WIMBLEDON CHAMPIONSHIP 2011: GENTLEMEN’S SINGLES DRAW – TOP HALF
The draw is out for the Wimbledon Championships 2011 with an interesting line-up of first round matches with mind-blowing potential fourth round matches. In this first part of a two part series, we look at the top half of the draw.
World number one Rafael Nadal, sporting a 45-7 win-loss mark for the year and lifetime 29-4 for the grass major, opens his Grand Slam campaign against world number 91, Michael Russell from America. This will be the players first ever meeting on the court.
Nadal’s potential third round opponent could be the rising Canadian star Milos Raonic. Seeded 31st here, Raonic plays Italian Fabio Fognini in the first round. The Spaniard could be playing 24th seed Juan Martin Del Potro from Argentina or fifteenth seed Gilles Simon from France in the fourth round. The latter two open against either a qualifier or a lucky loser.
Also joining Nadal in the top half of the draw is his compatriot, 21st seed Fernando Verdasco. Verdasco opens his Grand Slam campaign against Czech Radek Stepanek with a potential match against tenth seeded American Mardy Fish in the third round and against sixth seed Tomas Berdych or 25th seed Juan Ignacio Chela in the fourth round. Fish opens against another Spaniard Marcel Granollers while Berdych plays Filippo Volandri in the first round. Any of these pros could be Nadal’s opponent in the quarterfinal.
The Spaniard faces a prospective semi-final match against top Brit Andy Murray. The local is a two time semi-finalist here and in his bid for a maiden title win at a Grand Slam event, opens his campaign against Daniel Gimeno-Traver of Spain.
Murray’s prospective third round opponent could be compatriot wildcard entrant Daniel Cox or 21st seeded Croat giant, Marin Cilic. Tough challenge awaits the local in the fourth round since he could be facing either 17th seeded Frenchman Richard Gasquet or 14th seed Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka. The Frenchman opens his bid here against Santiago Giraldo from Colombia while the Swiss opens against Italian Filippo Volandri.
The tough draw continues for the Brit as he could be facing three time finalist here, American ace Andy Roddick or the hard hitting Frenchman, Gael Monfils. Both players are seeded in the top sixteen here. Although Roddick’s first round opponent remains to be seen, Monfils opens against world number 92, Mathias Bachinger.
Two of Roddick’s potential third round opponents could be 30th seeded Brazilian Thomas Bellucci or the Spaniard Feliciano Lopez. Perhaps the strongest contender to probably face Monfils in the third round is the 23rd seeded, Janko Tipsarevic. The Serb recently made it to the final of Eastbourne this week. Tipsarevic opens his bid against the unseeded Croat giant, Ivo Karlovic.
Potential matches of the bottom half are continued in the http://www.senore.com/WIMBLEDON-CHAMPIONSHIP-2011-GENTLEMENS-SINGLES-DRAW-BOTTOM-HALF-a76283 of this two part.
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