Comeback kid Jan-Lennard Struff’s reward for consecutive escapes from two sets down is a Friday showdown with Roger Federer at Wimbledon. The third-round schedule will also see Sam Querrey go up against Gael Monfils.
(1) Roger Federer vs. Jan-Lennard Struff
There are a couple of players in the Wimbledon field who are looking like they could potentially pose a threat to Federer later in the tournament, but nothing suggests the eight-time champion will have any trouble prior to the quarterfinals or even the semis. Beating up on lesser competition, Federer disposed of Dusan Lajovic and Eastbourne runner-up Lukas Lacko without facing a single break point or dropping more than four games in any set. The 36-year-old Swiss is now 94-11 lifetime at Wimbledon and 27-3 for his 2018 campaign.
Up next for Federer on Friday is a third career contest against Struff, another massive underdog who unsurprisingly trails the head-to-head series 2-0. The 64th-ranked German fell 6-4, 7-6(3) two years ago on the grass courts of Halle and 6-4, 6-4, 7-6(4) earlier this season at the Australian Open. Struff has done incredibly well to reach the third round of a Grand Slam for the first time in his career, becoming the third player in Wimbledon history to make two comebacks from two sets down in the same event–and first to do so in the first two rounds. He overcame Leonardo Mayer 3-6, 6-7(5), 7-6(5), 7-6(5), 6-1 and outlasted Ivo Karlovic 6-7(5), 3-6, 7-6(4), 7-6(4), 13-11. Running on fumes and surely up against the wall in this matchup even at 100 percent, Struff should be in for a long–or more like short–day at the office.
Pick: Federer in 3 losing 8-10 games
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(11) Sam Querrey vs. Gael Monfils
Querrey and Monfils will be going head-to-head for the third time in their careers on Friday. Both of their previous encounters have gone Monfils’ way; 6-4, 7-5 on the red clay of Poertschach in 2007 and 6-4, 3-6, 6-1 at the 2016 Washington, D.C. event. Grass, of course, will give Querrey a much better chance. The 13th-ranked American is 19-10 lifetime at Wimbledon with back-to-back runs to the quarterfinals and semifinals and two wins over world No. 1s (Novak Djokovic in 2016 and Andy Murray in 2017). Querrey’s 2018 campaign has not been the best, but he is up to his usual tricks at the All-England Club with routine defeats of Jordan Thompson and Sergiy Stakhovsky.
Monfils’ appearance in the third round has to be considered a success, especially because he had to face fellow Frenchman Richard Gasquet in the opening round. Moreover, the world No. 44 had done next to nothing since beginning the year with a title in Doha. Nonetheless, Monfils ousted Gasquet 7-6(6), 7-5, 6-4 before beating Paolo Lorenzi 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(5), 7-6(3) on Wednesday. In a matchup in which he may not be able to afford even a single mental hiccup on serve, Monfils may not be able to go toe to toe with Querrey in a best-of-five haul.
Pick: Querrey in 4
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