Wimbledon preview, Week 2: Tennis Big Four still calling the shots
Week one at Wimbledon is over and the Big Four — Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, and Andy Murray — all got through their first three matches with ease. Nadal and Djokovic are in slightly better position than Federer and Murray. Going into week two, here’s where the Big Four stand.
Roger Federer
The Swiss Maestro is gunning for his record eighth title at the All England Club and looks every bit a frontrunner, not having dropped a set so far. Federer has continued to defy the odds all year long, coming back from injury to win his 18th grand slam in Australia and collect the two major hard court Masters 1000 events as well. He took some time off after Miami and avoided the clay season. The 35 year-old was rusty coming back to grass, losing in the first round of Stuttgart, but bouncing back by beating the sensational Sascha Zverev at Halle the week before coming here.
His SW19 first and second rounds were routine wins, but he faced a first set tiebreak with No. 30-ranked Mischa Zverev, but cruised through the next two sets to face-off with Grigor Dmitrov, who employs a similar game and is playing well this year, although Federer still owns their head-to-head 5-0.
However, the third seed is battling a head cold and depending on how quickly he recovers, odds are he will likely defeat Dmitrov again. It only gets harder after that, with potential opponents Raonic, Sascha Zverev, and most significantly, Djokovic standing in the way to make it to an 11th final.
Rafael Nadal
Where Federer collected up the major hard court victories this year, Rafael Nadal came to Wimbledon after a sensational clay season where he owned all but every single clay tournament he entered, including his 15th grand slam at Roland Garros as well as a series of “La Decima” record titles. He also hasn’t shown any weakness, however, not dropping a set over opponents John Millman and Donald Young, but had to force a tiebreak in the third set against the talented Karen Khachanov, who was more of a challenge for the Spaniard.
Next up is the grass specialist Gilles Muller, who will likely be a more formidable opponent for the 31-year-old. Nadal owns their head-to-head record, with the Luxembourg player having won only one time, back in 2005 at Wimbledon. Their matches have been hard-fought, however. After that, the world No. 2 will likely face Marin Cilic for a matchup with Andy Murray, with the outcome determining who will be the new No. 1.
Novak Djokovic
After a disappointing season that saw the Serbian player make major changes to his team, Novak Djokovic came into the grand slam with a grass victory at Eastbourne, the week before, and with celebrity coach Andre Agassi in tow, having gotten through the kinks of a new coaching relationship for the first time at the French Open.
Like Federer and Nadal, Djokovic hasn’t dropped a set going into the fourth round, but he also hasn’t played a competitor in the Top 30 yet and had to go to a tiebreak in the third set against Latvian Ernests Gulbis, his biggest challenge so far. Djokovic is looking assured going into his fourth round match with 51-ranked Adrian Mannarino, who he beat at last year’s Wimbledon.
He will face much tougher opponents after that, with Thomas Berdych or Dominic Thiem — coming off a fantastic season and playing incredible at the moment — and a possible resurgent Federer in the semis, in what will probably be the match of the event if it happens.
Andy Murray
The only one who has dropped a set already, Murray is still struggling to find his groove, although he’s fared better at his favorite tournament than he’s been all season long. In his third round, he lacked energy at times against spitfire Fabio Fognini, who could have pushed the set to a fifth until the Scot dug deep.
Murray is also the only one still playing through an injury, a hip mishap that forced him to pull out of Hurlingham the week before Wimbledon. Next up for him is France’s Benoit Paire, who he beat at last year’s Monte Carlo, their only matchup.
Last year, the second title at Wimbledon propelled the 30-year-old to go on a winning streak that saw him achieving his second gold medal, and a series of titles that allowed him to take the No. 1 spot from Djokovic. But going into the event this year, the world No. 1 is a much different player and is now trying to justify his position at the top of the ATP rankings.
Conclusion
It’s looking like we will have another Federer-Nadal final, with the Spaniard having the slight edge, depending on how quickly Federer recovers from his cold. He’s beaten the 31-year-old the last three times this year, on hard court, and owns the edge on grass, but unless he’s at 100 percent, we might be looking at a rematch of their 2009 final, which most consider the best of all time.
Djokovic is still finding his groove and his coaching partnership with Agassi is developing smoothly, but I believe he will be stopped before he makes the final.
Murray is not the same player as last year, but may pull through if the crowds can help him find the confidence to battle past his injury. Of the four, he looks the most vulnerable.
Get set for a roller coaster Monday with the Big Four gunning through the fourth round.