Wimbledon 2010: Preview of Day Five.
There has been a relative calm at the All England Club for the past two days. There have been no major casualties in either the men’s or women’s draws. The opening day of the tournament was ominous for some top players as Fernando Verdasco, Marcos Baghdatis and Ana Ivanovic among others were sent packing. With many new entrants on the tennis circuit giving the top seeds a run for their money, each progressing day will prove to be more interesting than the previous. With the onset of Day five of the Wimbledon championships, tennis fans world over will be in for yet another treat.
Roger Federer returns to his favourite Centre Court to continue his title defence. However, he would be hoping his third round encounter would be a breeze unlike his last two games that were stretched to four and five sets. Federer needs a match to prove to himself and to the world that he still has it in him to defend his title with ease. A three set win would be a major confidence booster for the Swiss. In this third round face off, Roger Federer will meet a seasoned Frenchman Arnaud Clement. Clement has lost all six of their previous encounters and is nearing his mid thirties but shows no signs of slowing down. Clement has had a successful run on clay, but his skills on grass are limited. On paper, it seems to be an easy outing for Federer, but with his current form nothing can be predicted with certainty. His last two matches were supposed to be a walk through for the champion, but this was far from reality. It would be an interesting match to see for two reasons; number one, will Federer be able to find his form and number two, will Clement be able to push the champion like his predecessors did?
Court One will see third seed Novak Djokovic open proceedings. Djokovic has had a shaky start to the tournament with a tough five setter in his first match against Olivier Rochus, but ever since then he has learned from his mistakes. His second round match against Taylor Dent was relatively easier as he brushed past the American in three sets. Djokovic would be looking to maintain this momentum, as he will face off against twenty eighth seed Albert Montanes. Again, it seems as if Djokovic will have the game in his bag, but then again in the realm of tennis anything is possible.
All eyes will be on what may be a thrilling encounter on Centre Court between Halle winner Leyton Hewitt and twenty one seed Frenchman Gael Monfils. It would be a tough encounter as both players have the ability to sustain themselves on grass. Monfils leads the head to head, winning two of their previous three encounters, but the most important thing is that none of the wins were on grass. Hewitt is a class act on grass that Monfils has never experienced before. Monfils may have won the boys title at Wimbledon, but would he be able to perform with the same skill in the gentleman’s draw. The winner of this match will proceed to the fourth round and meet the victor of the encounter between Djokovic and Montanes.
Andy Roddick, who has had a relatively easy route to round three, will also have his outing on Court One. Roddick will be keen to avenge his 2008 Australian Open defeat from twenty ninth seed Philipp Kohlschreiber. Roddick will be keen to announce his supremacy on grass and emit a tough signal to the rest of the seeds.
Over in the women’s draw, the Belgian comeback queens will be seen in action. Clijsters will face off against Maria Kirilenko and Justine Henin versus Nadia Petrova. If both these compatriots come through, a fourth round meeting between these two becomes very imminent. Another encounter to look forward too is five times Wimbledon champion Venus Williams taking on 26th seed Alisa Kleybanova. They have met once before and Kleybanova prevailed but that was on clay. Grass is a different ball game altogether where the older Williams sister has all the experience. All in all, day five will produce some quality tennis with some scintillating games.
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