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  • Wimbledon Preview: Third Round, First Quarter

    6/27/08 6:30 AM | Ricky Dimon
    - Roger Federer is back in action on Friday, against another unseeded opponent in Marc Gicquel. Lleyton Hewitt and Tomas Berdych will also be looking to book their places in the Wimbledon fourth round.

    (1) Roger Federer vs. Marc Gicquel

    Federer cruised through his first two matches without much trouble and there is no reason to think that Gicquel will present any serious problems. The Frenchman has benefited from some favorable developments so far to get here; first Kei Nishikori retired while he and Gicquel were tied at a set apiece, then lucky loser Ilia Bozoljac replaced Gael Monfils and became Gicquel's second-round opponent after defeating Chris Guccione. Although he is not the Federer of old, Federer is still a whole different beast from Nishikori and Bozoljac, especially on grass. The world No. 1 has won five straight Wimbledon titles in-a-row and Gicquel is not going to be the man who denies Federer an Open Era record sixth. Federer in straights is the easy pick.


    (20) Lleyton Hewitt vs. Simone Bolelli

    Hewitt missed the entire clay-court swing leading up to the French Open due to a hip injury, but he stormed out of nowhere to score two easy wins in Roland Garros before giving David Ferrer an absolute battle in a five-set third-round loss. Even better things are already in store for Hewitt on grass. The Aussie reached the quarterfinals at Queen's Club two weeks ago and his past Wimbledon record garnered him the No. 20 seed despite being ranked No. 27 in the world. Hewitt won the title in 2002 and has reached the fourth round twice, the quarterfinals twice, and the semifinals once. So far this week he has dispatched dangerous Dutchman Robin Haase (in five sets) and Spaniard Albert Montanes (in three). Bolelli is an opponent more along the lines of Haase, Hewitt's first-round roadblock. Like Haase, the Italian is now using his big game to live up to his potential. Bolelli has already enjoyed a breakout season, but perhaps no win was bigger than his four-set upset of Fernando Gonzalez on Wednesday. If Bolelli plays like he did against Gonzo, Hewitt could be in trouble. More likely, however, Bolelli will be able to power his way to one set but other than that Hewitt's return of serve and all-around solid game will prove too much.


    (11) Tomas Berdych vs. (22) Fernando Verdasco

    To say Berdych and Verdasco are moving through this event quietly would be an understatement. However, that's only because they are taking care of business in impressive fashion while being overshadowed by the upsets of fellow seeded players. Berdych outlasted talented Russian Evgeny Korolev in a five-set first-round thriller, then ran away from big-serving Victor Hanescu after dropping the opening set. Verdasco crushed Halle finalist Philipp Kohlschreiber in what was supposed to a marquee frist-round affair and the Spaniard followed that up with a four-set win over Olivier Rochus. All signs point to high-quality showdown between Berdych and Verdasco and it's definitely one of the toughest third-round matches to call. The Czech's game is more suitable to grass, but Verdasco's destruction of Kohlschreiber should have his confidence sky-high and he is already much more mentally tough than Berdych to begin with. Verdasco in five.

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