It’s called manic Monday because all remaining singles matches take place and it’s a manic rush to the quarterfinals for sixteen players (eight men and eight women).
[1] Andy Murray vs. [46] Benoit Paire: their one previous meeting was on clay and Murray won that after dropping the first set. If Paire plays at the level he is capable of playing, he can threaten the Brit; however, I expect Murray is determined to defend his title and will not go down without a fight.
[2] Novak Djokovic vs. [51] Adrian Mannarino: they played once before, on grass at Wimbledon, last year. Although Djokovic won it in straight sets, Mannarino managed to push the third set to a tiebreak. If he can bring that level from the third set to this match, he can win a set from the Serb.
[3] Roger Federer vs. [13] Grigor Dimitrov: Federer has won all five encounters and has only dropped two sets to the Bulgarian; however, this will be their first meeting on grass, Federer’s favorite surface.
[4] Rafael Nadal vs. [16] Gilles Muller: this will be their sixth encounter and the Spaniard leads 4:1; however, Muller did defeat him on grass at Wimbledon in 2005. Nadal got revenge at Wimbledon in 2011 in straight sets; yet, I expect this to be a tough encounter for him because Muller is riding high on confidence after claiming his first ever singles title earlier this year. Nadal is also riding high on confidence with what he has accomplished this year and he will take the memory of being a two-time Wimbledon champion with him when they meet.
[6] Milos Raonic vs. [10] Alexander Zverev: the young German won their only encounter earlier this year on clay; however, this is grass and last year’s finalist wants to make a statement that getting to the final was not an accident. I expect this match can go either way; however, I give a slight advantage to our spotlight player, Zverev.
[7] Marin Cilic vs. [18] Bautista Agut: interestingly, Bautista Agut won their last encounter; however, the Croat leads their head-to-head 2:1. This will be their first meeting on grass, and Cilic has the distinct advantage on this surface. Cilic has been a quarterfinalist for three consecutive years and no doubt, he wants to get back there this year with hopes of finally breaking through and getting to the semifinals.
[8] Dominic Thiem vs. [11] Tomas Berdych: they met once in 2014 and Berdych won that easily in straight sets. Thiem is a much improved player and although this is not his favorite surface, I expect he will challenge Berdych. However, the Czech knows how to play on this surface, he was a runner-up in 2010 and last year he was a semifinalist.
[24] Sam Querrey vs. [42] Kevin Anderson: this will be their thirteenth meeting with the American leading 7:5; however, Anderson won their last meeting in 2015. Their matches have traditionally been tough ones with nine of their encounters going to at least one tiebreak set. I expect on grass we will see another tiebreak or two. Of the eleven tiebreak sets played, Querrey has won six. The American needs to get back to the quarterfinals to defend his points from last year so I imagine he is extra motivated. Although hard is Querrey’s favorite surface, Wimbledon is the major he has gone the farthest in, so perhaps he needs to reconsider.
SOURCE OF IMAGE: Bing search (Zimbio)
