The Green Green Grass of London SW19: The Gentlemen

by Savannah

It's getting redundant. One half of the men's draw is boring (read non competitive) and one half is a Murderer's Row of competition for some. It's the same thing here. It's no accident they're starting the top of the men's draw with the top of the women's draw. Let's hope that the Ladies matches get shown since they will be the more competitive.

Long time readers know I don't usually do a lot with the men's draw and I won't here.



Top Half


N.Djokovic (SRB) [1] vs P.Kohlschreiber (GER)
J.Nieminen (FIN) vs WC L.Hewitt (AUS)
Q P.Herbert (FRA) vs H.Chung (KOR)
J.Struff (GER) vs B.Tomic (AUS) [27]

L.Mayer (ARG) [24] vs T.Kokkinakis (AUS)
J.Tipsarevic (SRB) vs M.Granollers (ESP)
M.Ilhan (TUR) vs J.Janowicz (POL)
L.Pouille (FRA) vs K.Anderson (RSA) [14]

M.Cilic (CRO) [9] vs Q H.Moriya (JPN)
A.Haider-Maurer (AUT) vs R.Berankis (LTU)
WC M.Ebden (AUS) vs B.Rola (SLO)
G.Soeda (JPN) vs J.Isner (USA) [17]

P.Cuevas (URU) [28] vs WC D.Kudla (USA)
T.Gabashvili (RUS) vs A.Zverev (GER)
J.Souza (BRA) vs S.Giraldo (COL)
S.Bolelli (ITA) vs K.Nishikori (JPN) [5]


S.Wawrinka (SUI) [4] vs J.Sousa (POR)
V.Estrella Burgos (DOM) vs B.Becker (GER)
M.Klizan (SVK) vs F.Verdasco (ESP)
D.Sela (ISR) vs D.Thiem (AUT) [32]

T.Robredo (ESP) [19] vs Q J.Millman (AUS)
D.Young (USA) vs M.Baghdatis (CYP)
L.Broady (GBR) vs M.Matosevic (AUS)
H.Zeballos (ARG) vs D.Goffin (BEL) [16]

G.Dimitrov (BUL) [11] vs F.Delbonis (ARG)
L.Lacko (SVK) vs S.Johnson (USA)
Q K.De Schepper (FRA) vs Q J-P.Smith (AUS)
Q L.Saville (AUS) vs R.Gasquet (FRA) [21]

N.Kyrgios (AUS) [26] vs D.Schwartzman (ARG)
J.Monaco (ARG) vs F.Mayer (GER)
D.Lajovic (SRB) vs T.Haas (GER)
D.Gimeno-Traver (ESP) vs M.Raonic (CAN) [7]

Don't get me wrong there are some interesting matchups in this part of the draw. Herbert vs Chung, Mayer vs Kokkinakis, Zverev vs Gabashvili who has had decent results of late.

The publicity machine is going on about tough draws full blast. They're not in this part of the draw. Marcos Baghdatis is the one player who is hot coming into Wimbledon and could stir up some trouble. Othere than that I see favorites with draws they're expected to get through. Nothing much to see here.



Bottom Half


D.Ferrer (ESP) [8] vs WC J.Ward (GBR)
J.Vesely (CZE) vs P.Lorenzi (ITA)
V.Pospisil (CAN) vs Q V.Millot (FRA)
T.Smyczek (USA) vs F.Fognini (ITA) [30]

V.Troicki (SRB) [22] vs Q A.Nedovyesov (KAZ)
R.Stepanek (CZE) vs A.Bedene (GBR)
Q D.Brown (GER) vs Y-H.Lu (TPE)
T.Bellucci (BRA) vs R.Nadal (ESP) [10]

J-W.Tsonga (FRA) [13] vs G.Muller (LUX)
D.Istomin (UZB) vs A.Ramos-Vinolas (ESP)
A.Dolgopolov (UKR) vs WC K.Edmund (GBR)
Q E.Ymer (SWE) vs I.Karlovic (CRO) [23]

A.Seppi (ITA) [25] vs WC B.Klein (GBR)
S.Stakhovsky (UKR) vs B.Coric (CRO)
R.Haase (NED) vs Q A.Falla (COL)
M.Kukushkin (KAZ) vs A.Murray (GBR) [3]


T.Berdych (CZE) [6] vs J.Chardy (FRA)
F.Krajinovic (SRB) vs WC N.Mahut (FRA)
E.Gulbis (LAT) vs L.Rosol (CZE)
P.Andujar (ESP) vs G.Garcia-Lopez (ESP) [29]

G.Monfils (FRA) [18] vs P.Carreno Busta (ESP)
A.Mannarino (FRA) vs Q M.Berrer (GER)
Q Y.Sugita (JPN) vs B.Kavcic (SLO)
N.Almagro (ESP) vs G.Simon (FRA) [12]

F.Lopez (ESP) [15] vs S.Darcis (BEL)
Q N.Basilashvili (GEO) vs F.Bagnis (ARG)
B.Paire (FRA) vs M.Youzhny (RUS)
R.Bemelmans (BEL) vs R.Bautista Agut (ESP) [20]

J.Sock (USA) [31] vs S.Groth (AUS)
M.Jaziri (TUN) vs J.Duckworth (AUS)
S.Querrey (USA) vs Q I.Sijsling (NED)
D.Dzumhur (BIH) vs R.Federer (SUI) [2]

There is much more going on in the bottom half of the draw. It's as if the words "dangerous floater" were created for this part of the draw. David Ferrer. Fabio Fognini(if he wants to). Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (if he's truly healthy). Aleksandr Dolgopolov. The junior Elias Ymer whose game has matured. Another promising young player Borna Coric whose game is maturing. The always dangerous Gaël Monfils(again when he wants to be). Not to mention three of the four top men are in this section.

So what was that about the "toughness" of the top of the draw again? I don't mean to disparage any of the men playing there but the strength of the bottom half is apparent.

I say all of this keeping in mind that this draw, any draw, is a road map, a guide to what tournament officials feel will present the best men's tennis has to offer at this time. Draws can hold or fall apart. We'll know more soon enough.