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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Rafa looks like he hasn’t given up yet.
Vamos
Nadline, i hope you got to see how lethal nadal’s forehand is!
Oh, and some here were predicting rafa to win wimbledon…right…. the rest who are discussing different things are fair weather fans…… height of delusion! Well, everyone is entitled to their ‘opinions’..right…
vamosrafa,
Right on! We have had to hear too much of this prattle in the days leading up to yet another dismal loss. That forehand lethal? It was MIA! Rafa had wide open shots on his forehand and repeatedly missed them. He had the momentum early in that third set when he inexplicably played a horrendous service game, double faulting not once, but twice to give away the break to Brown. All he had to do was stand at the other end of the net and watch Rafa dissemble.
Those of us who were discussing the very real issues with Rafa, were yet again one more time branded as fair weather fans.! Well, this fair weather fan stayed home to watch this match, postponing important things that had to be done. I rearranged my whole schedule today to be at home to watch the match and cheer for Rafa. I have done this countless times in the past, stayed up to insane hours in the wee hours of the morning to cheer on Rafa. My life has revolved so much around him.
I am entitled to say what I think when I give that kind of commitment to my favorite player.
Ok that was horrible…really horrible…..
ok, now retirement chorus will get really loud
go toni go go go…
go toni go go go….
(or at least have the decency to bring others in )
I kinda sensed this would happen after he played Bellucci 1st round. I feared repeat of 2012 and I said it here too and my fears came true.
I frankly have zero hopes from Rafa
Rafa didn’t play badly at all. Brown just went all out and it worked.
Rafa did not play badly at all? My God!!!!!
Yeah, rafa has not played bad the whole year. It is just bad luck and it will go away….right..
you have to be nearly insane to say that, nadline, and really mean it
I mean _insanely_ deluded about what’s in front of your eyes on the tv/computer screen
You think that’s a surprise? We have been hearing it all year. Oh this wasn’t Rafa’s fault, his opponent just played great, oh it’s so unfair that Rafa keeps getting these opponents who have the nerve to play a great match. As though they should lay down for Rafa so he can win!
That makes me even more upset than watching Rafa endure another horrible loss.
I repeat – Rafa beat both Petz and Haase who were both up two sets to one and played insanely great tennis with I forget how many aces! That Rafa didn’t cave or lose it. He stayed in the fight. He won!
That Rafa is gone.
If some want to live in a world of denial, then so be it. I live in the real world.
Even a much less skilled rafa on grass came back to from 2 sets to love down against big serving robert kendrick in 2006 to win he match!
Rafa lost a set agaisnt an on-fire gulbis in 2008 wimby second round but found a way to win!
Rafa winning titles has not been entirely linked to how well he is playing, it has been very much linked with how well he plays under pressure! nobody dared to challenge him in that department. He now looks subdued in those moments and his opponents crush him!
🙁
Rafa played badly. Anyone who thinks otherwise is fooling himself/herself.
he just fell apart that service game and then his game left him completely…..
it wasn’t to do with brown…rafa was in control of the match before that point….
Unfortunately, there are some who are fooling himself/herself! All Brown had to do was hold his serve after Rafa donated the break at 2-2 in the third set. He kept it together and let Rafa fall apart. Which he did.
The ESPN commies were also talking about Rafa’s low second serve points won percentage.
Rafa lost this match. Brown didn’t have to do anything special, except keep his nerves under control.
nny, yes. that was a spectacular implosion by rafa…absolutely spectacular….i thought that this might go wrong but he had no game in him once he chucked that service game away…..
Yes! Brown did NOT play a special match! It is ALWAYS like this against big servers and go for broke players on grass! Keep holding your serve and get a break or win a tie break!
Missing mid court forehands on big pnts, serving 2 dble faults ina row at deuce , is not playing bad at all!
Clap clap clap….
vr, surely you agree now that change has to come..??
ok toni can stay, if he must, but rafa needs serious help….
Nadal again goes out of Wimbledon very early
i am furious that toni is leaving rafa exposed like this, absolutely furious….
he’s a reactionary dinosaur….
expect the usual trolls to come back here for a day or two
don’t care,
except as a sign of what’s ailing rafa
toni has just published a book about how you make a player mentally strong….
he’s looking a bit silly right now…
I don’t care about the trolls. I care about Rafa. This was beyond a nightmare.
yes. and the changes have to come now. stop all the talk about family being more important than tennis. that is ridiculous! it’s not a contest between the 2 or an either/or….
everyone can see that rafa needs change…everyone…
toni can stay on if he likes but there must be new people….
what upsets me most is how rafa is being exposed and caused so much pain by this situation…it’s him who is taking the fall, no-one else…
I would love to be a fly on the wall in conversations in rafa’s family and team on this very subject: what does he need to start doing differently, what help might he need, what can help with the anxiety rising over the years, what is the big white elephant in the room?
i fear that it is rafa’s family who are making him come up with these strange statements about family being more important than tennis as if it were an either/or….part of rafa not being rafa feels like he is going along with s.th which he knows deep down isn’t working..
and toni’s talk is just so naive…
saying that tennis isn’t a mental game was categorically disproved out on that court today and countless times these last months…..
