Wimbledon Second Monday Preview

I usually can't say enough good things about the Second Monday of Wimbledon. If you can only attend the tournament on one day—this is the best day to go. Instead of the usual schedule of one half of the draw playing on one day and the other half playing the next day, on the Second Monday ALL remaining men and women play. This means there are lots of great matches being played and because not all of them can be played on the show courts, you'll still get to see high level players on the outer courts even if you only have a grounds pass. It's usually the best day in tennis and it's usually glorious.

However, the Second Monday of Wimbledon 2014 is not going to be quite so glorious. Yes, it will still feature many good matches, but you won't get to see all the remaining players. In fact, you won't get to see Federer or Nadal at all. A very rainy Saturday meant that many matches got cancelled, and because there is never any play on the Middle Sunday, these cancelled matches will be played on Monday and some of the matches that would have been on Monday will now be on Tuesday. So basically we get a second rate version of a Second Monday.

It's not all bad though. There is still the potential for some pretty exciting matches. Here are my two must-see matches on Monday:

Novak Djokovic vs. Jo-Wilfrid Tsonga
This match could go one of two ways: either Djokovic blows Tsonga away in three easy sets, or Tsonga plays the kind of amazing tennis we know he can play and forces a fifth set...and Djokovic still wins. As talented as he is, Tsonga is way too inconsistent to beat Djokovic in a five set match at Wimbledon. Plus, Novak needs to atone for his lacklustre French Open final performance.
Prediction: Djokovic wins in three sets

Genie Bouchard vs. Alize Cornet
The biggest upset of the tournament so far is, without a doubt, Alize Cornet's win over Serena Williams. Knowing that she took out one of the toughest competitors in the sport has got to give Cornet a huge amount of confidence, but she'll need more than just confidence to beat Genie Bouchard. Genie has reached the semifinals in every Slam this year, and she won't want to break her streak—particularly now that she won't have to face Serena.
Prediction: Bouchard wins in three sets

Other intriguing Monday matches include Marin Cilic vs. Jeremy Chardy, Feliciano Lopez vs. John Isner, Andy Murray vs. Kevin Anderson, Maria Sharapova vs. Angelique Kerber, and the continuation of the suspended match between Ana Ivanovic and Sabine Lisicki.

Day 4: Olympic Tennis Matches to Watch

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga vs. Milos Raonic
GO CANADA!!! I feel like this match is either going to be a blow-out match with Tsonga winning in straight sets, or a hard-fought three-setter with Milos winning. I wish I believed that Milos could take Tsonga out and keep Canada in the running for a singles medal, but I think the Frenchman will prevail.

Andy Roddick vs. Novak Djokovic
Brutal second round match for Andy. Just brutal. Novak is probably not loving this draw either, but you've got to think that he's going to be able to take Andy out. But who knows. Andy's had a lot of success on the Wimbledon courts in the past (not that Novak hasn't as well), so perhaps we'll see an upset. Here's hoping.

Feliciano Lopez vs. Juan Monaco
If you need to ask why this is a must-see match to watch, then clearly you haven't seen these photos before. Or these. And I guess, you know, it will also be an exciting match because Juan Monaco is on a roll and will want to continue his winning ways, and Feliciano is a pretty good grass court player and will want to make the most of his last minute Olympic entry. It will be a delightfully pretty match to watch, and I'll go with Pico winning in three sets. 

Other potentially interesting matches of the day include Gasquet vs. Baghdatis, Venus Williams vs. Aleksandra Woziak, and obviously the tag team of Federer and Wawrinka against Erlic and Ram.

Men's Olympic Tennis Predictions

The first day of men's tennis action at the Olympics resulted in some not-so-surprising results (Federer, Del Potro, and Isner winning their first round matches), some sort-of-but-not-quite-surprising results (Tipsarevic defeating Nalbandian and Istomin defeating Verdasco), and some really surprising results (Berdych going down in straight sets to Steve Darcis—a player I've never even heard of). 

The Olympics have always seemed to produce unexpected tennis medalists, and while it would seem crazy to bet against a Federer/Djokovic gold medal match, we should brace ourselves for some big upsets (a la Tomas Berdych) as the event unfolds. 

First Quarter:

Roger Federer is the clear favorite in this quarter. Yes, the best two-out-of-three format might allow for an in-the-zone player to knock him out earlier than expected, but when Isner and Tipsarevic are the biggest threats you've got to think that Roger will make it out of this quarter with ease. 

Second Quarter:

This quarter is a little more up in the air. Ferrer and Del Potro seem to be the most likely to reach the semifinals, although I wouldn't be surprised to see Kohlschreiber knock Ferrer out in round two. I'll go with Del Potro and Ferrer playing in the quarterfinals with Ferrer going through to the semis. 

Third Quarter:

At first glance, Andy Murray appears to be the obvious favorite to make it out of his quarter—especially with the early exit of Tomas Berdych. But Murray was unlucky to draw Stan Wawrinka as his first round opponent, and if Wawrinka plays his best then he could be tough to beat. Murray should win this match though, and if he does then I don't see anyone stopping him from reaching the semis. 

Fourth Quarter:

This last quarter is tough. On most days Novak Djokovic could beat any of the players in this section with ease, but at the Olympics and on grass you've got to think that if they're playing well that Tsonga, Roddick, and Raonic all have a chance. As much as I want to pick someone less obvious than Novak, I just can't. I'll go with Djokovic defeating Tsonga in the quarters. 

Semifinals:

Federer defeats Ferrer

Djokovic defeats Murray

Finals:

Federer defeats Djokovic

Gold: Federer

Silver: Djokovic

Bronze: Murray

Medal Dark Horses:

Raonic, Tsonga, and Isner

Tsonga Says Umpire Favours Nadal

Near the end of his match with Nadal, Tsonga was visibly upset with the umpire who he claimed was favouring Rafa when it came to line calls. Tsonga discussed the issue in his press conference after the match: 


Q. At the end of the match when you were talking to the chair umpire, you were like complaining or something? 


JO WILFRIED TSONGA: Yeah, I was complaining because all the match, you know, I've got to I have to challenge, and I was right, you know, many, many times. So never take how you say? (Through translation.) He never take, you know, initiative when it's against Rafa, you know. And you know now it's all the time like this. All the time. 


So, you know, I have to be, you know, really focused, you know, on the ball, because if the ball is out, it would never if it's really close, he would never say out against Rafa. Always to say against me. If Rafa don't like him anymore, I mean, he would not be in the chair many times on final and semifinal. So it will not, you know yeah. That's it.