Wimbledon R1 previews and predictions: Nadal vs. Sela, Khachanov vs. Ferrer

July 2, 2018 Ricky Match previews 106

World No. 1 Rafael Nadal heads into Wimbledon as the No. 2 seed and will begin his fortnight against fellow veteran Dudi Sela on Tuesday. The first-round schedule is also wrapping up with a showdown between Karen Khachanov and David Ferrer.

Dudi Sela vs. (2) Rafael Nadal

Nadal and Sela will be going head-to-head for the third time in their careers when they clash in the Wimbledon first round on Tuesday. Both of their previous encounters have gone the Spaniard’s way; 6-1, 6-0, 7-5 at the 2015 Australian Open and 6-3, 6-4 at last season’s Miami Masters. Is an upset possible this time around? Well, one of Nadal’s 10 career losses at the All-England Club has come in the first around against an opponent shorter than 5’10” (Steve Darcis in 2013). But throughout his career and including at Wimbledon, the formula to take down Nadal features a powerful player with a two-handed backhand that can stand up to heavy topspin.

Sela is none of those things; nor is he in his prime. The 33-year-old Israeli is struggling down at No. 133 in the rankings, with a 5-7 record this season and no ATP-level wins since the Indian Wells second round. Sela can at least feel good about being decent on grass, as he made a run to the Wimbledon fourth round back in 2009 and also reached the third round last summer. Nadal is an awesome 30-2 in 2018 with only one non-retirement loss to Dominic Thiem in the Madrid quarterfinals. The world No. 1 avenged the setback in the French Open final, capturing his 11th title at that event and 17th slam overall a few weeks ago. Nadal may not be completely dominant in his first official grass-court match of the year, but she should have enough to see off Sela in straight sets.

Pick: Nadal in 3 losing 11-14 games

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David Ferrer vs. Karen Khachanov

Four years old than his fellow Spaniard at 36, Ferrer is enduring a much different story these days than that of Nadal. The former world No. 3 is toiling away at 38th in the rankings and he will fall much lower if he fails to defend third-round points at Wimbledon, a title in Bastad, and a semifinal performance in Cincinnati. Ferrer is a mere 8-12 for his 2018 campaign after recently squandering a two-set lead over compatriot Jaume Munar at Roland Garros and getting blown out by Mikhail Kukushkin 6-2, 6-0 in the Eastbourne second round.

Up first for Ferrer on Tuesday is a second career contest against Khachanov, who won their only previous encounter 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-4 earlier this season on the indoor hard courts of Montpellier. That is one of four 2018 tournaments in which the 22-year-old Russian has reached at least the quarterfinals, a number that includes his second career ATP title in Marseille. An in-form Khachanov is coming off a fourth-round showing at the French Open and a quarterfinal performance in Halle. Although this is in an intriguing matchup on paper, Khachanov has form and age on his side to the extent that this will likely be a straight-set romp.

Pick: Khachanov in 3

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106 Comments on Wimbledon R1 previews and predictions: Nadal vs. Sela, Khachanov vs. Ferrer

  3. You’re right that Sela should not be the kind of player who can give Nadal any trouble, even on grass. Then again, Steve Darcis…

    Obviously it all depends on Rafa’s level. He has not been serving well, and he will probably be uncomfortable on the slick grass. His health is always an issue off clay, and an injury to the hip cannot be ruled out. He should pull through in this match, but it won’t be a surprise if it’s not easy.

    Reply

    • Joe..Can you please stop this? What are you on man? Why are you trying to talk about him suffering injuries? Please dont try to unnecessarily talk about things that are unwarranted. Anyone can have an injury including Rafa but there is no need to talk about specific pointed injuries for him. And please let it be known, we all know you just don’t wish any good on Rafa so that your beloveds slam records are protected and this is abundantly clear now as you have been at it since months now trying to denigrate him but if it is destined that Rafa will get better, it will happen and any amount of gibberish you talk here will not change that. Just give it a rest.

      Reply

    • Totally nonsense comment, Joe! Basically you are saying that Rafa will probably win, but may just as well lose, lol! Every non-expert could’ve come up with the same assessment.
      Well, it happened exactly as you predicted: Rafa won!

      Reply

      • Don’t see any nonsense in my comment, littlefoot. I stated a couple of facts: Rafa has not been serving well, and his health is indeed an issue. Before the clay season, he hadn’t completed any tournament for months. He himself said he needed to assess how his body felt, and he pulled out of Queens.

        Why are Nadal fans so sensitive to any little criticism? Do you think I’m trying to jinx the guy or something? Jeez.

        I didn’t see the match, but Rafa obviously did well enough to win easily. More easily than I thought he would, if that makes you happy. I see that he served very well in terms of 1st serve pct.

        Reply

        • Joe, I didn’t criticise you for trying to jinx Rafa! I don’t even believe in jinxes! Except for winners of Halle who are not named Federer and when Rafa wears pink outfits. Both are surefire recipes for disaster, lol!
          I was just criticising you for saying everything and nothing. That’s all. Not a biggie..

          Reply

          • Thanks, littlefoot. Btw, I should say, even though I fervently wish for Nadal to lose on clay, that’s only because he’s so dominant on that surface. I don’t wish for him to do poorly on other surfaces, even if it’s too much to say that I cheer for him. And I admit (although I don’t think it’s going to happen), part of me would love to see him make the wimby final -as long as Fed is on the other side!

