Roger Federer will continue his Wimbledon campaign on Thursday against tough grass-court opponent Sam Querrey. Roberto Bautista Agut and Benoit Paire are also in action.
Sam Querrey vs. (2) Roger Federer
Federer and Querrey will be squaring off for the third time in their careers and for the first time in more than seven years when they clash in round two of Wimbledon on Thursday. Both of their previous encounters have gone the way of Federer,who cruised 6-4, 6-3 at the 2007 Miami Masters and 6-4, 6-4, 6-3 one season later at Roland Garros. The world No. 2 is still going strong at 33 years old and improved his 2015 record to 35-6 by disposing of Damir Dzumhur 6-1, 6-3, 6-3 on Tuesday.
Querrey made similarly lightning-quick work (one hour and 19 minutes compared to just one hour and seven minutes for Federer) of his first-round opponent, as he blitzed Igor Sijsling 7-5, 6-3, 6-4. The world No. 36 has always been a tough out at the All-England Club and he cemented his status as a dangerous grass-court performer with a runner-up finish last week in Nottingham. Querrey averaged 10 aces per set against Sijsling, so he has every reason to make this competitive as long as he serves well. Still, Federer is fine form at the moment and should score another straight-set win over the American.
Pick: Federer in 3 losing 11-14 games
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Benoit Paire vs. (20) Roberto Bautista Agut
This is nowhere close to reaching Tomas Berdych vs. Kevin Anderson levels, but Bautista Agut has positively owned pair heading into their second-round showdown at Wimbledon. Since dropping the first-ever set they contested against each other in the 2013 Chennai semifinals, Bautista Agut has since won 10 in a row at Paire’s expense. The Spaniard leads the overall head-to-head series 4-0 after getting the job done on three occasions last year–in Auckland, at the Australian Open, and at the French Open.
Paire is a decent 5-4 lifetime in the Wimbledon main draw, but grass does not really suit his game as a result of his elongated, loopy forehand. The 68th-ranked Frenchman played a pair of 250 events on the slick stuff after Roland Garros and lost his opener at both. Nonetheless, Paire got back in gear to trounce an out-of-sorts Mikhail Youzhny 6-4, 6-4, 6-3 on Tuesday. Bautista Agut pummeled Ruben Bemelmans 6-1, 6-3, 7-6(6) in his opener at the All-England Club. Like Paire, the world No. 20 went 0-2 on grass in between the two most recent majors. Despite showcasing lackluster form of late, Bautista Agut has to be supremely confident based on his past domination of Paire.
Pick: Bautista Agut in 3
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https://twitter.com/BenRothenberg/status/616668109886345221
I see hawkeye can’t give credit where credit is due. I called the Brown upset days ago. Deal with it. Rafa is finished now. Maybe he needs some weed to treat his anxiety.
For someone with a busy fulfilled life, you sure seem to feel coming here and trolling is pretty important lol.
Check back here when Murray sends the old man packing in the semis, m’kay?
Rafa is finished if he doesn’t make changes.
Come on filter? (Like all fedfans, no ability to be creative with no sense of humour.)
Fail better.
Roger is losing before the semi.
“I think now, looking back, we did not fight the enemy, we fought ourselves and the enemy was in us”…
I got tiger blood, man. My brain…fires in a way that is – I don’t know, maybe not from this particular terrestrial realm.
#Winning
Even after another tough loss at Wimbledon, Rafael Nadal could find a bit of humor in his situation.
In his news conference after losing to 102nd-ranked Dustin Brown in the second round Thursday, Nadal was asked if he intended to stay in Wimbledon a bit longer in the house he’s renting with his family, to enjoy the atmosphere.
“I don’t have any more work here in London,” Nadal said. “So, if you want to use the house, it’s going to be free tomorrow.”
“Obviously this is a bad moment for me. I need to accept these kind of things that can happen. I have done that all my career,” he said.
“I’ll keep going – it’s not the end. It’s a sad moment, but life continues. My career too. I have to keep going and working more than ever to try to change that dynamic.
“I know I am going to every tournament with the right motivation, working well. I think I made all the things well to prepare here this tournament.
“In 2012 and 2013 I was not competitive because I had too many problems with my knees.
“Last year and this year there have been no problems at all with my knees. I was ready to compete. I lost.
vamosrafa,
Yes, that is from Rafa’s post-match presser. But in your quoting his words, we cannot see him face. The expression in his eyes said it all. He was feeling so sad and downcast as he said these things.
For one moment, after he said how he lost in 2012 and 2013 because of the knees and then said that he is healthy, I thought just maybe he might have realized that there is something else wrong and it is a big problem. He knows that this is not how he plays.
