At the beginning of the tournament, all the talk surrounded the fact that this was the first time in twelve months that the best four Men's players in the world were all entering the same Major.
There were some discussions surrounding the fact that Rafael Nadal was 'only' the fifth seed here behind David Ferrer, although John McEnroe made a strong point as to why no one in the British media has spoken about why Roger Federer is seeded below Andy Murray considering he has won 7 Wimbledon titles to none and also has been the World Number 2 up until around two months ago.
All of these issues became a moot point on Monday evening as the big surprise in the Men's draw was the exit of Rafael Nadal, a straight sets loser to Steve Darcis. It was a stunning result, although the immediate concern is the issue Nadal seemingly had with his knee and whether that means he will have another long lay off before the clay court season next year.
I do expect Nadal to stay with the Tour and move on to the hard court season in North America which will start in August for the top players with the back to back Masters in Canada and Cincinnati before the US Open kicks off at the end of the month. However, there has to be concern for Rafa fans that the Spaniard is no longer able to stay clear of injuries to the knees, although the positives is that he will get plenty of chances to rest ahead of the hard court swing and he has won a title on that surface this season already.
How Nadal responds to his first ever defeat in the First Round of a Grand Slam is going to be fascinating viewing over the next three months...
The defeat for Nadal also means one of my five picks made before the tournament started has already gone down, although I had my second smallest stake on the Spaniard to win this event. It has also opened the door for both Andy Murray and Roger Federer, two comfortable winners on Monday, to move through the draw and set up a blockbuster Semi Final in around ten days time.
In better news, the picks went 3-1 yesterday, although the one loss was a little disappointing as Ernests Gulbis had a chance to win his match a little easier than it turned out to be. Hopefully that will be the start of a productive two weeks and these are the picks from Day 2 of the tournament:
Philipp Kohlschreiber - 1.5 sets v Ivan Dodig: Both of these players would probably tell you that they are very comfortable playing on the grass courts, but I do think Philipp Kohlschreiber is a little more consistent of the two and can make his way through to the Second Round.
The German was a Quarter Finalist here at Wimbledon last season and he has a very healthy 25-10 record on the grass courts over the last five seasons. Kohlschreiber can use the surface to really put some bite into his serve and groundstrokes, although he does enter Wimbledon having lost back to back matches against Mikhail Youzhny and Radek Stepanek.
Those two players certainly have the game suited to grass too so Ivan Dodig, a Semi Finalist at Eastbourne last week, will believe he can cause problems for the German. Dodig has a decent serve and likes attacking the net and like many of his Croatian compatriots, he doesn't mind playing with his surface beneath his feet.
My one issue with Dodig's game is that he doesn't give himself a lot of margin for error and that is where I think Kohlschreiber will prove to be a little too consistent. The German does have a 3-1 head to head record against Dodig, including a win in Doha earlier this season, and I think Kohlschreiber will very likely win this one in straight sets or, more likely, in four.
Novak Djokovic - 8.5 games v Florian Mayer: Novak Djokovic is right in thinking that this is not the straightforward First Round clash that a top seed can get in the Grand Slams, but I still think he will be far too strong for Florian Mayer.
The grass courts are actually very conducive to the game that Mayer plays with his slice and variation- on the grass courts, the slice can be deadly as the ball is kept so low, while Mayer is fairly comfortable getting to the net and putting away volleys.
Mayer is 12-6 on the grass courts over the last four seasons, but his biggest weakness is his serve and that is where the best returner on the ATP Tour will be able to take advantage.
Novak Djokovic has won all 3 matches against Mayer, including in the Quarter Final here last season and he has won at least one set in each of the 3 victories by the 61 scoreline that will set him on his way here.
I would not be surprised if we see a similar score to last season when Djokovic beat Mayer 64 61 64 and I'll take him to cover this spread.
Feliciano Lopez - 1.5 sets v Gilles Simon: It has only been three days since these two players contested the Final in Eastbourne that was won by Feliciano Lopez in three sets.
The weather conditions on the south coast were absolutely dreadful and I would have thought that would have suited Gilles Simon more than Lopez, but it was the Spaniard that created the chances to break serve and was probably a little unlucky not to win in straight sets.
Winning the title will surely give Lopez a little more confidence coming into Wimbledon, especially with his game being very suited to the grass courts. He is a former Quarter Finalist in SW19 and should be able to enforce his game a little more in better conditions expected on Tuesday.
Lopez should be able to hit through Gilles Simon's defences a little better on the grass, while he will be the player more likely to get into the net and force the Frenchman to find passing shots. The grass courts haven't been the best surface for Simon as he doesn't have the same aggression that makes players successful on these types of courts.
Simon was beaten in straight sets by Xavier Malisse last year in Wimbledon and I think Lopez will frank the form from last week and win this one in four sets.
Richard Gasquet - 7.5 games v Marcel Granollers: This should be a fairly routine victory for Richard Gasquet at the Grand Slam where he has achieved his best result when reaching the Semi Final.
Marcel Granollers is capable of performing on the grass courts as he has a decent first serve and doesn't mind using his aggression to cut off the net, but the Spaniard hasn't had any grass court preparation this season and could be outgunned by Gasquet.
The Frenchman is certainly playing with more confidence this season than I have seen in the past and he does usually play at a higher level when faced with an opponent he is expected to beat. I would think the first set will be a tight one, but Gasquet should be able to start getting a read on Granollers' serve and this could end being a 75, 63, 63 win for the Frenchman.
MY PICKS: Philipp Kohlschreiber - 1.5 Sets @ 1.83 Boyle Sports (2 Units)
Novak Djokovic - 8.5 Games @ 1.92 Pinnacle (2 Units)
Feliciano Lopez - 1.5 Sets @ 2.30 Paddy Power (2 Units)
Richard Gasquet - 7.5 Games @ 1.95 Pinnacle (2 Units)
Wimbledon Update: 3-1, + 3.84 Units (8 Units Staked, + 48% Yield)
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