Wimbledon R4 previews and picks: Djokovic vs. Anderson, Cilic vs. Kudla

Djokovic practicing in Miami

Cilic1Novak Djokovic and Marin Cilic will continue their Wimbledon campaigns as the entire fourth round is played on Monday. They are set for respective encounters with Kevin Anderson and Denis Kudla.

(1) Novak Djokovic vs. (14) Kevin Anderson

Djokovic and Anderson will be squaring off for the sixth time in their careers and for the first time in more than three years when they meet again in round four of Wimbledon on Monday. Anderson won their first-ever encounter 7-6(1), 3-6, 6-4 at the 2008 Miami Masters but Djokovic has since won four in a row without dropping a set. The Serb prevailed three times in 2011–including 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 at Wimbledon–and at the 2012 Indian Wells Masters.

After succumbing to Stan Wawrinka in the French Open final, Djokovic did not play any off the grass-court warmups. But it is safe to say some rest did not do him any harm. The world No. 1 steamrolled through his first week at the All-England Club with straight-set scalps of Philipp Kohlschreiber, Jarkko Nieminen, and Bernard Tomic. Anderson punched his ticket to the last 16 by defeating Lucas Pouille, Marsel Ilhan, and Leonardo Mayer. This is the 14th-ranked South African’s second career trip to the Wimbledon fourth round and second in succession. Anderson’s one-two punch with his serve and forehand will make at least two sets relatively competitive, but Djokovic knows what to expect from the big guy and the favorite’s form is far too great for anyone outside the top five right now. In fact, since last summer’s Cincinnati Masters he has only one loss to a non-top five adversary (Ivo Karlovic, Doha).

Pick: Djokovic in 3 losing 11-14 games

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(9) Marin Cilic vs. (WC) Denis Kudla

Few could have imagined that Kudla would be in the second week of Wimbledon when this fortnight began–or that he would be the last American standing. That being said, his fine form at the All-England Club has not come out of nowhere. The world No. 105 had been just 2-6 at the ATP level in 2015 prior to this tournament, but he entered two grass-court Challenger events last month and reached the final of one before winning the other. His run so far at the All-England Club has been a dream for Kudla, who owns five-set victories over Pablo Cuevas and Santiago Giraldo and a four-setter at the expense of Alexander Zverev.

Next up for the 22-year-old is a first-ever meeting with Cilic. The reigning U.S. Open champion has not quite been the same since that triumph last summer, in part due to injury, but he is finally heating up again. Cilic reached the fourth round of the French Open and the semifinals in Stuttgart before succumbing to Viktor Troicki in a third-set tiebreaker.  The ninth-ranked Croat has been far from dominant at this event, but he persevered through five-setters with Ricardas Berankis and John Isner after easing past Hiroki Moriya in his opener. Kudla wields some dangerous firepower, especially off the backhand side, but in the end this is mismatch between a slam champion and someone who had never previously been to a third round.

Pick: Cilic in 4

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59 Comments on Wimbledon R4 previews and picks: Djokovic vs. Anderson, Cilic vs. Kudla

  1. Djokovic: “I congratulate Kevin for a great effort. It wouldn’t be undeserved if he would win this match” #Wimbledon

    As opposed to Federer who after a loss uses words like “lucky shot” and “it’s a shame really”.

  2. Just got in to see that nole won.thank the good lord for that otherwise we could have had some dreadful matches in that half of the draw. anderson was just going to revert back to his usual game afterwards….
    wonder if the figures in the other side of the draw had anything to do with the strictly impartial decision by the wimby committee not to finish the match last night when nole would have run through the last set like wildfire. would have been nice for both murray and fed if he had gone out but then again with british fair play uppermost in their minds am sure they would never dream of thinking such a thing…
    off to do some more work now…

    • british fair play
      all are equal and all entitled to fairness
      still, some are more entitled to fairness than others, no?
      or should I say one (1) is more entitled to fairness than the others, no? 😉

      • wonder how roger’s dad feels about having to wear that silly cap at his son’s matches….they look like a bunch of penguins up there…..(what is the collective noun for a group of penguins btw??)

