Wimbledon 2015: Preview of day 6 matches

Get your strawberries and cream ready, there are some tricky matches looming ahead in the third round. Let’s take a look at some of the early-round challenges in the bottom half of the draw that will be taking place on day six of Wimbledon.

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (13) v. Ivo Karlovic (23)

Unfortunately, Tsonga’s momentum from his French Open semifinal appearance was put on hold as he withdrew from the grass court swing with an abdominal injury. It was questionable how the 30-year-old would fare at Wimbledon, given his injury-prone 2015 campaign.

Jun 25, 2014; London, United Kingdom; Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA) in action during his match against Sam Querrey (USA) on day three of the 2014 Wimbledon Championships at the All England Lawn and Tennis Club. Mandatory Credit: Susan Mullane-USA TODAY Sports

But, after clawing his way through a rollercoaster four hour, five set match in the first round, Tsonga looked more at ease during his second round match against No. 64 Albert Ramos-Vinolas. He put on a clinically consistent performance, with 37 winners and 84 percent of net points won.

If Tsonga hopes for another deep Grand Slam run, he’ll have to push past the 6’10” wall that is 23rd-seeded Ivo Karlovic.

Karlovic may have won the pair’s only previous meeting in 2009 at Wimbledon, but he’s failed to make it past the second round in the summer slam since. On the other hand, Tsonga has done consistently well at Wimbledon, making it through to the fourth round four times since their third-round clash. Tsonga’s experience at Wimbledon will be a factor in squaring up his head-to-head with Karlovic.

In order for Tsonga to break Karlovic’s massive serve, he must return extremely well and extend rallies with his deep groundstrokes to keep Karlovic from storming the net and finishing off the point quickly.

Karlovic will be especially eager to finish the points quickly after spending more than six hours on court. As the oldest player in the top 100, the 36-year-old’s fitness will be put to the test against a resurgent Tsonga.

Andy Murray (3) v. Andreas Seppi (25)

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2013 Wimbledon champion Murray has been on a 20-1 tear since getting married in April and shocked pretty much everyone by winning his first two career clay titles back-to-back at Munich and Madrid. His momentum has evidently continued through the first two rounds, he hasn’t dropped a set and spent just under four hours on court.

While Murray’s momentum may be too much for 25th-seeded Seppi to handle, the 31-year-old Italian has proven he can beat the best of them on the biggest stages on the tour.

He stunned world No. 2 Roger Federer at the Australian Open with a four-set win over the legendary veteran.

Seppi did make it the finals of Halle, where he lost to Federer in two close sets, but it wasn’t due to any stunning performances on his behalf. His quarterfinal and semifinal opponents – Monfils and world No. 5 Kei Nishikori – retired mid-match due to injuries.

It would be a major upset if Seppi could overcome Murray. The world No. 3 is simply too consistent, too confident and too healthy right now to be out-played in his “home” arena.

But, if the No. 3 seed is having an off day, