ferrer might get a handful with Stakhovsky, Ferrero could be downed by Querrey, Dancevic over Nalby?, Odesnik over Nieminen?, Becker over Davydenko?, Fish over Gasquet?!?!!?… there are plenty of 1st round upsets to come. The biggest match to me might be Fish-Gasquet.
Their season have been in a strong contrast. Fish has moved up the rankings, Gasquet is not really moving anywhere, but I’m sure that he will pop out of top 10 in 2,5 weeks’ time. There’s no way he will get to the SF this year. I actually think Fish has a very good chance to advance from this 1st round match and clash with Murray in a 3rd round.
Other interesting 1st round encounters include: Isner-Gulbis, Santoro-Murray, Bjorkman-Clement, Mahut-Tursunov, Baghdatis-Darcis, Kohlschreiber-Verdasco, Hewitt-Haase… +++
Here are my predictions for L16 based on intuition and “expert” guessing:
Federer-Hewitt
Kohlschreiber-Ancic
Djokovic-Wawrinka
Baghdatis-Nalbandian
Roddick-Blake
Mathieu-Bjorkman
Fish-Murray
Youzhny-Nadal
I’m pretty confident about my picks so far, but the 4th round matches sure have some 50-50s. I genuinely think that Youzhny can take Nadal, OR Murray in a QF. Bjorkman’s best slam is Wimbledon and can surprise us. Hasn’t the worst draw and can get past Mathieu in a QF. Roddick should be able to beat Blake but when two friends play you never know. Baggy is the biggest question mark, but also the biggest potential. I really wish for and believe in a Fed-Ancic QF. REMEMBER… Ancic is the last player to beat Federer on grass! Not relevant now, but fun fact.
Agree, err?
ATP Tennis Blog 
June 20, 2008 at 2:43 pm |
Federer has never beaten Hrbaty! Maybe it’s first round exit this year?
June 21, 2008 at 11:17 am |
Looking forward to the Murray-Nadal match. Hope Murray can do some damage. Problem for Murray is that he has never been able to beat Nadal. Bjorkman is a good pick for the L16.
June 21, 2008 at 12:05 pm |
Good picks, although I think Stepanek with his all-court game will be the one to run into Nadal in the round of 16, and might give him some trouble but I don’t think anyone can beat Rafa this year. I agree that there is no telling how Roddick-Blake will turn out. I think a big upset will be Santoro over Murray in the first round. The combination of the UK pressure and all that spin will be too much for Murray, I think.
Here are my fourth round picks:
Fed-Gonzo
Kohlschreiber-Llodra
Djoker-Wawrinka
Karlovic-Nalbandian
Roddick-Blake
Mathieu-Ljubicic
Anderson-Haas
Stepanek-Nadal
Joe Samuel Starnes
http://www.topspinblog.com
June 21, 2008 at 12:46 pm |
The problem with Stepanek, and what’s weird about him, is that his style of play seems to be more suitable for clay than grass. He has better results on clay than on grass. He made the QFs in 06, but that is by far his best result here.
Santoro over Murray would be a big defeat for British tennis. I hope he gets the old French guy. But Anderson is an interesting pick. I won’t forget the Djokovic match anytime soon. Maybe he will end Nadal’s winning plan.