Wimbledon Day 3 Preview and Picks
By RICKY DIMON
(28) ALBERT MONTANES (-120) VS. (Q) BRENDAN EVANS (-120)
Montanes is one of the best clay-court players in the business and because of that, the rest of his game sometimes gets thrown under the bus. Well, you can’t assume he is weak on hards and grass just because he is a clay-court wizard. Actually, Montanes reached the third round at Wimbledon last year and he erased Paolo Lorenzi in straight sets Monday.
It has already been an awesome tournament for Evans, who was extended to a final set in two of his three qualifying wins before earning his first career victory in the main draw of a Grand Slam. Asking the 24-year-old American to go one step further is too much.
Pick: Montanes in four sets.
DENIS ISTOMIN (-150) VS. RAINER SCHUETTLER (+110)
This second-round showdown pits two opponents at the opposite end of the career spectrum. Schuettler, 34, is slowly fading away. Istomin, 23, is just now making a name for himself. But don’t put Schuettler six feet under just yet. He reached the Wimbledon semis out of nowhere in 2008 and made it to the Queen’s Club semis two weeks ago.
Istomin, though, has won 15 ATP matches this season (compared to Schuettler’s seven). He took Rafael Nadal to three sets in the Queen’s Club third round and is coming off a semifinal performance in Eastbourne. Istomin also scored an impressive five-set win over Stanislas Wawrinka Monday. Schuettler will try to outfox him, but take youthful exuberance over “old” age in this one.
Pick: Istomin in four sets.
MARDY FISH (-300) VS. FLORIAN MAYER (+200) and (22) FELICIANO LOPEZ (-250) VS. (Q) RICARDAS BERANKIS (+175)
What a break Fish appears to be getting, as seeds Marin Cilic and Ivan Ljubicic are already out of his 16th of the draw. Mayer is no pushover, but Fish is coming off a runner-up performance at Queen’s Club. Fish should not only give Mayer a free grass-court lesson, but he should also reach the tournament’s second week.
Berankis is in the main draw of a Grand Slam for the first time in his career (he earned it by qualifying) and he promptly earned his first slam win by beating Carsten Ball in four sets. This, however, is a different proposition for the 20-year-old Lithuanian. Lopez beat Nadal at Queen’s Club and is one of very few Spaniards ever known to play better tennis on grass than clay.
Parlay Pick: Fish in four sets and Lopez in three sets.
(33) MELANIE OUDIN (-150) VS. JARMILA GROTH (+110)
Oudin won more matches in her first Wimbledon appearance last year (three) than Groth did in her previous five appearances (two). The 18-year-old American has not been as hot in 2010 as she was in 2009, but she absolutely crushed Anna-Lena Groenefeld Monday.
Groth had a great clay-court season, but grass might not be as kind to the Australian. She lost in the Birmingham second round and failed to qualify for Eastbourne last week. Plus nobody out-fights Oudin, who should battle her way into the third round.
Pick: Oudin in three sets.