Let’s take a quick rundown of Saturday’s matches.
Petzschner vs. Nadal (Centre Court, Match 2) Petzschner was a bit unlucky. The last player not to get seeded, he was “awarded” the 33rd seed when Ernests Gulbis withdrew shortly after the draw was announced. Petzschner was moved to Gulbis’s position in the draw, which meant the possibility of facing Nadal in the 3rd round. After two tough 5 setters, Petzschner is facing Nadal. Petzschner has only met Nadal twice, losing to him on both occasions. He recently reached the semifinals in Halle, losing to Federer in two close sets. Although Nadal dropped two sets to Haase, one would expect a return to form and Nadal to win in straight sets.
Simon vs. Murray (Centre Court, Match 3) Maybe if this match were played 2 years ago, Simon would pose a bigger challenge. Simon had a breakout year (or half year) in 2008 that pushed him into the top 10. Simon then had a ordinary 2009 and got injured. He’s not played many matches this year in the main tour. Simon’s strengths were his speed, consistency, and accuracy. Murray did well against Simon in 2008, but 2008 was a pretty good year for Murray as well. Although 2010 has not been a great year for Murray (he’s yet to win a tournament this year), he has had more high-level play than Simon and so this should be enough to get him past Simon.
Soderling vs. Bellucci (Court 1, Match 1) Soderling should have too much firepower for the talented Brazilian. The two have never played. Bellucci is a lefty.
Malisse vs. Querrey (Court 1, Match 3) These two have only met once, but that was two weeks ago in Queen’s. Querrey beat Malisse in straight sets in the quarterfinals. Querrey should be able to get past Malisse again, inspired partly by his double partner’s heroics. He had a little work to do against Dodig, but avoided going to a fifth set, saving set point on a running forehand that curled in.
Kamke vs. Tsonga (Court 2, Match 3) Kamke beat Seppi on a combination of Seppi errors and a sharp backhand that he can direct either way. However, Tsonga should be too much for Kamke. Tsonga did have to go 5 sets against Dolgopolov, but Kamke should be more manageable.
Mathieu vs. de Bakker (Court 5, Match 2) Mathieu’s match was delayed indirectly because of Isner’s match getting delayed. Rather than have Mathieu play Youzhny early on and then have them wait for the winner of de Bakker-Isner which might lead to an advantage to that player, they delayed the Mathieu-Youzhny match to Friday (today). The bad news is this match went 5 sets. Mathieu, who has not played well in quite sometime, managed to play aggressive tennis and get out of a 3-0 hole in the fifth set to take 6 of the next 7 games and upset Youzhny. de Bakker, meanwhile, found Isner’s serve much more manageable once he stopped serving bombs and had an easy straight set match. de Bakker is an up and coming player who didn’t have to go through 5 sets, so he should be favored somewhat over Mathieu. Mathieu is the veteran of the two and will need to muster up some of that experience if he wants to beat de Bakker.
Chardy vs. Ferrer (Court 12, Match 1) Ferrer leads 3-1 in head-to-head. Two of the wins were on clay which is Ferrer’s best surface. On hard courts, the two have split, and both times, they played 3 sets. Looks like something of a toss-up, so I favor the higher seed, David Ferrer.
Fognini vs. Benneteau (Court 18, Match 3) Ah, it’s Court 18 again with a Frenchman. Fognini gained some confidence beating Monfils in Paris, and then beat Verdasco in round 1. The two have never met. This is probably a toss-up. The winner will have done quite well to reach the fourth round. The winner is likely to face Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.
