The two week period of the year when the majority of the country becomes tennis experts is upon us. Unlike most of the British population I follow the sport 12 months of the year and feel confident I will be able to make a few well informed predictions about this year’s tournament.
Quarter One
Defending two times Wimbledon Champion Novak Djokovic would like nothing more than to put away the heartbreak from Paris by lifting a third title at SW19. However without playing any warm up events he would have been hoping for the usual easy start most of the top seeds get. Not this year, having drawn one of the best players to not be seeded, also one of the best grass court players in Phillip Kohlschreiber. It wouldn’t surprise me if Novak lost a set today but I still expect him to come through this tough opening match, from there he would play either Nieminen or Lleyton Hewitt, both in their final Wimbledon. I would expect Novak to come through both of these matches and indeed this section, he will probably face big serving Kevin Anderson in the fourth round.
Section two features the stars of the 2014 US Open final in Kei Nishikori and Marin Cilic and like the result back in September its Cilic I have coming through this section to face Novak in the Quarter Finals. I’m not sure Kei is a great grass court player yet and Cilic has proved himself on the grass over the years.
Djokovic d Cilic
Quarter Two
Section three on paper looks rather straight forward for the new defending Roland Garros Champion Stan Wawrinka. It will be interesting to see how he survives the first week of Wimbledon when the ball won’t bounce as high and he won’t have as long to line up his rocket ground strokes. He will be at his more vulnerable in the opening few rounds however I don’t see Sousa, Verdasco or Goffin (his potential opponents) causing him problems. Predicting his quarter final opponent is trickier and section four is potentially the most interesting in the draw with Dimitrov, Gasquet, Kyrgios, Raonic and the legendary Tommy Haas making his first Grand Slam appearance since the 2014 French Open.
Dimitrov v Gasquet in the third round is intriguing and I fancy Richard Gasquet to get to the fourth round, with his long odds he might be worth laying early on in the tournament and trading before his fourth round match. Kyrgios will face Raonic most probably and I expect the big serving Canadian to win this battle and then beat Richard Gasquet. I think his big forehand and serve is perfect for the grass and I expect big things this week from Raonic.
Wawrinka d Raonic
Quarter Three
After David Ferrer pulled out yesterday he ended his fifth longest Grand Slam appearance streak at 50. It’s a shame but it does help his Spanish compatriot Rafael Nadal who is famously weak in the opening few rounds at the All England Club. I actually think Victor Troicki will defeat Nadal and face Andy Murray in the Quarter finals. Seppi in round three might provide some resistance for the Scot and Tsonga or Karlovic are potential fourth round opponents but I can’t see anything other than Murray victories.
Murray d Troicki
Quarter Four
I don’t see too many shocks in this section, the four best players Federer, Berdych, Simon and Lopez I can see all reaching the fourth round and facing each other. It’s the most boring of the four sections on paper and I expect Roger to face and defeat Tomas Berdych in the quarters.
Federer d Berdych
Semi Final Predictions
Djokovic d Wawrinka
Murray d Federer
Final Prediction
Murray d Djokovic
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