Roger Federer will make the traditional Monday afternoon start as the defending champion when he goes up against Dusan Lajovic at Wimbledon. Potential third-round opponents for Federer are veterans Ivo Karlovic and Mikhail Youzhny.
(1) Roger Federer vs. Dusan Lajovic
It will be a rematch of a second-round encounter last year at Wimbledon when Federer and Lajovic go head-to-head again at the All-England Club on Monday afternoon. Twelve months ago, Federer won their only previous meeting 7-6(0), 6-3, 6-2 and went on to capture his eighth Wimbledon title. The Swiss’ strategy to skip the clay-court swing worked out perfectly in 2017 and he did exactly the same this time around. His grass-court warmups also transpired in similar fashion the past two seasons, with one loss and one title (in 2018: a title in Stuttgart and a setback against Borna Coric in the Halle final).
Lajovic is a mediocre 13-14 this year after heating up on clay, with a quarterfinal run in Madrid, a semifinal showing in Lyon, and a five-set loss to eventual quarterfinalist Alexander Zverev at Roland Garros. The 57th-ranked Serb played one grass-court warmup event, beating Filip Horansky this past week in Antalya before succumbing to Nikoloz Basilashvili 6-4, 2-6, 7-5. Lajovic is not the easiest of first-round opponents and Federer was hardly at his best in Halle, but the 36-year-old is 91-11 lifetime at Wimbledon and will surely raise his level for his favorite tournament.
Pick: Federer in 3 losing 11-14 games
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Ivo Karlovic vs. Mikhail Youzhny
Karlovic and Youzhny will be squaring off for the sixth time in their careers on Monday. Youzhny is leading the head-to-head series 4-1, but they have split their two previous grass-court contests; Karlovic prevailed 6-3, 6-4 four years ago in Halle before the Russian scored a 6-3, 7-6(6) victory last summer. Fast forward 12 months and Karlovic may finally be slowing down at 39 years old. The 6’11” Croat has slumped to No. 112 in the rankings, is 9-12 at the ATP level in 2018, and has not won a match of any kind since Barcelona in late April.
Youzhny is also well past his prime at 36 years old, with a 5-12 record at the ATP level this season and a ranking of exactly No. 100 in the world as of Sunday. He played all three weeks of the grass-court swing heading into Wimbledon, with three successful qualifying attempts in Stuttgart, Halle, and Antalya followed by first-round exits on every occasion–most recently at the hands of Robin Haase in three sets. In this battle between former Wimbledon quarterfinalists, the discrepancy in serving prowess may be the difference in what should be an extremely competitive showdown.
Pick: Karlovic in 4
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