Wimbledon: Second Week Preview

Wimbledon began with 256 tennis players looking to grab the ultimate prize in tennis. After taking some rest on Sunday, the 32 remaining players, 16 men and 16 women, are all scheduled to play tomorrow in one of the greatest day in all of tennis.


Caroline Wozniacki [1] vs. Dominika Cibulkova [24]
Maria Sharapova [5] vs. Shuai Peng [20]
Sabine Lisicki vs. Petra Cetkovska
Serena Williams [7] vs. Marion Bartoli [9]

Tamira Paszek vs. Ksenia Pervak
Victoria Azarenka [4] vs. Nadia Petrova
Petra Kvitova [8] vs. Yanina Wickmayer [19]
Venus Williams [23] vs. Tsvetana Pironkova [32]

The big story here is that the Williams sisters are still alive and since they are on opposite sides of the draw, are we headed for yet another All-Williams final? Serena Williams probably has the better chance to win the whole tournament than her sister, but she definitely has the tougher road to get there getting Marion Bartoli and then having to face either Caroline Wozniacki or Maria Sharapova.

Venus Williams on the other hand is the only one in her side to even reach a Grand Slam final, let alone win one. But she'll need to avenge last year's loss first to Tsvetana Pironkova in order to even get that far.

Predictions: The higher seeds, should get through their matches along with Sabine Lisicki and Tamira Paszek. My earlier predictions are still for the most part OKAY since those I've predicted to win that to go to the semifinals are still alive!


Rafael Nadal [1] vs. Juan Martin Del Potro [24]
Tomas Berdych [6] vs. Mardy Fish [10]
Andy Murray [4] vs. Richard Gasquet [17]
Feliciano Lopez vs. Lukasz Kubot

David Ferrer [7] vs. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga [12]
Roger Federer [3] vs. Mikhail Youzhny [18]
Xavier Malisse vs. Bernard Tomic
Novak Djokovic [2] vs. Michael Llodra [19]

The top four keep on rolling as they, combined, have only lost three sets. Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic should be heavily favored in their match-ups as should Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray, but the latter two will face a bit more of a challenge especially since Juan Martin Del Potro and Richard Gasquet respectively have cost them problems before in big matches.

The other matches are a bit more in the toss-up column and for many it'll be their first fourth round showing at Wimbledon. Can some of them go one further?

Predictions: With Andy Roddick and Jurgen Melzer out, my predictions earlier are messed up, but I still have the top four meeting at the SF which I still feel comfortable in predicting. I also predicted Tomas Berdych and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga to join the top four in the next round so I'll keep them. As for my replacement quarterfinalists, I'll choose Feliciano Lopez and Xavier Malisse.