      • ha ha hawkeye…just spilt my tea after reading that….
        the zoological terms include a waddle…..that’s quite a good description as well…
        fedfans = waddle

      • 🙂

        The BWs then:

        blind waddlers

        blind : unthinking, hypnotized, groupthinking

        it does have one think going for it, though, the penguin gestalt: why not complete it:
        wear the penguin caps along with a black-tie (smoking) get-up

        If I only were a fedfan, I mean a BW,
        I’d wear the black-tie outfit (with the emblazened rf logo, of course!) with the obligatory rf tie,
        and I’d feel important and smug,
        a member of the most impressive club to be a member of,
        I’d learn to enjoy nespresso-machine capucinnos (after all, many fine coffee establishments in Italy use these gleaming machines now), and rolex watches (or fakes if the wallet’s not thick), and all the other finer things in life
        I’d be impressive then, important even,
        I’d have made it to the higher echelons of life and society
        and you clearly tell that about me
        you could tell by my rf black-tie uniform
        and my rf cap
        you could tell by my self-satisfaction
        and my smug smile
        I’d be a somebody then
        I could say,
        slowly
        ‘nobless oblige’
        and other impressive stuff

        but alas I am not a fedfan
        I could have been
        I could have been a contender
        but I cannot help myself
        I am but a humb!e fan
        of the boy from the island
        bearing flowers
        and the other boy from the other island
        bearing swearwords and a fiery head of hair

        but I won’t begrudge the BWs
        their impressiveness
        after all
        ‘nobless oblige’

        pace, friends

        #pax

      • good god chloro, what is the original form of that parody!! you and hawkeye are leaving me for dead today….!
        great parody though……..

      • certainly redefines the notion of eclectic chloro, so much so that is deserves its own dictionary space….
        what is that last photo of hawkeye’s a reference to??

      • amy, you did see some of the print ads (and video ads) what paint the picture of what it takes to become impressive and impressive enough to reach self-satisfied smugness, no?

        the ads by that collection of high-ticket corporations selling luxuries that have now paid the one rf 8 figures in endorsements

        If it is worth 8 figures in endorsements to sell the image to the masses of becoming one of the self-smug owners of luxury items that bestow importance and impressiveness to one. Enough masses that the increase in sales must be worth a collection 9 figures.

        Of course such numbers couldn’t possibly interfere with any kind of fairness 😉

        Let’s go back to sleep

        Let’s get back to the land of dreams

        Let’s dream together again in the cozy group we are and think the same thoughts together

        Let’s no longer entertain doubts or thoughts of our own

        Let’s see the world in the uniform consensual way our priests have graced us with
        our good priests of the holy corporations that bestow us with the finer luxuries in life

        we will waddle together
        waddle good and true

        waddle
        slowly
        towards the land
        of ever increasing glory

        the land where I too can dream
        of being rf himself
        in my dream I can allow myself to believe
        that I am he
        that I am rf
        at last

        Glory be

        #pax

      • thank you, amy
        as to hawkeye’s pic, I have no idea
        I have my little areas of nerdiness but it’s not in there

      • ok chloro i see this waddle thing is really catching on…
        could even be money in it, no??
        although not alas for Himself one thinks…..(or maybe…..)

      • thank you for teaching me a new word, didn’t know ‘twaddle’
        well, while we’re twaddling anyway
        I wonder about your question:
        does He Himself they are waddling to, after, around, below… does He Himself waddle too?
        what say you, other posters?

        will you waddle with us, will you do?
        will you twaddle with us, will you do?

        #DoYou?

  3. there are a distressingly large number of hollywood movies about penguins…do you think this is some kind of fedfan code…. a way of communicating even when their hero isn’t playing tennis..?
    that’s a frightening thought….
    steve martin has a lot to answer for….

      • a few days ago i was saying that i would have picked pete’s forehand as one of my 3 goat forehands rather than lendl’s but that this was partly subjective bias as i like pete so much more than ivan….
        saw later that you said you had really liked pete and his game…
        but isn’t pete a fedfan?? or don’t you mind in his case?

      • Yes he’s a massive fedfan and I do mind but he rectified this by saying that Roger is not the GOAT and Rafa is the reason why with his own argument for GOATdom.

