Rafael Nadal found himself in a loaded bottom half of the Wimbledon draw following Friday morning’s draw ceremony in London. Nadal will battle for a spot in the championship match with the likes of Juan Martin Del Potro, Alexander Zverev, Novak Djokovic, Nick Kyrgios, and Andy Murray.
Week one, though, could be a breeze. The world No. 1, who is seeded second at the All-England Club, will begin his fortnight on Tuesday against Dudi Sela and his nearest seed is French Open semifinalist Marco Cecchinato. Diego Schwartzman and Fabio Fognini are potential fourth-round foes for Nadal, while Del Potro, Murray, David Goffin, and Denis Shapovalov are possible quarterfinal opponents.
Murray is set for an intriguing first-rounder against Benoit Paire, whom the Scot beat 7-6(1), 6-4, 6-4 during fourth-round action last year.
In the bottom half’s other quarter, Zverev is joined by Djokovic, Kyrgios, Dominic Thiem, Kei Nishikori, Kyle Edmund, and Fernando Verdasco. Djokovic and Edmund are on a collision course for the third round. Thiem kicks off his campaign against Marcos Baghdatis and would then run into either Karen Khachanov or David Ferrer.
At the top of the bracket, Federer is facing Dusan Lajovic in his opener, either Lukas Lacko or Benjamin Bonzi in the last 64, and potentially huge-serving Ivo Karlovic in the third round. Kevin Anderson and Sam Querrey–two of last summer’s standouts at both Wimbledon and the U.S. Open–are possible quarterfinal adversaries for the No. 1 seed and eight-time champion.
If there is a rematch of the 2017 final between Federer and Marin Cilic, it would come in the semis. Cilic landed in the top half and will compete in a quarter alongside Grigor Dimitrov, Milos Raonic, John Isner, Lucas Pouille, Stefanos Tsitsipas, and an unseeded Stan Wawrinka. Dimitrov and Wawrinka have to go head-to-head in round one.
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who ya got?
Predictions for SF and final?
I think Rafa has a decent draw…djoko thiem zverev kyrgios are going to kill each other in their qtr before getting to face Rafa in semis…similarly delpo goffin Murray can kill each other before facing Rafa in qtrs..
Now can Rafa please reach the qf and avoid an upset 🙂
This is the best draw he has recieved in years. Really expecting him to reach the quarters at least.
Then the court slows down and anything is possible.
Fed faces Coric, Anderson and Cilic. Its not that easy for him. But his first three rounds are easy.
Hopefully Rafa makes good use of such a draw!
Oh, he will! The only guy who could potentially take a set off Rafa pre-QF is probably Fabio, right? And if I recall correctly, Fabio is pathetically bad on grass… And that’s just what Rafa needs- to get to the QF without having to go really long matches. This is surely Rafa’s best chance to finally get past 4th round again. His QF won’t be easy, for sure, but I think he will be well-oiled and very formidable should he make the QF.
Kevin, he has to get past Sela, Popsy or Kukushin, and then Mischa or Cechinato to reach R4 first, those can be tricky on grass. Im not worried of Foggy or Diego in R4 if Rafa gets there as they’re not good on clay.
*as they’re not good on grass.
Federer got a very good draw IMO,no one can hurt him in the first three rounds,however Coric can be a good challenge in R4 if he makes it to him,which is far from a sure thing.His QF should be easy peasy,he´ll demolish either Querrey/Anderson should they met there. Obviously meeting Cilic in SF could be very tough,but that’s the only huge hurdle for Fed before the final. It´s very important for Fed to avoid Kyrgios,Djoko and Delpo,the kind of players that can trouble him there.
Rafa,well,you never know after all those early exits what in fact it’s a good draw for him. Many are saying that he has the easiest of the draws til the QF,we’ll have to wait and see. Kukushkin´s actually in good form in Eastbourne and can be a tough challenge,and if Fognini makes it to R4 he can be very dangerous if he´s dialed in. Then of course,if he meets Delpo in the QF,we can have a cracker and anything can happen.
Djoko has a very manageable draw,IMO,if he keeps building some form he’ll at the very least reach the SF there.
