Novak Djokovic’s first seeded opponent of the Wimbledon fortnight comes in the form of fellow Serb Miomir Kecmanovic as they prepare for a third-round battle. Friday’s order of play also features Jannik Sinner and John Isner.
(1) Novak Djokovic vs. (25) Miomir Kecmanovic
Djokovic vs. Kecmanovic was supposed to be a first-round match at the Australian Open. It never happened, and both Serbs’ seasons have been pretty much defined by its cancellation. Djokovic was infamously deported out of Australia before the tournament began and both his unvaccinated status and some disappointing losses have resulted in a borderline disastrous 2022 campaign so far. Kecmanovic capitalized on his countryman’s exit from Melbourne to make a fourth-round run, propelling him to what has been by far his best year on tour.
That’s not to say their third-round encounter at Wimbledon on Friday is expected to be competitive. Djokovic is the three-time defending champion and he picked up some momentum by destroying Thanasi Kokkinakis 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 on Wednesday following a lackluster four-set victory over Soonwoo Kwon in round one. Kecmanovic is coming off four-set defeats of John Millman and Alejandro Tabilo, but the world No. 30 is still just 10-10 lifetime on grass. Although Kecmanovic pushed Djokovic to three sets on the red clay of Serbia in April, Djokovic is obviously a much different kind of player and competitor at Grand Slams so it’s hard to see the underdog having much of a chance.
Pick: Djokovic in 3
(10) Jannik Sinner vs. (20) John Isner
Bigger favorites have already crashed out of the All-England Club for various reasons, but Andy Murray’s exit made the most on-court news. In a spirited, high-quality second-round showdown on Wednesday night, Murray tried his best to come back against Isner in front of the home crowd on Centre Court but the 6’10’’ American held on for a 6-4, 7-6(4), 6-7(3), 6-4 victory. Success on grass is nothing new for Isner, who went all the way to the Wimbledon semis in 2018 before losing a five-set marathon to Kevin Anderson. Even though the world No. 24 may no longer be in his prime at 37 years old, his serve remains as lethal as ever and continues to make him extremely dangerous every time he takes the court.
Next up for Isner on Friday is a third meeting with Sinner after they split a pair of hard-court contests in 2021. Sinner has advanced this fortnight with four-set wins over Stan Wawrinka and Mikael Ymer—his first-ever main-tour wins on grass, in fact. Only one thing is certain in this match: Isner will become the all-time ace leader at some point before it ends (he currently trails Ivo Karlovic by four). But the No. 20 seed has a great chance to win it because he has a ton of momentum from the Murray match and Sinner is still inexperienced on this surface.
Pick: Isner in 4
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Who is this Novak guy? I think Kecmanovic can beat him! 🤣🤣🤣
Yeah, I agree with Ricky’s take, ie Djoko in 3 and Isner in 4. Kecmanovic is a Serb, so I don’t think he’s going to beat Djoko, as no Serb (except one in the past), has ever beaten, or is going to beat Djoko on the tennis court!
Isner is serving and playing well so it’ll be a tough ask of Sinner to beat Isner.
Yes, Isner is looking a bit scary!!
But it’s always nice to be able to sit back and watch the matches without any anxiety!!! 🤣🤣🤣 happy tennis day everyone!!
As expected, Djoko wins in straight sets. On grass, Djoko has the edge over almost everyone.
I can’t wait to see Alcaraz Vs Djoko here on grass. I like what I see in Alcaraz here, his brand of tennis is power tennis adding in some finesse, plus speed around the court and good court craft. He just knows what shot to play at the right time, quite admirable for a young guy like him. His movement on grass is also great.
Sinner beats Isner in straight sets, impressive! Alcaraz beats Otte in straight sets too, and the two young guys will be meeting each other in the next round!
Alcaraz’s on court interview is quite fun, while Ferrero looks on proudly . Alcaraz vs Sinner will be fun to watch, I think Alcaraz can win that one even if it may be a very competitive match.
Well, we won’t see Djokovic vs. Isner. Sinner kicked Isner’s ass! Maybe, that’s an indication that Murray really isn’t that good anymore. Isner looked good when he played against Murray, but Murray made him look good. But Isner didn’t even manage to drag Sinner into a tie-break! It’s also true, though, that Isner had always the problem that he could not string together a few good matches in a row.
As to Djokovic: the only slightly seriously obstacle on his way into another final will be either Sinner or Alcaraz. Both won their matches easily today, and they converted their match points almost at the same time.
Yeah I agree, the only obstacle for Djoko will be his QF opponent, as I don’t think anyone from the other QF of his draw is going to give him much problem in the SF if he gets there.
Lucky, I agree! Djokovic got a dream draw! He had a few good players in his half – Murray, Sinner, Isner, Alcaraz . But they will have eliminated each other, and Djokovic will face only one of them in the quarterfinal. I forgot
where Tall Hugo was lurking, but since he was eliminated in the first round, and his eliminator is gone, too, it doesn’t matter.
To be fair, Rafa’s somewhat daunting draw became much easier because of Covid.
This year’s Wimby is a bit of a joke…