Plenty of second-week surprises already at Wimbledon

Novak Djokovic was already the Wimbledon favorite heading into this fortnight. He became a bigger favorite when Rafael Nadal landed in Roger Federer’s half of the draw. And now he’s an even bigger favorite after the top half blew up–aside from Djokovic taking care of business–throughout the first week.

If it’s not the world No. 1, one of the following players will be in the final next Sunday: Ugo Humbert, David Goffin, Fernando Verdasco, Guido Pella, Milos Raonic, Benoit Paire, or Roberto Bautista Agut. Yes, all of those guys are through to the second week.

Raonic made it to the title match in 2016 (lost to Andy Murray), but he is in the midst of another injury-plagued campaign and has slipped to 17th in the rankings. No one else has ever reached any Grand Slam final.

The 28-year-old Canadian may have expected to see 2018 runner-up Kevin Anderson across the net from him on Manic Monday, but instead it will be Pella. Anderson, who has been out with injuries of his own, lost to the 26th-seeded Argentine 6-4, 6-3, 7-6(4) on Friday.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZjxwTL8YLI

Djokovic had been on a collision course with Felix Auger-Aliassime for the fourth round, but the 18-year-old Canadian went down in 6-4, 7-5, 6-3 flames to Humbert. The other middle Monday fourth-rounder in the Serb’s section could have been Stefanos Tsitsipas vs. Daniil Medvedev, which would have renewed a contentious rivalry. Instead, it’s Verdasco vs. Goffin. Although Bautista Agut vs. Paire is not a huge surprise, it could have been Karen Khachanov or Feliciano Lopez vs. Alexander Zverev.

Next up for Humbert is none other than Djokovic. Does the 21-year-old Frenchman have chance?

“I have a chance,” he answered. “If (I think) not, I’m not coming on the court.”

It’s a big chance for just about everyone on that side of the draw. For Humbert it’s not a good one, and for Paire it’s not a great one (0-8 lifetime against Bautista Agut), but the second week is sure to provide huge opportunities for some more unexpected headlines.

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