Roger Federer will continue his bid for a ninth Wimbledon title when he goes up against Lukas Lacko in his second match on Wednesday. Potential fourth-round opponent Adrian Mannarino is facing Ryan Harrison.
(1) Roger Federer vs. Lukas Lacko
Federer and Lacko will be going head-to-head for the third time in their careers and for the third time at a Grand Slam when they clash in the Wimbledon second round on Wednesday. Both of their previous encounters have gone Federer’s way in convincing fashion; 6-1, 6-1, 6-3 at the 2011 Australian Open and 6-2, 6-4, 6-2 three years later at Roland Garros. More of the same can be expected at the All-England Club, because the 36-year-old Swiss has won this tournament eight times–including last summer–and boasts a 93-11 lifetime record. A recent champion in Stuttgart and runner-up in Halle, Federer improved to 26-3 this season by hammering Dusan Lajovic 6-1, 6-3, 6-4 on Monday.
Quite capable on grass, himself, Lacko has successfully qualified at Wimbledon three times in his career and he has twice reached the last 32. The 73rd-ranked Slovak is coming off a runner-up performance in Eastbourne and he made a quick turnaround to beat Benjamin Bonzi 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(5), 6-4 on Monday. A massive step up in competition and a matchup in which Lacko has never been even remotely competitive will undoubtedly see an end to the underdog’s fortnight.
Pick: Federer in 3 losing 8-10 games
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(22) Adrian Mannarino vs. Ryan Harrison
Like Lacko, Mannarino also played–and lost–a match last Saturday before getting right back in gear for opening-day action at the All-England Club. The 26th-ranked Frenchman fell to 0-5 lifetime in ATP finals by succumbing 6-1, 1-6, 6-1 to Damir Dzumhur in Antalya, but he rebounded to defeat qualifier Christian Garin 6-3, 1-6, 7-6(4), 6-2 on Monday. Always at his best on the green stuff, Mannarino has twice advanced to the Wimbledon fourth round and has never reached the second week at any other Grand Slam.
Up next for the No. 22 seed on Wednesday is a third career contests against Harrison, with the head-to-head series tied 1-1 at the ATP level and Mannarino leading 2-1 overall. He cruised at the 2011 Australian Open and at the 2014 Knoxville Challenger, while Harrison got the job done 6-4, 7-6(5), 6-3 in round one of the 2016 U.S. Open. The 59th-ranked American improved to an even 14-14 this year by beating Roberto Carballes Baena 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 on Monday, but he has been to the last 64 in SW19 on three previous occasions and has never progressed farther. Facing Mannarino on this surface likely means Harrison will fall to 0-4 in the second round.
Pick: Mannarino in 4
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WWW?
Harrison in four and Fed in three
Fed in an easy 3, and Mrino in 3. ….and how about Warwrinka yesterday…he looked really good!
Mannarino in 3 or 4, Fed in straights.
Marinara sauce is gonna win
Federer lost more games than Rafa.
Federer can’t take the harder drier grass. Will catch up to him at Wimby at some point in these drier windier conditions unless they close the roof like the Aussie open did.
He should pull out this win but Stakhovsky so you never know…
I hear that he’s thinking of changing his name to Folger Redwoofer to get his initials back albeit reversed. Hard to believe it’s actually true.
#impeFRect
Actually both lost equal number of games that is 8. And yeah being a rafa fan it gives me immense pleasure to see the weather in london. Just waiting dor the second week when grass becomes just like a clay court.
Fed’s serve is his main weapon followed by his BH slices. I wonder why these players keep hitting to Fed’s BH, knowing very well that Fed is going to slice it CC right back at them and then usually comes forward to the net right after that anticipating a weak return from his opponent. Time and again, these players are doing the same thing against Fed.
Most players don’t come with good ROS, hence most of the time they’ve no idea how to deal with Fed’s serve on grass. They can’t generate BP opportunities unless Fed served poorly but Fed is always clutch when saving BPs.
