The big question on every tennis fans lips, especially British fans, is can Andy Murray defend his title and if he doesn't who will walk away with the Wimbledon crown? These are all of the things that will be up for debate in my preview as I take a look at the draw and who the main men will be to watch.
Quarter 1
Last 128 Draw (Selected Matches):Novak Djokovic Vs Andrey Golubev
Gilles Simon Vs Konstantin Kravchuk
Robin Haase Vs Vasek Pospisil
Mikhall Youzhny Vs James Ward
Jurgen Melzer Vs Jo-Wilfred Tsonga
Ernests Gulbis Vs Jurgen Zopp
Jeremy Chardy Vs Daniel Cox
Marinko Matosevic Vs Fernando Verdasco
Marin Cilic Vs Paul-Henri Mathieu
Victor Hanescu Vs Tomas Berdych
This quarter of the Wimbledon draw is packed with top quality players that could all gone on to win this quarter as well as making a push for the title itself. The likes of Novak Djokovic, Jo-Wilfred Tsonga, Ernests Gulbis, Fernando Verdasco and Tomas Berdych are all brilliant players that have what it takes to go far in this event.
Just a year ago Verdasco looked certain to beat eventual champion Andy Murray when he was 2 sets up in the quarter-finals. It seems like Verdasco is slowly starting to get his game back and play the way he was a few years ago. Meanwhile Jo-Wilfred Tsonga and Tomas Berdych both have great ability and the game to go far in this event, although Tsonga has lost a bit of form in recent times and I can't see him going any further than the Last 16 unless Djokovic were to fall early which I really can't see happening. Ernests Gulbis managed a trip to the French Open semi-finals last month, but for me whether he challenges in this event and in the future is all about whether he can produce on a consistent basis or not.
One man though that has been producing on a consistent basis is Novak Djokovic who barely seems to lose nowadays such is his consistency and overall brilliance on any surface. After making the final of this tournament last year Novak will want to go one better this time around and there's every chance of that happening. Can anyone beat him in this section? There are plenty of players that could do it, but it would take Novak to have real off day for it to happen, and these days his poor days are few and far between.
Quarter Winner: Novak Djokovic
Quarter 2
Last 128 Draw (Selected Matches):Andy Murray Vs David Goffin
Steve Johnson Vs Roberto Agut Bautista
Kevin Anderson Vs Aljaz Bedene
Alex Kuznetsov Vs Fabio Foginni
Grigor Dimitrov Vs Ryan Harrison
Donald Young Vs Benjamin Becker
Samuel Groth Vs Alexander Dolgopolov
Andreas Seppi Vs Leonardo Mayer
Dustin Brown Vs Marcos Baghdatis
David Ferrer Vs Pablo Busta Carreno
This quarter in my opinion is not completely filled with quality, while there are a lot of decent players like Kevin Anderson, Grigor Dimitrov and Fabio Foginni but the real only brilliance in this section comes in the shape of David Ferrer and defending champion Andy Murray.
Grigor Dimitrov comes into Wimbledon in some really good form though having won 3 titles on 3 different surfaces in 2014 including the grass court event at Queen's just a week ago. However, I'm not sure that Dimitrov quite has the game to go far in the major grand slam events as he doesn't quite have the experience.
One man that has plenty of experience of Wimbledon, but also plenty of pressure on him which he will need to deal with just as he did last year on the way to victory is Andy Murray. Andy has of course had a large lay-off since winning Wimbledon last year and he is only just now getting back into his groove. He made the semi-finals of the French Open but on the way looked far from convincing along the way and had to survive a lot of stern tests and did look a little shaky when put under pressure. Of course any pressure he's put under in the next 2 weeks will of course be doubled by the fact that he is playing in front of his home crowd.
One man that will definetly put him under pressure if the 2 were to meet in the quarter-finals would be David Ferrer. David is an incredibly classy player and certainly has what it takes to go far in this event with the experience he has now in these grand slam events with a French Open final under his belt and he'll definetly be looking to go one better than his 2012 and 2013 Wimbledon performances of the quarter-finals.
