After a few weeks of warm up on grass, it’s time for Wimbledon 2018. Some top players look set for an early exit in London, while others could make some noise and surprise their competition with strong performances.
Hot
5: Matt Ebden
Ebden, a career journeyman, reached the semis in Den Bosch and the quarters in Halle after making a run at the Surbiton challenger that resulted in a semifinal there. While he’s never been a top player, he seems to have found some form on grass and could notch an upset over David Goffin to make a run into the second week in a relatively weak portion of the draw.
4: Bernard Tomic
The former Wimbledon quarterfinalist who had fallen on hard times. Tomic is trying to grind his way back to tour level tennis. Tomic reached the semis in Den Bosch as a qualifier, and then qualified for Wimbledon as a lucky loser. Tomic has always had the talent on grass and he should have at least an outside shot of trouble Kei Nishikori and Nick Kyrgios in rounds 2 and 3.
3: Borna Coric
Coric won in Halle and upset both Alexander Zverev and Roberto Bautista Agut to get there. He then capped it off by beating Roger Federer. The young Croatian should be tested by Daniil Medvedev in round 1, but if he can win that match he looks set to reach the second week and get a meeting with Roger Federer where he will try to do better than he did in their Halle final that Federer won in 3 sets.
2: Milos Raonic
A former Wimbledon finalist, presuming he’s healthy, Raonic should trouble other top players this year. He reached the finals in Stuttgart and should get Lucas Pouille in round 3. The fourth round clash against Marin Cilic, another in-form player and former finalist, should be a huge battle that perhaps determines the finalist this year from the section.
1: Marin Cilic
Last year’s finalist. Cilic won Queens club with some great wins, including victories against Novak Djokovic in the final and Nick Kyrgios in the semis. Cilic is a fantastic grass court player and has a path that should see him ease into the second week before running into Raonic or Lucas Pouille. Roger Federer will likely be the biggest impediment to Cilic winning Wimbledon, but the Croatian at least has a shot at it this year.
Cold
5: Stan Wawrinka
It’s been a rough year for Stan Wawrinka, he won just one of his three warm up matches on grass prior to Wimbledon, the one grand slam he’s never won (and only reached the quarterfinals at). Wawrinka’s movement and rhythm is disrupted and he’s likely to get tossed out by Grigor Dimitrov in his opening match.
4: Alexander Zverev
Zverev warmed up for Wimbledon with a loss in Halle, and given he’s never made it past the 4th round in London, he could face a shot exit as the #4 seed. An easy draw should result in him being good enough to reach the second round, but I don’t see him featuring in the final rounds this year.
3: Diego Schwartzman
Schwartzman is another top player who has never been successful at Wimbledon. The #11 player in the world has never won a match at Wimbledon and the odds are he’ll go out before the second week given his poor form on grass.
2: David Goffin
Goffin lost his warm up match at Queen’s Club on grass and he faces Matt Ebden first up. Goffin has never been beyond the 4th round at Wimbledon, and given this is his worst slam I’m not convinced he’ll make it far this year.
1: Jack Sock
Sock has been terrible this year and lost both of his grass court matches, going out at Queens and Eastbourne in straight sets. Sock was once the top American on tour but he’s far from at right now and he could in fact lose in the first couple of matches. It’s going to take some major changes for Sock to turn his season around.
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