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2015 Wimbledon: Nadal shocker headlines tournament to date

Where to now for Rafa? (AFP PHOTO / SAEED KHAN)
Roar Guru
3rd July, 2015
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Two rounds have passed at this year’s Wimbledon Championships and once again an early exit for Rafael Nadal was the huge talking point to come out of the tournament so far.

However, there were no such problems for Roger Federer, Andy Murray or women’s defending champion Petra Kvitova, as they progressed through to the third round without facing any real resistance from their opponents.

Another Wimbledon, another Nadal shocker
Rafael Nadal’s recent woes at Wimbledon continued on Friday morning (AEST) after the two-time champion suffered yet another shock loss to a player ranked outside the top 100 at the All England Club.

The Spaniard crashed to a four-set defeat to 102nd-ranked German Dustin Brown to once again bow out of Wimbledon before the quarter-final stage for the fourth consecutive year, and within the first two rounds for the third time in four years.

It was the tenth seed’s first ever defeat to a qualifier at Grand Slam level and followed equally embarrassing losses to Lukas Rosol (100th), Steve Darcis (135th) and Nick Kyrgios (144th) in 2012, 2013 and last year respectively.

What made the defeat even more hard to believe was that, despite a first-round slip-up at Queen’s, Nadal was able to win his first grass court title since winning the second of his two Wimbledon titles in 2010, at Stuttgart.

That came a week after his quest for a tenth French Open crown came to an abrupt end at the hands of Novak Djokovic in the quarter-finals. He had also lost at the same stage, to Tomas Berdych, at the Australian Open.

With nothing to defend for the rest of this year as far as rankings points are concerned, Nadal can rest and then launch an assault on the US Open series. He missed the entirety of it last year due to injury.

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Nevertheless, it will remain to be seen whether the Spaniard can salvage his season with a third US Open title and fifteenth Grand Slam title overall at Flushing Meadows this September.

Murray and Federer progress, semi-final showdown likely
Nadal’s early defeat will now have serious ramifications as far as the bottom draw is concerned, with Andy Murray now odds-on to return to the semi-finals for the first time since winning the title in 2013.

The Scot continued his resurgence by thrashing Dutchman Robin Haase in straight sets to set up a third round showdown with Italian Andreas Seppi, the man who famously upset Roger Federer at Melbourne Park in January.

In contrast to Nadal’s woes this season, Murray has returned to top form this year after his own poor 2014 season, claiming three titles this year including his first two on clay and most recently his fourth title at Queen’s.

His impressive form so far this year saw him enter the tournament as one of the favourites at the All England Club, along with defending champion Novak Djokovic and seven-time champion Federer, as he seeks to repeat the success he enjoyed in 2013 when he became the first local men’s champion at Wimbledon in 77 years.

Federer, for his part, continued along his merry way at the bottom of the men’s draw, dismissing Sam Querrey in straight sets to set up a third round showdown against Australian serving machine Sam Groth.

Should Murray and Federer both continue their fine form throughout this year’s Championships, then they could face off for a place in the final, in the semi-finals.

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The pair have met twice before at the All England Club, with Federer winning his seventh Wimbledon title before Murray hit back by winning the Gold Medal on the very same ground at the London Olympics a month later.

Another serving machine, Ivo Karlovic, progressed to the third round, as did Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Tomas Berdych and Gael Monfils, while Roberto Bautista-Agut came from two sets to love down to defeat Frenchman Benoit Paire.

Kvitova remains on track, Radwanska, Lisicki, Wozniacki also progress
Among the women, second seed Petra Kvitova continued along her Wimbledon title defence in brutal fashion, defeating Japan’s Kurumi Nara to set up a third round showdown against former world number one Jelena Jankovic.

With her victim in last year’s final, Eugenie Bouchard, as well as Russian eighth seed Ekaterina Makarova both out of the tournament, the Czech is now odds on to make a third final at the All England Club, where she could face world number one Serena Williams, whom she defeated on her way to a clay court title in Madrid.

However, there are still a few names that remain that could pose a threat to the 25-year-old left hander successfully defending the title, with fifth seed Caroline Wozniacki, former finalists Agnieszka Radwanska and Sabine Lisicki and Australian Open semi-finalist Madison Keys among those still alive.

Radwanska, who lost to Serena Williams in the 2012 final in three sets, eased past Australian import Ajla Tomljanovic in straight sets while Lisicki came from a set down to defeat American Christina McHale on Centre Court in three.

Wozniacki, who is yet to reach the quarter-finals at Wimbledon but has at the other three Grand Slams, survived a second-set scare to defeat Denisa Allertova and set up a third round clash with 31st seed Camila Giorgi, the same woman who upset her at the US Open less than two years ago.

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Keys, who has struggled since reaching the last four in Australia, will fancy her chances of reaching the quarter-finals at Wimbledon for the first time, with the 21st seed now the highest-ranked player remaining in her section of the draw.

She would have dreaded having to face Eugenie Bouchard in the third round, but will instead face German Tatjana Maria, who disposed of the Canadian’s first-round victor, Chinese qualifier Duan Yingying, in the second round, for a place on the Manic Monday schedule.

Frenchwoman Alize Cornet, who upset Serena Williams in the third round for her second of three wins over the world number one last year, fell to Belarussian qualifier Olga Govortsova in three sets, while eighth seed Ekaterina Makarova went down to Slovak Magdalena Rybarikova in straights.

Thus, the foundations have been set for an interesting second week of the tournament in the bottom halves of both the men’s and women’s draws.

Can Andy Murray and Roger Federer avoid joining Rafael Nadal on the sidelines, and set up a blockbuster semi-final against each other? And can Petra Kvitova continue on her title defence, or will she bomb out early like she did at the other two Grand Slams this year?

Matches to watch on Saturday

Men
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (13) vs Ivo Karlovic (23)
Andreas Seppi (25) vs Andy Murray (3)
Gael Monfils (18) vs Gilles Simon (12)
Sam Groth vs Roger Federer (2)

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Women
Caroline Wozniacki (5) vs Camila Giorgi (31)
Garbine Muguruza (20) vs Angelique Kerber (10)
Agnieszka Radwanska (13) vs Casey Dellacqua
Jelena Jankovic (28) vs Petra Kvitova (2)

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