I found myself thinking about the Rafa who fought against Petz and Haase, who were both big serving guys who played the matches of their lives against him in the 2010 Wimbledon. But that Rafa fought back from two sets down to win both matches in five sets!
Where is that Rafa now? It’s not like he has never been able to beat big serving guys at Wimbledon! Le’ts be real here! He used to be able to beat them. He also beat Sod in the quarterfinals that year at Wimbledon after being down 1-5 and losing that first set. But he fought back and won it in four.
If some persist in telling fairytales to make excuses by pretending that this guy Brown came out and played the most scintillating tennis ever, then they are not living in the real world. This was the kind of match that the real Rafa would have won any day of the week.
Something is QUITE wrong with Rafa!! QUITE!! He needs to leave tennis for the rest of the year and return next year when he is fuly composed, and no pressure. This is beyond rediculous now……….Rafa has a major problem and he must now realise that he needs to address it rather than continue to lose matches he should win with his eyes closed, and not run the risk of damaging his self-esteem forever!!!
Rafa needs a new coach and a new approach!!! NOTHING else will do! This is really really sad, really, really and incomprehensible!!! What a hearbreaking fall from grace!!
Does toni have the humility to see that change is needed?!
or is he going to sacrifice rafa on the altar of his own ego.
that’s what is going on.
toni bangs on and on about humility and being humble but his own ego is massive..
Toni has done wonderful things for rafa… he turned rafa into thr fiercest competitor of this generation and rafa was called arguably the strongest player mentally in the world of sports. Massive credot to Toni…he trained rafa A-Z ! To be fair to Toni, rafa made the greatest comeback ever in 2013 and he did that under Toni’s tutelage!
however, some elements of his mentoring seemed to have backfired! Nobody knows what exactly is plaguing rafa but he cannot handle anxiety…may be he needs some of fed’s ego on the court!
There is no harm in trying! How many coaches has federer changed! Look at novak who added a new member into his team!
I was reading an interview of Toni and he said he believes the attitude of blaming coaches is very wrong in today’s generation..he said he has always taught rafa to take responsibility and blame himself first! May be this mentality is really putting enormous pressure on rafa now that he is facing so much tension.
May be needs a former great to come to him and say ‘hey, you are rafael nadal.winner of 14 slams! There is nothing to fear out there’
But given rafa’s attitude to this in the past, hiring a new member into his team seems very , very unlikely
vr, i absolutely believe that this mentalityis killing him….rafa always is saying that losses are his responsibility, his fault. but he has a team, and they are there to help him. if he loses it’s their fault as well. look at how exposed and isolated rafa looks on court like a rabbit in the headlights…that is part of this mentality.
i have said before that i want a former great to remind him of how great he is and build his confidence and take the strain off his shoulders. i am sure it would work.
look at the strength rafa takes from norman….rafa isn’t taking that from toni.
rafa is way too sweet and loyal to break from this cycle it needs toni to step up to the plate and initiate change himself. as if!
what are his girlfriend and sister saying?? don’t they have voices? can’t they see what is going on….?
look at what magnus norman has done for stan.
look at how changes have helped murray…
and rafa is a way way greater player than either of them….think what change could do for him and how much he could win…..!
My concern is that Rafa doesn’t have an endless amount of time to right the ship. He is wasting precious time in his career, doing the same thing over and over and having the same end result.
Rafa used to fight and fight and never quit. That was his trademark. Where was that fight today? He turned the match around and had the momentum. Then he gave it right back to his opponent.
I don’t know how his team can let him keep going out there and suffer like this. Something is clearly wrong.
true 🙁 he is losing precious time. Soon his movement will be slower and game will decline. He does not have much time to sort this out.
Sometimes, even the strongest of people cannot handle all the burden themselves. They need help. From wherever that helps come, I hope it comes in fast!
This decline is 10 times more dangerous than those caused by injuries! The toughest one to deal with..
i really really hope that we are not going to be treated with another round of toni-isms….
rafa was unlucky…
all we need to do is practice…
toni you talk a good game about responsibility but you don’t walk the walk when it comes to taking it yourself…..
how about manning up and taking it upon your own shoulders for once….
oh and stop making rafa into your parrot who has to come up with this lame garbage.