Right so now its time for my look at the men's matches from the 2015 Wimbledon and we'll see who has made it so far into the 2nd week.
So let's get started.....
Novak Djokovic - well first of all we have the World No.1, Novak Djokovic who after suffering another painful defeat in the final of the French open this year has rebounded back in style so far at Wimbledon. And so far Nole has made a great start having beaten Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany in a tight straight set match but Novak was still too good for the plucky German as he came through in 6-4, 6-4, 6-4. Next up Novak took on Jarkko Nieminen in what proved to be Jarkko's last Wimbledon... and it proved to be Jarkko's last match as well as Novak dispatched the Finn in straight sets 6-4, 6-2, 6-3, but congratulated him after the end on his career. And in the 3rd round Novak faced Bernard Tomic in a rematch of their 2011 quarter final, which was quite a tough encounter which Novak needed four sets to overcome him. But this time round things were much easier as Tomic made the mistake of trying to rally with Nole from the back of the court which is asinine and it wasn't long before the young Aussie was dumped out by the Serb in straight sets 6-3, 6-3, 6-3. And this sees Novak confidently stride towards his title defence as he is now into the last 16 without dropping that 3rd Wimbledon title might yet be on the cards for him and he next takes of Kevin Anderson but Nole will still be the favourite there.
Roger Federer - up after Nole is the World No.2 and seven time Wimbledon champ, Roger Federer who so far has shown great form at SW19 this year in the first week. And from the very start Roger has looked very self assured on the court as he was up against Damir Dzumhur whom he played at the French open this year and he had little trouble getting past him there and little trouble here either as Rog beat him 6-1, 6-1, 6-3. After that Roger carried on in fine fettle as he dispatch the big American, Sam Querrey in straight sets 6-4, 6-2, 6-2 to advance to the last round of 32. And in the 3rd round Roger took on the giant serving Sam Groth, who has the biggest serve of all time in what proved to be a very entertaining encounter which saw the big server give Rog his first test in the tournament. After Roger took the first two sets comfortably with a break each, Groth hit back as he pushed play into a 3rd set breaker, which saw Roger make a careless double fault which gave Groth all he needed to serve out the set. In the 4th set however normality was restored and Rog put his foot to the peddle and broke the big Aussie twice to seal the deal and his place in the 4th round with a very entertaining 6-4, 6-4, 6-7, 6-2 win. Despite dropping one set so far, Roger goes into the 2nd week looking about as good you could ever expect and he looks like a man who is ready to win his 8th title at Wimbledon, so everyone else including Djokovic, should watch out.
Andy Murray - next is Andy Murray who has shown great form in 2015 so far and he started off his first week at SW19 in similar form. Although Andy did find it tricky against his 1st round opponent Mikhail Kukushkin who pushed Andy hard in the 2nd set as he was a break down but managed to break back and to push the match into a breaker where Andy took the two set lead. In the 3rd set Andy broke again and he went on to secure the match as he served it out to reach round 2 with a 6-4, 7-6, 6-4 win. In the 2nd round Andy went on to face Robin Haase in what potentially could have been a tough match given their past together, however Haase was no match this time as he made a catalogue of errors throughout and Andy sped to victory in under 1 hour and 30 minutes with a 6-1, 6-1, 6-4 win. In the 3rd round however Andy took on the Italian, Andreas Seppi in what proved to be a topsey turvey match which saw Andy get off to a terrific start as he raced into a two set lead with a double break in each set. But in the 3rd set, Seppi took a medical timeout for his ankle which totally knocked Andy off his rythym which saw Andy go down a double break and Seppi shockingly taking the 3rd set. In the 4th Seppi continued to threaten Andy as he broke him at the start of the set and Andy took a medical timeout for his shoulder. But afterward Andy came out firing again and broke back and then went on to ruthlessly dispatch Seppi winning six games in a row to claim his place in the 4th round with a bizzare 6-2, 6-2, 1-6, 6-1 victory.
This match saw some alarm bells go off for Andy and it was the first time we had seen a few question marks come over his form in the tournament as he seemed to go way off course so easily after Seppi's medical timeout. And if Andy is to win the title again he needs to remain more focused than he has so far as it sure won't get any easier from here as Andy will next take on the massive serving Ivo Karlovic who happens to be the tallest player on the tour as well. They have played each other before at Wimbledon in what was a very tough four set match and this time it should prove to be no different but I think Andy will still come through this one in four sets. As for Andy's chances to win the title, well he still remains a favourite and he has shown some good promise so far but also some curious dips in form here and there and I think he will still need to improve his level if he is to have a legitimate chance at winning the title, especially if he faces Roger Federer in the semi finals, which is why it would be good if Andy were to face Berdych instead at that stage (as Berdych could clash with Roger in the quarter finals). But we will just have to wait and see what happens but one thing that is for certain is that we can expect more Murray drama this week!
