Andy Murray is so un-concerned about the outside the 20 guys that he seems to know exactly what he’s doing. To me, he’s the favorite to win the title once again and he looked fairly good to knock off Mikhail Kukushkin 6-4 7-6(3) 6-4.
Many folks think that the time Wimbledon champion Rafa Nadal doesn’t have a great shot, but eventually he will come back again and he looks pretty darn and smoking Thomaz Bellucci 6-4 6-2 6-4.
Perhaps Jo-Wilfried Tsonga will stay healthy during this week, and he hung in there to tough out the lefty Gilles Muller 7-6(8) 6-7(3) 6-4 3-6 6-2, but he is not going to make his knees fall apart again?
The American Sam Querrey says that he is much happier on the grass rather than clay. As he said, he just can’t go deep on the red dirt. So now the 27 year old can hit his serve very hard, blast his forehand and on occasion, coming into net. He was quite happy after beating Igor Sijsling 7-5 6-3 6-4. Guess who has to play in the second round? Roger Federer? A serious underdog.
Does the seven time Wimbledon champion Roger Federer have a real chance to win a major again? It’s been three now which is a long time, but nobody can mix it on the grass like he can. He crushed Damir Dzumhur 6-1 6-3 6-3.
The huge serve Samuel Groth upset the young American Jack Sock 6-3 3-6 6-3 6-3. Sock was clearly hurt with his left knee and his arm. He appeared to be a lot of pain. He will have a decent shot of reaching the top 20 by the US Open, but he has to make sure that he is healthy and not over do it.
The young teenager has a ways to go, but in the very least Borna Coric doesn’t appear to give up, especially at the Slams. He beat Sergiy Stakhovsky 4-6 7-6(5) 6-2 1-6 9-7. My he can smoke the ball.
THE WOMEN
Props to Jana Cepelova for playing quite well, but the world No. 3 Simona Halep faded again, falling 5-7 6-4 6-3. Halep has looked excellent on the hard courts this year, but she was so-so on clay, and she has been mentally checked out
The defending champion Petra Kvitova says that she is still a little bit ill, but she played excellent ball and thrashed Kiki Bertens 6-1 6-0. In the side of the draw, she is the favorite to reach the final. Can she possible beat Serena Williams? Perhaps not, but if she were banging the balls cleanly she would have a legitimate chance.
Caroline Wozniacki has never loved the grass but her section is wide open. She was pretty pleased to best Zheng Saisai 7-5 6-0. If she can play aggressive, she could go far.
The left-hander Angelique Kerber has dictated with her forehand over the past four months, and that is what she did to beat Carina Witthoeft 6-0 6-0. Kerber can certainly reach the semifinal.
Way to go for Duan Yingying who upset the 2014 Wimbledon final Genie Bouchard 7-6(3) 6-4. Bouchard went out there with a small tear and perhaps she shouldn’t have played anyway, but she wanted to try in London and hang around this week. But once again, she lost quickly and she will have to go back to square one.
Perhaps Agnieszka Radwanska is still is shaky mentally but over the past 2 and half weeks she has improved. She looked happy be beating Lucie Hradecka 6-3 6-2. If she can get to the fourth round vs. Kvitova, watch out.