Quarter Winner: David Ferrer
Quarter 3
Last 128 Draw(Selected Matches) :Stan Wawrinka Vs Joao Souza
Denis Istomin Vs Dimity Tursonov
Daniel Smethurst Vs John Isner
Jercy Janowicz Vs Somdev Devvarman
Lukas Lacko Vs Tommy Rebredo
Marcel Grannolers Vs Nicolas Mahut
Gilles Muller Vs Julian Bennateau
Pablo Lorenzi Vs Roger Federer
This quarter is again a little lacking in proper talent with a lot of decent players but not many players of pure quality and brilliance.
One of those decent players that certainly has the potential to go far in this event is Jercy Janowicz who doesn't have a bad draw to start things off with. Jercy is a very powerful player who used his strength to his advantage on the way to the semi-finals of last years Wimbledon, but sadly for Jercy he has been unable to produce that form again in the last year and I something seems to be lacking for him to have such a run again this year, especially with the quality players he would have to get past to make the semi-finals.
One of those quality players is of course one of the best Tennis players ever to have existed in Roger Federer. He has such a wealth of experience on any surface and the grass seems to have been his favourite of all of them so you can never rule him out of winning the Wimbledon title one more time. However, over the last couple of years as Roger has past his peak his game has started to decline as he reaches the sort of twilight stages of his career. I'm not saying that he won't be able to produce his best again in the grand slams, but instead he won't be able to produce it as consistently as we were used to seeing him do so when he was in the prime of his career.
However, someone who is reaching the prime of his career is fellow Swiss player Stan Wawrinka. Stan's major breakthrough came this year on the hard court in Australia as he won the Australian Open, showing that not only can he compete in the majors but he can win them as well. With his best at Wimbledon only being the 4th round he may not quite yet feel at home on the grass court but that can soon change, and he does come into Wimbledon this year from a semi-final appearance at Queen's which was a timely boost for Stan after his first round exit at Roland Garros. He's showed he's got what it takes on most surfaces and in most majors, and this could be the tournament where he changes those most's into all's.
Quarter Winner: Stan Wawrinka
Quarter 4
Last 128 Draw (Selected Matches):Milos Raonic Vs Matthew Ebden
Dusan Lajovic Vs Gullermo Garcia-Lopez
Phillip Kohlschreiber Vs Igor Sijsling
Kenny De Schepper Vs Kel Nishikori
Richard Gasquet Vs Richard Duckworth
Malek Jaziri Vs Gael Monfils
Ivo Karlovic Vs Frank Dencevic
Martin Klizan Vs Rafael Nadal
This quarter also has a lot of very decent players and a fair amount of quality, but only one real stand-out player in Rafael Nadal. However, as I said, there are a lot of decent players that could of course beat him if things went their way and they would be players like Richard Gasquet, Gael Monfils, Milos Raonic and Phillip Kohlschreiber, but it seems most of these players seem to be lacking in something if they are to have a chance at challenging Nadal. Monfils of course has the game but doesn't always seem to have the temperament and the consistency to finish games off against the top players while Raonic and Kohlschreiber just don't seem to have the experience yet of appearing in the latter stages of grand slams. Richard Gasquet probably comes into this event in the better shape of the other challengers in to Nadal in this quarter, though he has suffered lately with back problems his performances this week at Eastbourne making the final there just a couple of days before Wimbledon puts him in good shape and means he will be coming into this event in decent form. However, he will have to be on top form to challenge Nadal.
Rafael Nadal of course comes into this event fresh off of yet another French Open title, and having won 2 Wimbledon titles as well in his career he clearly has the most quality of anyone in this quarter. However, if he is to be vulnerable in this event it will be in the early rounds after early exits in his last couple of Wimbledon tournaments. Although, with his fitness and form both looking better ahead of this event if he can stay fit, fresh and focussed he will surely go far in this event and could walk away with his 3rd SW19 crown.
Quarter Winner: Rafael Nadal
Tournament Runner-Up: Rafael Nadal
Tournament Winner: Novak Djokovic
Whoever the winners are at Wimbledon over the next 2 weeks you can guarantee it will be 2 weeks of brilliant Tennis with plenty of stunning displays and close dramatic matches with plenty of upsets to add as well. I hope you enjoyed reading my preview and that you will enjoy watching the event just as much.
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