Already quiet a few Rafans have said that they not expecting much from Rafa on grass. I somehow am expecting him to do well. Even last year I expected him to do well and likewise in 2014 but out of nowhere came kyrgios n Muller playing out of their skin . Go Rafa go…prove it you are 2 time wimby champion and 3 time finalist
In my opinion Rafa should be more nervous on clay than grass. On clay he is the hunted and everyone expects him to win. Ok grass no one is expecting much..he can just go there n play freely ..maybe watch his 2008 n 2010 victories and see what he did well there..
Returned well and served well? 🙂 Rafa will give it his best, which is all I’ve ever expected from him.
Sanju, Rafa is not a guy who can play freely, except when hes injured in a match and he knows he has no chance of winning, like that AO2014 final.
Whether its clay or grass or HC, Rafa is always nervous and sometimes lacking in confidence and thats something that pissed me especially when he’s playing on clay. He doesnt behave like a 16 or 17 times grand slam champion, more like someone who’s the underdog and so is afraid of losing.
I dont understand how come he has cultivated such mindset in his glorious career, if its someone else having such achievements, that person would in all likelihood be a very confident player and approaching his matches with confidence of winning!
QF’s : Nadal, Djokovic, Federer, Cilic
SF’s : Nadal, Cilic
W: Nadal
BTW Rafa lost to Pouille in exhibitions. The serve and return game was woeful . Pouille is not a big server. Rafa’s grasscourt game is not showing a lot of confidence.
Exactly! I understand he had set point in the first set TB but blew it. I didnt get to see it but if thats the case it showed he didnt have the confident or wasnt clutch enough to win that important point to win the set.
Im guessing (and have been guessing since his clay season) that his serve was so poor because hes not pushing hard as hes afraid to injure his hips again.
Serve is the biggest problem. Not winning free points on first serve.
oh thats not good to hear..hopefully will play into form..
Well, that’s the thing about Rafa. If he survives the early rounds he usually rounds into form.
The only threats to Rafa before QF is a resurgent Pospisil (which won’t happen because Vasek will probably lose first round) and more likely a matchup with Mischa Zverev. Zverev is a couple games from the final in Eastbourne and plays a similar game to that of Rafa’s conqueror last year, Muller. That being said, Rafa would still likely beat Mischa pretty handily but you never know when it comes to Rafa and this surface.
I’m not expecting too much from Roger because of his age, and less of Nadal because of age and mediocre record on grass. I will be pleasantly surprised (in Fed’s case) and absolutely amazed (in Rafa’s) if they make the final.
I’m not sure Fed can be called the favourite based on his play in Halle after the first match. To me he looked tired and a bit old. Possibly his fitness is not where it should be after a long period of no match play. Regarding Rafa, I watched his exho against Ebden. The points made above about his serve are spot on. You simply can’t win consistently on grass without getting lots of easy points on serve. And Nadal’s serve just isn’t very good right now. So an early exit, before the QF, is the most likely outcome imo.
Who are other favourites besides Fed? Cilic, obviously, who certainly has the game to take him out if they meet in the SF. On the other side, Kyrgios, Zverev, and maybe Novak.
Top of the dark-horses, imo, is Murray. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him go a lot further than most are expecting. Others include Coric, Edmund, and even Wawrinka. As I said of the latter, if he gets to the QF, I’m picking him to go all the way!
I love Stan but there’s no way in hell he’s getting out of the first round (and if he does he won’t go much further). As Sanju is implying, Rafa has a MUCH better shot at the title than Stanimal even if he isn’t necessarily one of the top candidates to win it.
It was the way Fed lost to Coric at Halle that shook my confidence. He had championship point on his serve and missed his spot. How often has that happened? I dunno, a week’s rest and maybe he’ll be frisky as a lamb (er, goat?) again. Still, Fed has a good draw through to the semis.
The bias clearly shows when people have hopes on wawrinka but rule out Rafa.
Well, the Wawrinka line was kind of a joke. I don’t exactly have any hopes for him; it’s only based on his out-sized performance at slams.
I admire your persistently high hopes for Rafa. But my prediction that he won’t go far is not biased; it’s based on ample evidence over the last six years.
Will it be Roger or Cilic? Can Kyrgios finally break through? … http://www.138mph.com/tennis-grass-court-season-from-federer-to-kyrgios-the-wimbledon-contenders-of-the-atp/