        • Everyone’s health is an issue these days!

          Federer, Murray, Wawrinka, Nadal, Raonic, Cilic, Thiem, Goffin, Chung, Nishikori, Del Potro. Who hasn’t had fitness/injury issues in the past year?

          Reply

        • No we just know you’re a fedfan troll. We know you get off on it.

          You sure you’re not obsessed with Federer? You might want to reexamine that stance. Your energies here suggest otherwise. Even your stance to “challenge Rafans” is very suggestive of your underlying love for him.

          Many more knowledgeable people suggest that Rafa is the GOAT. Jeff Sackmann and Sharapova to name just two.

          (As opposed to a fedfan troll who claims not to be obsessed LOL.)

          Reply

    • Kvitova appears struggling a lot — I don’t know if she’s sick or or it’s too windy and hot or what but…not looking good for her. She could retire, I fear. Maybe it’s hamstring. So worried..😩

      Reply

        • Yeah, she was so strong in Birmingham. She shouldn’t have played Eastourne. Kvitova doing the doubled over thing. dang.

          This is a good 1st round match for Rafa.

          Reply

          • I don’t know what it is. She had a look of disappointment and heck, it could even be her left hand, I forget that she says it will never be the same. And yet she was having a great season – good enough to fool most everyone. #1 oddmakers fave too.

            Okay, she’s up 4-1 in the 2nd set. I’ll go look at her again 🙁

            Have been watching Jack Sock lug himself around the court. Barrettini can run circles around him. But Sock still might find a way to win hahaha

  16. Very nice, Rafa! Beautiful to watch! Rafa could have finished this a bit earlier but very encouraging showing! Rafa serving great!

    Sela seems like a very nice person, smiling and looking relaxed out there 😊

    Reply

  19. I had an appointment and had to record Rafa’s match. I got home in time to see the second half of the third set. From what I did see, Rafa was serving well.

    I am going to watch my recording to see what I missed. Rafa serving well will be key to getting through the first week.

    Reply

    • NNy
      Simona winning will help the pain of Kvitova losing. But it’s sad – Kvitova can’t play her best at Wimbledon, her favorite place. Sigh……..

      Reply

  24. A good win for Rafa, this being his first match on grass. He looked sharp except for some lapses in the third set. I hope he continues with his good level out there and gets better and better.

    Ferrer is making a comeback against Khachanov, wow! And, Thiem is out, following Dimi out of Wimbledon, two top ten out in R1!

    Reply

  25. Oh Thiem retired, I think he’s injured? And Goffin out too in R1 to Ebden, three top ten out in their first matches.

    Reply

  27. Good that Rafa mastered the first hurdle without any drama! I didn’t expect too many difficulties – but Rafa and Wimby wasn’t as harmonious as fans would hope for in the majority of the last years…

    Reply

  28. Vamos Rafa! and Daveeed! But Daveed’s on serve in the 4th set. Would love to see him win though.

    Thiem retired in the 3rd set, must be injured? Poor Petra, doesn’t look good for her.

    Reply

  29. Rafa’s next opponent is Kukushkin, who beat Pospisil in four sets. What is it with Rafa and Kukushkin, they’ve been meeting at Wimbledon quite often.

    Reply

    • Thank you amy — and I’m in tears about Petra again. That stabbing last year scared me and thought she was gone from tennis. Then she has this brilliant 2018. But she’s still a fragile one. Still, I love her too. Thanks again amy.

      Now comes Novak onto court. Maybe this will go better.

      Reply

      • So sorry about Petra, rc. Yes, she was a favorite to win, and everyone really likes her. She’s one of the good people.

        I expect things will go very well for Novak. I thought they were looking up when he started getting angry about losing instead of that reconciled hippy dippy love stuff.

        Reply

    • Sanju, Halle (won by Coric) has been absolutely jinxed in the past. Many, many winners lost the first round of Wimby. Fed was the one who finally broke that jinx. Which was extremely important for Halle’s reputation. But whenever Fed didn’t win Halle, the jinx seems to become activated again, lol!

      Reply

      • another jinx is anyone who has won stuttgart has gone out in 2nd round of wimby past 3 years..rafa..thiem..pouille

        fed will break that pattern tomorrow

        Reply

        • Well, a Partnern of the past three year’s isn’t a strong indication for a jinx, yet. If Fed loses tomorrow, I will rethink, though, lol!
          However, if you look up the stats for Halle, it looks pretty bleak for winners not named Federer. It had been a consistent pattern ever since the tournament existed. It was a disaster – until Fed came along…

          Reply

    • Herbert is better known (to me) as Mahut’s double partner. He’s a very good doubles player, not great at singles.

      Reply

  38. That’s what Mischa gets for playing in and winning Eastbourne… And what’d ya know? Baghdatis did end up beating Thiem like I thought he would! Also, Diego has won his first grass match….in his ENTIRE CAREER!! Wtf?? I know the guy’s best surface is clay, but I didn’t think he was the level of clay court specialist where he had never even won 1 single damn grass match in his life haha! Well done, Diego! 😂

    Reply

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