Wimbledon Men's draw breakdown - Which of the big four will win?

While Rafael Nadal was the clear favorite to win the French Open, the men’s draw at Wimbledon is wide open with the each of the Big Four having a good chance to triumph at SW19. Here’s our draw breakdown for the men at Wimbledon this year.

First Quarter

With Andy Murray, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal all in the bottom half of the draw, world no. 1 Novak Djokovic seems to have been handed an easier section of the draw. The Serb opens up against German Florian Mayer, the highest ranked unseeded player in the draw, in a repeat of their quarter-final here 12 months ago. German Tommy Haas, on the brink of returning to the top 10 at the age of 35, could provide some resistance in the fourth round.

Djokovic’s scheduled quarter final opponent is the Czech Tomas Berdych, who reached the finals here in 2010 but also lost in the first round last year. Berdych’s path is strewn with potential obstacles this time as well – Slovak Martin Klizan awaits in the first round, South African Kevin Anderson looms in the third round and Richard Gasquet or Sam Querrey are likely fourth round opponents.

There are some interesting first round matches to watch out for – 28th seed Jeremy Chardy takes on American Ryan Harrison (upset alert); 19th seeded Gilles Simon takes on Spain’s Feliciano Lopez in a repeat of their Eastbourne final on Saturday which Lopez won; 13th seeded Tommy Haas meets former world no. 20 Dmitry Tursunov; and 21st seed Querrey takes on struggling Australian Bernard Tomic.

Predicted Quarter Final line-up – Novak Djokovic vs. Sam Querrey

Second Quarter

With David Ferrer and Juan Martin del Potro being the top seeds here, this quarter is likely to produce an unlikely semi-finalist. Fourth seed Ferrer has not done too badly on the grass courts in recent years, making the last 16 three years in a row, including the quarters in 2012. But he did lose in the first round in the warm-up event in Netherlands this week and it would be a major surprise if he lives up to his seeding to make the semi-finals.

Seventh seed Juan Martin del Potro had to pull out of the French Open due to illness and reached the quarters at Queen’s Club. While Potro has made the last 16 at Wimbledon the last two times he has played (he did not play in 2012), the low bounce and fast pace of the grass courts do not exactly make him a big threat in London.

And there are two youngsters in this section who could be ready to make a Grand Slam breakthrough. Milos Roanic is seeded 17th and is drawn to meet Ferrer in the fourth round while Dimitrov is seeded no. 29 and could meet Potro in the third round.

Among the early round matches to keep an eye on are 12th seeded Kei Nishikori’s match against Australian Matthew Ebden, 16th seeded Phillip Kohlschreiber’s match against Croatian Ivan Dodig (upset alert) and the all left-handed clash between Michael Llodra and Jarkko Nieminen.

Predicted Quarter Final line-up – Milos Roanic vs. Grigor Dimitrov

Third Quarter

If the tennis gods would have been fair, fifth seeded Rafael Nadal would have been placed in Ferrer’s quarter. But perhaps, the gods wanted us to have one final showdown between Nadal and third seeded Federer at Wimbledon. The two played the greatest tennis match in history a few years ago in the finals and the likelihood of them meeting in the quarters is far better than them meeting in the semis or the finals in any other scenario.

Nadal’s biggest obstacle to keeping his date with his greatest rival will be a fourth round clash with either big-serving John Isner or 11th seeded Stanislas Wawrinka. Federer will need to be wary of Lukas Rosol (remember him?) in the third round and Polish Jerzy Janowicz in the fourth.

The first round matches to earmark are Wawrinka taking on former champion Lleyton Hewitt (any odds for this going to five sets?) and 30th seeded Fabio Fognini taking on Austrian Jurgen Melzer.

Predicted Quarter-Final – Federer vs. Nadal

Fourth Quarter

British hope Andy Murray is fit and fresh after skipping the French Open with a back injury. Murray warmed-up for Wimbledon by winning the Queen’s Club title, beating Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the finals. The two are slated to meet once again in the quarters this time and Tsonga could pose a few problems for the Scot.

Murray has 14th seeed Janko Tipsarevic, 20th seed Mikhail Youzhny and 32nd seed Tommy Robredo in his section – neither of whom seem to have the grass court game for him to worry about. On the other hand, Tsonga has a nightmarish draw – Belgian David Goffin in the first round, Latvian Ernests Gulbis in the second round, 31st seed Frenchman Julien Benneteau in the third round and Croatian Marin Cilic in the fourth round.

Among the first round encounters to watch out for are Fernando Verdasco taking on former semi-finalist Xavier Malisse, 10th seed Cilic taking on another former semi-finalist Marcos Baghdatis (who is on a ten-match ATP losing streak) and Dutchman Robin Haase who could upset Youzhny.

Predicted Quarter-Final – Andy Murray vs. Marin Cilic

Semi-Finals – Djokovic vs. Roanic; Federer vs. MurrayFinals – Murray to beat Djokovic