Wimbledon 2018 Preview – Men’s Draw
Wimbledon 2018 Preview
We’re just days away from Wimbledon 2018 and with the seedings announced it’s time to take a look at how it might play out. For the men, the title has been carved up between Federer, Nadal, Djokovic and Murray ever since Hewitt triumphed in 2002. With doubts about all of them right now, this year could prove to be more interesting than most.
Men’s Draw
We could be in for a blockbuster first round this year. Unlike the women’s draw, the 32 seeded players are also the top 32 in the world. This means that due to his injury absence Andy Murray is unseeded and can now be drawn against any of those. While the seeding formula used does give weight to grass court performances over the last two years that is still not enough for the Scotsman. This has also resulted in Federer and Cilic, for example, being seeded 1st and 3rd which rates both slightly higher than their current world ranking.
The Contenders
So who’s going to win? Well it’s probably easier to start by ruling people out. Starting with Murray it would be a massive coincidence if he’s returned to fitness and form exactly at this moment. Pushing Kyrgios and beating Wawrinka may look good on paper but it’s almost certainly too soon for him. Rafael Nadal hasn’t got anywhere near winning since the 2011 final and has not played on grass at all in preparation. As imperious as his clay court form is, it would be a surprise for him to make it all the way.
Roger Federer cannot go on forever and looks a weaker favourite than usual after struggling a little on his way to the Halle Open Final. His time, as glorious as it has been, may be up. Novak Djokovic is showing signs of life again and maybe has the best shout of the big four, but again there are questions. He is not yet back to the player of a couple of years ago, if he ever will be.
Can the pretenders cause an Upset?
Nick Kyrgios can win, if he wants to, but as you’ll see from the video he gets bored easily in the best of three sets, in the best of five his mind could go walkabout as has happened in the past. Raonic also has to be considered as a former finalist as do the considerable talents of Juan Martin Del Potro and Alexander Zverev.
Although on the short side odds-wise it’s tough to find fault with Marin Cilic at the moment. A previous US Open winner, he made the Queen’s Club final in 2017 and won it this year with a comeback victory over Djokovic. Having lost in the Wimbledon Final last year, hindered by blisters in the defeat to Federer, he has a strong chance of going one step further this year.
As a lively long shot I’m looking at Borna Coric, Federer’s conqueror last week. Fresh off the back off his Halle triumph and with only two service breaks against him he’s found his form on grass and peaked at just the right time. For British interest I’d look outside Andy Murray and have a dabble at the 100/1 on Kyle Edmund, which probably won’t be around for much longer.