        Hated to see a burned out Sampras lose to fedfan at WImby in five and to see fedfan pass Pete’s slam count. However, fedfan will never tie Pete’s six consecutive year end No. 1 finishes.

        I was as passionate for Pete as I am for Rafa.

      • hawkeye, all the more reason to hope that rafa finally gets his act together and wins some more slams….
        i like pete and his game a lot too…..
        would like to see pete work on rafa’s serve….

      • That’s a nice thought.

        Pete’s introversion I think has prevented him from doing much in tennis after his playing career ended other than some exhos. It’s a shame.

      • so do you think that his shyness – which i like – would prevent him coaching?
        he has such tennis knowledge as well as being a classy guy…..

    • it is time now to start writing the follow-on to Minions:
      Waddluings

      Adorable waddling small-stature penguins

      Trying to be handy like minions
      handy with watches and espresso’s and rackets and such
      why with those penguins flippers
      and the snug black-tie dinner jackets

      Trying to be impressive penguins
      twaddling words of wisdom
      of the sort such as “I can’t believe myself how well I played today”
      and “I think I’ll now pay my opponent a back-handed compliment,
      and I think my fellow minions will not notice”

      Theme song:
      I am feeling so snug today
      I am feeling so smug today
      I will always feel so snug
      I will always feels so smug

      Because I’m Happy
      Waddle along if you feel like a room without a roof
      Because I’m Happy
      Twaddle along if you feel RF is the truth
      Because I’m Happy
      Waddle along if you know what RF is to you
      Because I’m Happy
      Twaddle along because that is what we all do

      For RF is He
      RF is Happiness
      For RF is Me
      (I dream)
      And Me is Happiness

      #Bliss

  4. my god chloro! all this waddling is like a virus spreading through the english language so that every single word is contaminated by it….
    see what a terrible virulent force fedfandom is? there is no viable antidote to it….

    • it does contaminate a lot, doesn’t it? and not only tenngrand threads let’s hurry to add…

      there is one antidote, alas, one that takes to speck out of the adoring eye

      it threatens the twaddling waddling blissful impressivity of the short-statured ones

      it is a humb!e boy from a small island

      it is ten past eleven at night, or twenty-three past ten in the morning

      and thus it was decreed

      that much would be arranged
      much would be done
      to hamper the progress
      of the insolent affront
      to the twaddling waddling happiness
      of the many

      and thus much was done
      waddling and wrigging
      twaddling and trick-ling
      and word-besmirching
      and booing
      and booing at the next year
      accusations of doping

      and yet it became late
      ten past the twenty-third hour
      and yet it was too early
      twenty-three past ten in the onset of a new day
      when would it end

      even the seven and ten fortress
      for a while look too assailable

      then came the accusations
      of gamemanshipping
      and clock ruling
      and timing the ruling
      to the breaking point

      fortunately came the injuries
      year and year again
      fortunately came the boy’s own
      internal Dreads
      with the inuries
      and the Dreads
      the fortress was safe
      for now at least
      but one can never be sure enough

      yet I mean not to get you down so much
      my dear friends
      do not worry
      everything is in hand
      let’s get back to waddling
      and twaddling
      and the happy dreaming
      by the side of rf
      the warm hearth of coziness
      snugness and smugness
      we are all together
      and happy
      we are rf
      and he is us
      together
      like a teakettle
      and a teacozy

      ‘t is nothing
      no ailment
      that cannot be bettered
      with a nice cup of

      so let’s be cozy
      and happy
      let’s be
      rf

      #cozy
      #pax

  5. we are rf
    and he is us
    together
    like a teakettle
    and a teacozy

    excellent chloro….will definitely pour a cup of that….
    although will not drink it i hasten to add….
    very english drink tea…
    the english have a lot to answer for as so often in the last century or 2…..

    • I do understand it is not all the english that drink this hallowed drink
      yes, they do have a lot to answer for, as do the portuguese, the dutch, the french, the spanish, the germans, the italians and the belgians
      but i hasten to add, not all the inhabitants of their countries
      and I hasten to add, a lot of others have a lot to answer for
      in fact in every country many have done so much they have to answer for too
      I get very tired to hear it is only the above countries that supposedly have done stuff to answer for

      while you drink your cup of something else
      perhaps play John’s song
      he wrote to make a bit of fun at his old school where he was told he would not amount to anything, where now they were analysing his song lyrics

      some choice rf quotes from this song:

      I am he as you are he as you are me and we are all together.

