World No. 1 Rafael Nadal heads into Wimbledon as the No. 2 seed and will begin his fortnight against fellow veteran Dudi Sela on Tuesday. The first-round schedule is also wrapping up with a showdown between Karen Khachanov and David Ferrer.
Dudi Sela vs. (2) Rafael Nadal
Nadal and Sela will be going head-to-head for the third time in their careers when they clash in the Wimbledon first round on Tuesday. Both of their previous encounters have gone the Spaniard’s way; 6-1, 6-0, 7-5 at the 2015 Australian Open and 6-3, 6-4 at last season’s Miami Masters. Is an upset possible this time around? Well, one of Nadal’s 10 career losses at the All-England Club has come in the first around against an opponent shorter than 5’10” (Steve Darcis in 2013). But throughout his career and including at Wimbledon, the formula to take down Nadal features a powerful player with a two-handed backhand that can stand up to heavy topspin.
Sela is none of those things; nor is he in his prime. The 33-year-old Israeli is struggling down at No. 133 in the rankings, with a 5-7 record this season and no ATP-level wins since the Indian Wells second round. Sela can at least feel good about being decent on grass, as he made a run to the Wimbledon fourth round back in 2009 and also reached the third round last summer. Nadal is an awesome 30-2 in 2018 with only one non-retirement loss to Dominic Thiem in the Madrid quarterfinals. The world No. 1 avenged the setback in the French Open final, capturing his 11th title at that event and 17th slam overall a few weeks ago. Nadal may not be completely dominant in his first official grass-court match of the year, but she should have enough to see off Sela in straight sets.
Pick: Nadal in 3 losing 11-14 games
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David Ferrer vs. Karen Khachanov
Four years old than his fellow Spaniard at 36, Ferrer is enduring a much different story these days than that of Nadal. The former world No. 3 is toiling away at 38th in the rankings and he will fall much lower if he fails to defend third-round points at Wimbledon, a title in Bastad, and a semifinal performance in Cincinnati. Ferrer is a mere 8-12 for his 2018 campaign after recently squandering a two-set lead over compatriot Jaume Munar at Roland Garros and getting blown out by Mikhail Kukushkin 6-2, 6-0 in the Eastbourne second round.
Up first for Ferrer on Tuesday is a second career contest against Khachanov, who won their only previous encounter 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-4 earlier this season on the indoor hard courts of Montpellier. That is one of four 2018 tournaments in which the 22-year-old Russian has reached at least the quarterfinals, a number that includes his second career ATP title in Marseille. An in-form Khachanov is coming off a fourth-round showing at the French Open and a quarterfinal performance in Halle. Although this is in an intriguing matchup on paper, Khachanov has form and age on his side to the extent that this will likely be a straight-set romp.
Pick: Khachanov in 3
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Rafa served well today and generally played well, just a few unnecessary errors, but hey, this is only his first match.
Live bet Ferrer right now, Karen is def done. Total choke job
This isn’t a betting thread!
We don’t want the bettors on here!
I agree about the bettors staying on their topic thread. We want tennis fans here!
Agree this should be the wrong thread for bettors. Go to the Daily pick thread, please!
Rc the commies are saying Petra has asthma!😢😢
Oh dear, I thought Petra is one of the fave to win here, being a former champion. Feel sorry for her, a missed chance.
what happened
Well the why didn’t Kvitty call me! (just kidding) I’m so sad though. My hopes were sky high. And Stephens proves unreliable. Whaaaaa I give up with WTA! Never posting a pick again!!🤐
From now on I will just go about the Tennis Draw Challenge quietly. No more Tourneytopia and excitement.
So depressing!!😢😢
A good win for Rafa, this being his first match on grass. He looked sharp except for some lapses in the third set. I hope he continues with his good level out there and gets better and better.
Ferrer is making a comeback against Khachanov, wow! And, Thiem is out, following Dimi out of Wimbledon, two top ten out in R1!
Kvitova lost. I didn’t know about her asthma. She looks like she is crying as she leaves the court.
Oh Thiem retired, I think he’s injured? And Goffin out too in R1 to Ebden, three top ten out in their first matches.
They said Thiem was having back problems. He had treatment on court for it, but they did not think he would finish the match.
So far Dimi, Goffin and Thiem are out.
Didn’t see the match but the mantra for Rafa has to be: “serve well, serve well, serve well”
Good that Rafa mastered the first hurdle without any drama! I didn’t expect too many difficulties – but Rafa and Wimby wasn’t as harmonious as fans would hope for in the majority of the last years…
Vamos Rafa! and Daveeed! But Daveed’s on serve in the 4th set. Would love to see him win though.
