Men’s Olympic preview! Back on the Grass for Gold!

Roger Federer

It all seems right in the world stating Roger Federer is the world’s number 1 ranked player.  It just rolls of the tongue so easily even though it has been almost 3 years since it was said last.  Roger will be looking to add the one décor missing from his repertoire, an Olympic Gold Singles Medal and his draw looks favorable.   The possible match ups are as follows:

1^st round Alejandro Falla

This veteran Colombian almost took out Roger in the same hollow grounds that they will be playing on 2 years ago.  Going into the 4^th set breaker, Falla
had a 2 sets to 1 lead and momentum in the match.  In the blink of an eye, or rather a couple of points, Roger changed the trajectory of the match winning the breaker and then the 5^th set easily.  Expect the Colombian to give Roger a good hitting session, but not much of a contest. 

3^rd round Fernando Verdasco 

Fernando Verdasco is lightning in a bottle.  He can be electrifying at times, but those times are few and far in between; especially now that Verdasco is getting up there in age.  Expect a close 1^st set as Verdasco can bring some power on the serve, but a runaway at the end.  Federer hasn’t had much trouble with Verdasco as he has never lost to him.  Do not expect to find Rog in much trouble here.

Quarterfinals John Isner

Maybe the wildcard of them all!  John Isner can be a loose cannon.  He is amazing at times, just unstoppable, and others he looks like he can’t do anything right.  John has had his chances against Roger, but only beaten him once (surprisingly on clay and Davis Cup in Switzerland), all other matches have been on hard court and Roger has won.  Playing on grass could be an advantage for Isner, but after all, Roger did win the title here no more than a month ago.  Expect a tight one with maybe a couple of tiebreakers with Roger pulling through at the end. 

Semifinals Juan Martin Del Potro or David Ferrer

This one is a coin flip as David Ferrer did just beat Juan Martin Del Potro at Wimbledon and has beat him the past 3 times in 3 different surfaces, but my gut is telling me the 6’5 Argentine will have his revenge at this event.  In that case, poor fortune for Del Potro as he has met Roger 5 times this year alone and has won a total of ZERO.  In fact, the past 6 times they have played each other, the world’s #1 (still feels great to say it) has won all of them.  Expect a tight battle, but Roger to come out on top against the talented Del Potro.

Novak Djokovic

Nole is a very proud Serb and for him to win the gold would be a special moment for him, but mostly for his country.  He will also be coming in with a chip on his shoulder as he has lost the #1 ranking to Roger.  The road ahead for Nole might be one of the toughest draws in the history of tennis.  Don’t ever count the Djoker out, but I can definitely see him losing in the early stages of the tournament.

2^nd Round Andy Roddick

Andy Roddick can brag about something most players do not have and that is a winning record against Djokovic, 5-3.  He is also a 3 time finalist at Wimbledon and is coming off 2 titles in the past 3 events.  All these ingredients can result in one thing, UPSET!  There are many people predicting the upset here and rightfully so.  The world’s number 2 can be out early in this tournament. 

3^rd Round Marin Cilic

Cilic is coming off a finals loss and a tournament win in his previous 2 tournaments.  The hard hitting Croatian can pose another huge challenge for Djokovic (assuming Novak gets passed Roddick).  Good news for Djoko is that he has never lost to Cilic, but all of their encounters have been on hard court.  The grass might favor Cilic.  Nole has to be scratching his head asking what he did wrong to the tournament directors at Wimbledon!

Quarterfinals Jo-Wilfried Tsonga

As it wasn’t hard enough, Djokovic will have to go through the flashy Frenchman to just make it to to the semis.  This will be the rubber match, as Tsonga and Djokovic are 6-6 in head-to-head all time.  Their only battle on grass was won by Djokovic at Wimbledon in 2011.  Expect the Djoker to move on here in a very tightly contested match (maybe Tsonga will close off one match point this time if he gets a look at one and erase that bitter loss to Nole at the French).

Semifinals Andy Murray

If Novak Djokovic gets to this point, win or lose, he should get a special reward.  The murderous row he had to face to get here might arguably be the toughest of any tournament all year or maybe EVER.  In the semis he might have to battle not only against a solid player in Murray, but also the whole United Kingdom.  Andy Murray is coming off a very difficult loss to Roger Federer here in these courts.  As well as he played, he knows he couldn’t have won, which is a hard pill to swallow.  The hard headed Scot might use that as an advantage and believe he can beat the very best.  With a whole Kingdom on his side, or maybe his back, it will be very interesting to see how Andy responds.  I do expect a very tight match, but with Djokovic pulling out the win. 

Finals Preview

Federer vs Djokovic

The tennis gods have granted us Federer vs Djokovic on grass part Deux!  The last battle, Wimbledon 2012 semifinals, was won to remember.  It was the former king dethroning the world’s number 1 to recapture the #1 ranking.  Expect Djokovic to come out with fire as he will want the world to know who he thinks the real #1 is, along with taking home the gold for Serbia, and winning against one of the toughest draws in the history of tennis.  On the other hand, Roger knows that this is the one thing he does NOT have.  He will do everything in his power to win the gold and have every piece of hardware on his mantle.  Expect a clash of the TITANS!