      I’m crying

      Sitting in an English garden waiting for the sun

      See how they smile

      See how they snide

      Elementary penguin singing

      Yes, that nice song does Get Back to the Penguin

      #pax
      #cozy

      • one tends to get more upset about one’s own country’s failings though no?
        Beatles would have done a lot with the waddle…..
        Penguin answers to all our needs….

        he loves you yeah yeah yeah
        he loves you yeah yeah yeah
        with a love like that you know it can’t be bad
        with a love like that you know you should be glad

        glad enough to wear a penguin hat…..

      • i’d too be glad
        to wear a penguin hat
        if only I could
        I surely would

        but my love for her
        never bloomed
        and I’m left
        with the love of him
        of the islet

  6. pete working on rafa’s serve and self-confidence
    and a different professional working on his ___ condition (not married to the idea of spelling it out again 😉 ) what with a bit of talk therapy, perhaps some meds, a bit of visualization and self-talk etc…

    then imagine what rafa could do coming back after having his a____ back to a moderate level and his c___ back high (ok, that one we are allowed to spell out: confidence), with some little strategic and tactical nothings whispered in his ear by dear pete, his serve upgraded…

    perhaps going on 30 but he would, in such a scenario, still be a force to reckon with, a possible direct attack yet at the Seven and Ten Fortress… as he was supposed to be in the Four and Ten and Five and Ten years of the RF era.

  7. i am entirely convinced that with the right help and toni not boiling his bones down to a kind of gruel which he drinks regularly like an old codger vampire or werewolf (i am taking the piss out of myself here btw before someone attacks me for being literal)
    that rafa would very quickly bounce back and perhaps be even more of a force than before! imagine what rafa would be like with a serve and quick-fire return…..!

  8. am wondering who is responsible for disseminating the horrific upsurge of penguin-ness which is now polluting our entire popular culture?
    can’t just be steve martin, although he does have to take his fair share of blame….

  9. steve genius martin dat

    and, amy, what _kind_ of tea do you drink then, huh?

    sounds a little suspicious

    I think you better bring yourself back into the fold

    the cozy blanket of don_t_think_for_yourself

    • quite

      not _real_ tea then indeed, as you said

      I know I was interrogatory there

      just please don’t call me that title,
      those were not _nice_ men and women

      • Canadians are unarmed Americans with Medicare and really good beer, eh?

        we don’t, generally, descend into the darkest kind of behavior and then justify it

      • great for my shot nerves due to lack of sleep as the noise at night is appalling.
        night before last one of my neighbours was out in courtyard trying to find the outside electricity source to the flat where music was being played to shut it off!
        has been going on forever and drives one to acts of insanity….!

      • is not fun but should be ending soon as people involved should be booted out in a few weeks….
        scenes of pure farce in the meantime..
        ‘care charmer sleep…son of the sable night…….. ‘&tc….
        impossible to do without it …….

      • it’s good to hear the nightmare will end

        strong poem … and then that last line…

        thank you for introducing me to Palgrave, never read any of his poems
        went to school in a country where English was not a language of instruction so we studied little of its literature

        here’s to proper nights of restore and repose
        coming in the eight month of the year

    • palgrave chloro??
      sorry, very very tired but not following…thought that was the name of publisher/anthology?
      ‘care charmer sleep….’ has a lovely sound system…is from one of the english renaissance poets but can’t remember which right now….

  10. am all penguin-ed out for now chloro…
    in fact i think i might be in some kind of weird limbo…..
    hoping against hope to sleep tonight so am off to try and get into bed early before the horror starts…
    ordinary words look like chinese atm….
    see you!!!!

  11. hopefully you get enough rest tonight
    it occurred to me that his is perhaps why we’ve seen you posting here in the wee hours of the night UK-time

    penguins will sleep, even they must, and get another day for their waddlings and twaddlings

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