Thiem retired in the 3rd set, must be injured? Poor Petra, doesn’t look good for her.
Ramada, that is a pity for both players! Petra was my favorite for the win!
Rafa’s next opponent is Kukushkin, who beat Pospisil in four sets. What is it with Rafa and Kukushkin, they’ve been meeting at Wimbledon quite often.
Didn’t he take the first set off Rafa last time??
yes in 2014 and rafa lost the next match against kyrgios
wont be a problem
I’m really really sorry about Petra rc!!
I love her as well and really wanted her to win😢😢😢
Thank you amy — and I’m in tears about Petra again. That stabbing last year scared me and thought she was gone from tennis. Then she has this brilliant 2018. But she’s still a fragile one. Still, I love her too. Thanks again amy.
Now comes Novak onto court. Maybe this will go better.
Yeah rc! I am pretty gutted as well!
Hang on in there darling!
Petra to win uso!!!
So sorry about Petra, rc. Yes, she was a favorite to win, and everyone really likes her. She’s one of the good people.
I expect things will go very well for Novak. I thought they were looking up when he started getting angry about losing instead of that reconciled hippy dippy love stuff.
Thank you dear Ramara. Didn’t even watch the rest of the matches, after Petra lost. I felt deflated so went out hiked and ran some trails in the foothills and enjoyed the gorgeous weather we’ve been having here in Boise. And tomorrow 4th of july is supposed to be the start of 100F weather for at least a week. I hate it when it’s that hot, and then it hangs around until late September.
Anyways thanks for the kind words. Enjoy your day – wherever you are.
So sorry your beloved Petra lost RC….U stay strong over there okay?Maybe after read this article will make u feel a lot better…
https://www.scotsman.com/sport/tennis/two-time-champion-petra-kvitova-admits-nerves-got-better-of-her-1-4763574
Almost forgot
#HerbertWillWin
Misha Zverev lost in straights..did you guys notice?
No!!! Who did he lose to??
no he didnt
cmon it says
P. H. Herbert
6
6
6
M. Zverev
4
3
4
Herbert won.
Nole takes the first set!!
cechinato lost too
i checked on wimbledon site. misha lost to p herbert.
are there 2 m zverevs on tour?
http://www.wimbledon.com/en_GB/scores/results/day9.html
Yeah that’s what espn result s says!!
You are right sanju!!
m zverev and cechinato both losing- good news for rafa? popsopil was a big hitter too..he lost too
not sure about kukushkin though..he has taken set off rafa earlier
Don’t think Cecchinato was a threat anyway!
So who is he likely to get in the third??
So it’s de minaur or Herbert??!
yes but dont know who either of them are..not even heard . Hope Rafa has played them 🙂
I looked it up and it doesn’t seem he has!
Edmund routined de minaur first round of RG!!
Was Mischa even a threat?
yes, very much so
whats point of winning eastbourne when you lose 1st round in a slam..goes for both misha and coric
Sanju, Halle (won by Coric) has been absolutely jinxed in the past. Many, many winners lost the first round of Wimby. Fed was the one who finally broke that jinx. Which was extremely important for Halle’s reputation. But whenever Fed didn’t win Halle, the jinx seems to become activated again, lol!
another jinx is anyone who has won stuttgart has gone out in 2nd round of wimby past 3 years..rafa..thiem..pouille
fed will break that pattern tomorrow
Well, a Partnern of the past three year’s isn’t a strong indication for a jinx, yet. If Fed loses tomorrow, I will rethink, though, lol!
However, if you look up the stats for Halle, it looks pretty bleak for winners not named Federer. It had been a consistent pattern ever since the tournament existed. It was a disaster – until Fed came along…
That should read “pattern”…
Herbert is better known (to me) as Mahut’s double partner. He’s a very good doubles player, not great at singles.
That’s what Mischa gets for playing in and winning Eastbourne… And what’d ya know? Baghdatis did end up beating Thiem like I thought he would! Also, Diego has won his first grass match….in his ENTIRE CAREER!! Wtf?? I know the guy’s best surface is clay, but I didn’t think he was the level of clay court specialist where he had never even won 1 single damn grass match in his life haha! Well done, Diego! 😂
worth it to win your first career title
Probably! And who knows? Winning the Halle title against Fed might’ve been worth it, too, for Coric!
M. Zverev and Coric weren’t exactly favorites for the Wimby title. I’m a bit surprised nevertheless about Coric going out so early…
Baggy did not defeat Thiem. He retired with s back injury.
I know and I’m sad for Thiem. Normally Baggi would not beat him so easily.