He’s not ready to compete. His words say one thing that he may truly believe, but his actions on the court do not support that. He is not competing, not forcing his opponents to play well, not doing what he has to do, what he has done so well throughout his career.
All I have to say after having some hours to reflect, is that I honestly did not ever expect it to come to this. I knew that Rafa was getting older and decline would be inevitable. But this? Never. 🙁
Toni Nadal, Rafael’s uncle and coach, summed up the Centre Court match this way:
“He played really bad. Bad shots. Very bad with his forehand.”
No , Toni. His forehand was lethal and he did not play badly at all!
I hope toni does not go to rafa and tell him that his forehand is really bad right now and he must hit the practice courts and fix that. Thinking of doing something different team nadal! What to do differently depends on you guys!
vamosrafa,
Thanks for quoting Toni’s words. Some people here think we are being tough on Rafa? He summed it up quite succinctly. There is no way to sugarcoast this loss. There are no excuses this year and Team Nadal know it. It’s true that Rafa was having problems with his knees in 2012 and 2013, as he said in his press conference. But not this year. Not this time.
I agree with you that Toni should not go to Rafa and lecture him about how poor his forehand was in the match. Forget about hitting the practice courts! It’s all in the mind.
Toni needs to get a clue. They cannot afford to waste any more time. I say use the time off that Rafa will now have for a good and worthwhile purpose. Get someone on the team to talk to Rafa, get his head straightened out so we can see the real Rafa out on court come the summer hard court season.
I also never thought it would come down to this 🙁
In fact, I always thought rafa’s mental strength would help him fight at the later stages of his career. His mental strength has now become his biggest liability!
Poor rafa ….
NNY, ,I can imagine how sad his face must be while saying this. It is too depressing.
Sorry, another typo in my post above. “Sugarcoast”? I must have been trying to invent a new word. No, I meant sugarcoat!
I’ve just read Tiggy post-Nadal’s defeat article. He discusses three theories about what’s happening. In the few comments so far a couple more are proposed. There seems to be truth to probably all of them: grass, form, slowing down getting older, the evolution of the game/younger quick hard-hitting players, and so on. What surprises me a bit is that unlike Chris Fowler and some others Tiggy has not a word on the inordinately high level of anxiety, that is even visible physically.
I was also thinking back at all this years of tennis… some things are becoming even more clear. Why it is only with another persona so to say that Rafa was able to be the kind of ultra-warrior he’s been for so long (until the last year or two). How he’s said over the years that he is always nervous going to a match and for stretches in a match… the mark of a person with anxiety… every time they are about to do something that is challenging or otherwise might involve some worries they will typically worry and feel some anxiety, no matter how many times they’ve done is before successfully.
Imagine having an anxiety condition. Imagine then choosing a solo sport where the pressures are so high and the mental aspect such a big part. Imagine developing the kind of will to win that makes you chase down every ball like your life depends on it. Then add to it such early success that you are on the ATP circuit at 15 playing men with mature bodies and years more of experience and stroke-honing. Run around the world doing this for 14 years. A proper recipe to aggravate the anxiety more and more.
I feel sorry for Rafa for not having met answers to this earlier in his life. I do hope he does soon. In the shoes of any of his personal friends I’d try very hard to get through to him on this.
Doubts started with back injury AO 2014 and he was tentative on clay but got his game back for FO. Injured wrist before summer, followed by appendicitis in the fall. Really has killed his confidence. That whole year other than the French was one thing after another and has buried him in a very deep anxiety hole this year he can’t climb out of mentally.
It’s going to take some big changes. I’m not sure he’s willing to make those changes.
Will have to wait and see.
I cannot still understand how can Rafa disintegrate so rapidly.
Rafa was mentally the strongest player on the tour. You give him a short ball and he used to crush it for a winner. Today and from past 1 year, open mid court FH are dumped into the net or sent out. It is shocking to see. Its an entire year of severe under-performance.
Either Rafa does not have it in him to fight or his body is not coping or he is mentally torn into pieces or all the 3.
It is very sad to see Rafa perform so abysmally. Every incredible champion should go out on a high.
Will he come back? Frankly, if this is to continue, he should take a bow. If he wants to turn it around and fight, he should continue. However clearly he is not doing the right things. Just practising long hours on court is not working, different methods are needed, maybe different voice, different advises, different strategies.
Why not try the new stick rightaway? Why wait till YE. You anyway are crapping with your current stick. Atleast you will get good 6 months of practise.
Please stop blaming Toni. Rafa is playing out there. Rafa is an adult and is responsible for his actions. If Toni is not working for him, get someone else. There will be millions wanting to touch you and help you.
Write this year off Rafans. This is Fed 2013 for Rafa.
sacking Toni would only compound the problem
I completely agree…