Rafael Nadal - then we have Rafa who so far has endured arguably the worst season of his career in 2015 but he did show some real signs of promise at the start of his grass court season having claimed his first title on grass for five years in Stuttgart. But Rafa was unable to really carry forward that form as he suffered a first round exit at Queens and despite comfortably winning his first round match here at Wimbledon against Thomaz Bellucci, he then faced his nemesis on grass from Halle last year, Dustin Brown in the 2nd round in what so far has been one of the best matches of the tournament. And in the match Dustin carried on from where he had finished against Rafa in Halle as he rushed his opponent with serve and volley tactics and reigned down 2nd serves at 127mph! So in short Dustin took the 1st, Rafa levelled to take the 2nd but Dusty then grabbed the two sets to one lead. And in the 4th set history repeated itself and early defeat at Wimbledon once again reared its ugly head for Rafa as he went out to the German who claimed another stunning win over the Spaniard in 7-5, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4. This result wasn't really much of a surprise given Rafa's struggling record not only this year but also at Wimbledon over the last three years but it does highlight the fact that Rafa really does need to change something in order to get his form back. And John McEnroe suggested that Rafa needs to get a new coach in and I for one also agree with him there because if Rafa wants to get back on top he needs new input and new ideas on how to get his form back and that is clearly something he and his Uncle Toni so far have not been able to do. Rafa can still bounce back but now as he is sure to drop out into the top 20 for the first time in what must appear to be forever, he has a lot of work to do if he is to get back on track.
So that's it for the big four as for the others:
Stan Wawrinka - well Stan the man so far has continued his fine form after having won the French open, so far he has confidently carried on at SW19 having reached the 2nd week without dropping a set. And looking at how Stan has made it so far, he defeated Joao Sousa in straight sets 6-2, 7-5, 7-6 before going on to beat Victor Estrella Burgos of Spain with a 6-3, 6-4, 7-5 result. And in the 3rd round Stan faced Fernando Verdasco in what could have been a very tough encounter but Stan showed his form again and beat Verdasco with ease in straight sets 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 to reach the 2nd week. In the 4th round Stan will face David Goffin for a place in the quarter finals and he leads their head to head 2-0 so he will be the favourite there as well. So Stan remains on course for his clash with Novak Djokovic in the semi finals and there is not much doubt he could upset Nole's apple cart there as well, as he is clearly Nole's bogeyman just now, but we will see how the Swiss No.2 goes in the meantime.
Tomas Berdych - so far Berdych has had a good run in 2015 but has not managed to pick up a title this year as of yet. But Berdych is without a doubt one of the most solid and consistent players on the tour in terms of his results. However Berdych has not had it plain sailing so far at SW19 as he had a very tough match in his opening round against Jeremy Chardy which he needed four tight sets to get by the Frenchman. In the 2nd round Berdych started to find his range as he swept past Nicholas Mahut in straight sets winning the match 6-1, 6-4, 6-4. In the 3rd round however Tomas faced stern opposition again in the form of Pablo Andujar of Spain who took the opening set before Berdych hit back and took a two sets to one lead. In the 4th set play went by serve into a 4th set breaker which saw Berdych finally seal his place in the last 16 after a hard fought 4-6, 6-0, 6-3, 7-6 win. Berdych remains on course to try and reach the last eight but next up he will face Gilles Simon who so far has made it also into the last 16 by defeating Gael Monfils in five sets. And Berdych could face Roger Federer in the quarter finals which could prove to be Roger's first serious danger as Berdych has beaten Rog before there so this could be a good opportunity for the Czeck to do so again.
Marin Cilic - next is Marin Cilic who so far has had a very tough time of it at SW19 and he has had a tough year in trying to get back on form but so far he has started to recover his form that saw him go on to win the US Open last year. Cilic started off his campaign with a straight set win over Hiroki Moriya of Japan who he beat 6-3, 6-2, 7-6 to reach the 2nd round. But in the 2nd round Cilic faced a real stern test by the Lithuanian player, Ricardis Berankis who pushed Cilic to the limit and took him to a deciding set, Berankis looked poised to upset Cilic, but the US Open champion held on and broke to reach the 3rd round with a hard fought 6-3, 4-6, 7-6, 4-6, 7-5. And in the 3rd round Marin Cilic took the giant serving ermm giant, John Isner in what proved to be a thrilling battle of the serves. And the first four sets were shared between the two men with Cilic taking 1 and 3 and Isner 2 and 4, but the 5th set proved to be epic battle which had to be completed the following day due to bad light. But on resumption of play Cilic soon brook Isner and went to win the match after a marathon 7-6, 6-7, 6-4, 6-7, 12-10 result.
Nick Kygrios - and last of all we have the only remaining Aussie in the tournament, Nick Kygrios who has resumed the form that took him to the quarter finals at Wimbledon last year. Nick so far has beaten Diego Schwartzman of Argentina in the 1st round in straight sets and then went to beat another Argentine, Juan Monaco in the 2nd round also in straight sets. And in the 3rd round Nick took on his nemesis from last year's Wimbledon, the giant server Milos Raonic but this time he got his revenge as he beat the Canadian for the first time winning the match in four sets 5-7, 7-5, 7-6, 6-3 to reach the 4th round where Nick will face Richard Gasquet. And if Nick wins that one he could very well face Novak Djokovic in the quarter finals and what a match in prospect that might be!
As for a round up of the seeds that have gone out starting off we had Kei Nishikori who was forced to withdraw in the 2nd round after his calf injury resurfaced. Grigor Dimitrov also went out to Richard Gasquet and the Bulgarian has continued with his struggles for form this season as the Frenchman dumped out Dimi in straight sets in the 3rd round. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga also suffered a 3rd round exit at the hands of the big serving big guy Ivo Karlovic in four sets. Feliciano Lopez also suffered a surprise 2nd round loss to Nikoloz Basilashvili of Georgia in five sets. Gael Monfils lost out to his compatriot Gilles Simon in an entertaining five set match, which concluded on centre court after it was moved from Court No.1 also in the 3rd round. And last of all despite his great promise shown at the French Open, Jack Sock exited early from the tournament in the 1st round to Sam Groth in four sets.
So that's it for my look at the men's matches for now and I'll be back soon with more updates once the quarter final matches have been decided.
Until then its bye the now!
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