So choose three

I was hoping for more responses.  My early response is Roddick, Soderling and Berdych.  But that may well change soon.

Yeah, well, I think Murray is "the least of these."  I wonder if that means he will have the Lord's favor.

Last edited by DonDenman (Jun. 10, 2010 12:44am)

Well, in Rafa's absence Roddick DID make the final last year -- and gave Federer quite a tussle.  Roddick has consistently done well at Wimbledon.  Clearly, his serve is the main reason that's so.  For those reasons, Roddick is on my list.

Soderling has clearly been playing better than everybody but the big two.  So based on form, I think Soderling has to be on the list.

For me, in a vacuum (in other words, this may change when I see the draw), it's then Murray, Djokovic and Berdych.  Murray hasn't been playing well and will have all the pressure only the Brits can put on a player.  So I think he may be a dicey pick.  I would probably pick the Djoker if I knew his allergies would leave him alone, but he was suffering in Paris.  So that's how I wound up with Berdych, who has been playing brilliantly pretty much all year, and who has a good serve and lots of power off the ground.

Verdasco has been in R16 at Wimbledon 3 of the last 4 years, including the last two, but has not yet gone further than that, so he is probably the worst pick on the list.  I think both Tsonga and Cilic are potentially more dangerous on grass than Nando.  Really, maybe Verdasco shouldn't be on the list.  The rest, definitely yes.

Nadal lost to Feliciano Lopez in straights as well. That's after he needed 3 tight sets to beat Denis Istomin. Not the best tuneup event.

Interesting results this week.  Not only did Fish beat Murray.  He made the final, where he lost to Sam Querry.  This is a tournament with Nadal, Djokovic, Murray and Roddick.

Feliciano Lopez beat Nadal!  Dudi Sela beat Roddick!  Xavier Malisse beat Djokovic!  Wow!

And Lleyton Hewitt beat Federer.

Hmmmm.

Last edited by DonDenman (Jun. 13, 2010 2:47pm)

Yeah.  There may actually be several lower ranked contenders worth looking at.  But it's so strong at the top in the big ones, it's kinda hard to take too many of the outsiders.

But it is certainly dependent on the draw.

Last edited by DonDenman (Jun. 13, 2010 3:58pm)

Isner.  Nice choice.  But Ivo's still scary.  So is Sam Querry. 

Don't underestimate Hewitt.  Grass has always been his best surface (oddly enough), so don't do it.

OK.  Here's another one to think about: De Bakker.

Last edited by DonDenman (Jun. 13, 2010 7:02pm)

Absolutely right about Ivo.  He withdrew from the French due to injury.  I have seen no report anywhere on the nature of that injury.  However, he has not played since Madrid.  I would think it unlikely that he will play Wimbledon, since whatever is wrong was serious enough to keep him out of the French and the grass tune-ups.  So many injuries it's hard to keep up with them all.

I was actually joking about De Bakker, to be honest.  I do think he's an up-and-comer whose game has the potential to work on all surfaces, but you're right, now he's best on clay.  If I was trying to make a point by mentioning him, it's that there are so many good players (and Thiemo's one of the less well-known ones) that a lot of the guys in the draw will have a reasonable shot at making R16.  It's competitive out there.