The Grandstand’s Ricky Dimon and Joey Hanf of The Tennis Nerds preview and pick the four men’s fourth-round matches on Tuesday at Wimbledon. Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer are two wins apiece away from a semifinal showdown.
(WC) Nick Kyrgios vs. (2) Rafael Nadal
Ricky: After a substantial early-match scare against 2012 Wimbledon conqueror Lukas Rosol, Nadal has watched his draw open up. He got Mikhail Kukushkin instead of Ivo Karlovic in the third round and now he gets Kyrgios instead of Richard Gasquet. Kyrgios has the game to trouble Nadal with a huge serve and a flat, punishing backhand but he is just 19 years old and has never been anywhere close to this stage of a Grand Slam. This is by far the biggest match of the Australian’s career. Youthful exuberance will not allow him to be afraid and the underdog may take advantage of a slow-starting Nadal, but the world No. 2 will wear Kyrgios down sooner rather than later. Nadal 6-7(6), 6-3, 6-3, 6-3.
Joey: When filling out the draw, very few if any could have predicted this round of 16 match. Nadal dropped the first set in each of his first three matches and was one point away from going down two sets to love against Rosol. But the Spaniard found a way in each of those matches, and is starting to play really good tennis on the grass. However, he will be in for his stiffest test of the tournament when he plays the 19-year-old Kyrgios. The Australian saved nine match points in a five-set epic with Richard Gasquet and then took out fellow young gun Jiri Vesely in four sets. Kyrgios has big weapons; the serve is his greatest asset and the forehand has been praised as a great shot. But the backhand is personally my favorite shot that Kyrgios possesses. He hits it flat and it has a slight resemblance to Marat Safin’s two-handed hammer. Nadal will struggle to break early, but once he get’s one, it’s probably over. Nadal 6-7(5), 6-4, 6-4, 6-2.
[polldaddy poll=8154282]
(5) Stan Wawrinka vs. (19) Feliciano Lopez
Ricky: I had Lopez in the quarterfinals from the start and there is certainly no reason to change it now. The Queen’s Club runner-up and Eastbourne champion has maintained his impeccable ways on grass so far this fortnight. He has been broken only once in three matches, including none during a big win over John Isner on Monday. Wawrinka did not have too much trouble reaching the fourth round, although he struggled through a four-setter against Yen-Hsun Lu in the second round. Lopez 7-6(4), 6-7(5), 6-3, 7-6(6).
Joey: Of the four round of 16 matches to be played Tuesday, this one should be the best. Lopez is a different player on grass. His serve-and-volley game is the most effective in the modern game. His often-criticized backhand is actually effective on grass, because his sharp slice stays very low. Wawrinka has struggled at Wimbledon in the past, but he was impressive in his straight-set win over Denis Istomin in the third round. Wawrinka’s serve is very effective on grass; he really flattens it out more often than he does on clay. We can expect a few tiebreakers and this match will be decided by only a few crucial points. With each guy having to play on back-to-back days, fatigue could be an issue. It really could go either way, but I’ll go with Wawrinka in five. Wawrinka 7-6(7), 6-7(3), 6-4, 2-6, 7-5.
[polldaddy poll=8158208]
(23) Tommy Robredo vs. (4) Roger Federer
Ricky: This isn’t 2013 anymore. A resurgent Robredo played some of the best tennis of his career last spring and summer, while Federer was flailing away in his worst-ever form. The result was a stunning fourth-round U.S. Open upset–with relative ease, too–in Robredo’s favor. Still, Federer leads the head-to-head series 10-1 and something along the lines of their first 10 encounters can be expected on Tuesday. The 32-year-old Swiss could not be more comfortable on this surface and he completely thrashed all three of his first-week opponents. Robredo, on the other hand, is coming off a five-setter against Jerzy Janowicz. Federer 6-2, 6-4, 6-4.
Joey: These two last met in the round of 16 at the 2013 U.S. Open, with Robredo pulling off a shocking straight-set upset of Federer. Now on grass, Federer has a chance to get revenge (if he likes that sort of thing). Robredo was impressive in taking out 2013 semifinalist Jerzy Janowicz in the third round, rebounding in the fifth set while just beating out darkness. But things will get much tougher against Federer, who has been at good-but-not-quite-great levels through his first three matches. If you’re a Federer fan, the good news is that he always raises his standard in the second week of Wimbledon. These two have never played on grass, but Federer owns the head-to-head series 10-1, with that lone loss coming just nine months ago. Expect Federer to roll. Federer 6-4, 7-6(4), 6-2.
[polldaddy poll=8154285]
(8) Milos Raonic vs. (10) Kei Nishikori
Ricky: Nishikori leads the head-to-head series 2-0 after beating Raonic in a pair of tiebreakers earlier this season in Madrid, but they have never faced each other on grass. Raonic had been surprisingly poor on the slick stuff prior to this Wimbledon, but he has cruised in straight sets in all three of his matches without dropping serve a single time. Nishikori, on the other hand, needed five sets to get past Simone Bolelli in the third round. Of course, the No. 10 seed’s form hardly matters because Raonic will take the match completely out of his opponent’s hands. Raonic 7-6, 6-4, 6-4.
Joey: For a good two and half hours, it didn’t look like we would get this matchup. Nishikori trailed Bolelli two sets to one and was down match point, but he recovered to win in five. Raonic has been imperious on serve, having only faced one break point through three matches while hitting 73 aces. The Canadian had struggled with his movement on grass in the past, but it looks like he’s getting comfortable on the surface where he could do the most damage. Grass is definitely Nishikori’s worst surface, but he’s still capable of hanging with Raonic, at least on his own serve. Unfortunately for Nishikori, he won’t get many looks on the Raonic serve. Count on at least one tiebreak, with the Canadian prevailing and setting up a potential quarterfinal against Nadal. Raonic 6-4, 7-6(6), 6-7(5), 6-4.
[polldaddy poll=8158205]
Leave a Reply