It’s still the peak form Djoko and Rafa who could return Fed’s serves and deal with Fed’s BH slices. They have their passing shots DTL instead of hitting CC right back to Fed’s BH.
Murray has his great ROS but he just lacks something in his game to deal with Fed on grass; maybe he’s too reactive when facing Fed, not being aggressive enough.
Lucky, Fed’s forehand is definitely better than his backhand. It’s clear from the plenty of winners he hit off that side today and throughout the years of course. But his backhand slice is super deadly as well, which is why he is so tough to beat when at his best, especially on grass. Players don’t really have a weakness to target at this point (especially now that he has a bigger racket head than he used to) but it is true that when Fed does play a poor match, a lot of the time it’s because his forehand is off and he overhits it. But when he’s at his best on this surface, there isn’t a tougher forehand to deal with in tennis.
I’m not saying players have to consistently hit to Fed’s FH, you have to change direction instead of going CC to Fed’s BH all the time. It’s not so simple as just hitting to Fed’s FH, so only Rafa and Djoko could hit CC to Fed’s BH to pull him out wide and then hit a DTL shot to Fed’s FH and caught him off guard.
It’s certainly not easy to do, hence Fed is winning so much on grass. Perhaps the S&V players could deal with Fed better; staying at the baseline is not going to help the players to deal with Fed on grass if you’re not Djoko or Rafa.
I think Tsonga, when he’s playing well, could come forward to the net often and he’s good at the net and so he managed to beat Fed in five sets in 2011.
Another player who should be able to beat Fed on grass is Cilic but he lacks the belief. He had the edge in their QF match in 2016 or 2015 I think but just faltered at the crucial moments and lost the match. Cilic just served big and hit hard and flat without missing in that match, if he could sustain that then maybe he has a chance.
I really don’t see anyone else beating Fed; unless Anderson or Querrey play and serve out of their skin then maybe they have some slim chances.
Great points. Yeah I agree about Cilic. He and Kyrgios, in my opinion, are the ones who can beat anybody at Wimbledon, including Roger.
Oh I forget about Kyrgios. Kyrgios has all the varieties and unpredictability in his game that may catch anyone by surprise but too bad, he tends to give up fighting once the going gets tough. He’s not one who wants to grind out a win when he’s losing.
I should add that both Anderson and Querrey could move to the net after their big serves, they’re not staying at the baseline all the time so they at least offer some varieties for Fed to deal with.
Lacko actually looking pretty good from the back of the court so far…
Has anyone ever noticed that Lacko permenantly has a smirk on his face?? 😂 It’s like he’s always slightly smiling.
Hahha yes.
yeah, he does, nice guy! He gave a good account of himself but does not know how to play Fed!
I know it’s pretty early in the tournament still but Fed looks awesome right now and looks to have shaken off the loss to Coric in Halle.
Holy hell, Benny…. 48 winners and 12 unforced errors?! Did I hear that correctly?
Yep he was playing vintage Fed tennis. Did I mention he’s 36? 😉
He served 16 aces, compared to 8 in his first match.
The way Fed is playing, I’ll be surprised to see him lose a set.
That was the best I’ve seen Federer play in awhile. The serve was awesome, and if the rest of his game wasn’t so good you’d have to call him a serve-bot. The BH looked back to normal as well. 48 winners in a match that short is insane. He also won 35 straight points on serve…
http://www.tennis.com/pro-game/2018/07/force-july-roger-federer-won-35-straight-points-his-serve-today/75032/
Lacko does indeed look like he has a permanent smile on his face. He also has a serve that clearly looks to have been modeled on Roger’s, and he did pretty well with it in the first two sets. He didn’t play badly, though he really didn’t have any weapons apart from his serve. Once that began to falter in the 3rd set he didn’t have a chance.
Glad Fed is not facing Karlovic, though Struff can be a handful if his serve is on. He will be pretty tired after than marathon, though.