Wimbledon 2012 Draw: Analysis

Wimbledon draw is out and the throw of dice has intervened to shape the destiny of the fancied players.

Andy Murray appears to be the hardest hit as his quarter is full of snakes, there being hardly any ladders. Nikolay Davydenko may not be the same player after he suffered injuries in 2009 and 2010, but he has the capability to turn in a winning performance on his day. He has the experience of defeating Murray four times in his career. Ivo Karlovic may never have defeated Murray before, but nobody would like him as an opponent on grass. Both Kevin Anderson and Marcos Baghdatis have split results in their previous meetings with Murray. Milos Raonic has defeated him the only time they have met and that was this year only. Marin Cilic was the victor over disqualified David Nalbandian at the Queens AEGON championships last week where Murray was defeated in his very first match. Both Juan Martin Del Potro and David Ferrer are in good form and can present an inspired challenge in the quarterfinals.  

Roger Federer will not lose sleep up to quarterfinals. John Isner is the only player to present some opposition to Federer, but notwithstanding his win in the Davis Cup, he can at best be a hopeful than a favourite against Federer at Wimbledon.

Rafael Nadal will face a stubborn Thomaz Bellucci in the first round. Bellucci has a penchant for troubling higher ranked players, but he is yet to take a set off Nadal in the previous two meetings. His main challenge will come if Jo-Wilfried Tsonga progresses to the quarterfinals. Tsonga defeated him last year at Queens AEGON championships and the year ending ATP WTF, both in London, but Nadal defeated him in their last meeting at Miami this year. Tsonga does not have an easy section of draw and his place in quarterfinals is not assured. Nadal can be tested in his quarter but not denied passage.

Novak Djokovic has some well known opponents, but they are not at their peak. Juan Carlos Ferrero, his first round opponent, defeated him when he was an eighteen year old kid. Ryan Harrison looks like a twenty year old kid, who might serve with iron fists but is yet to take off kid gloves. The main challenge might come from Tomas Berdych in the quarterfinals.

It looks likely that three of the top four seeds might survive to reach the semi-finals.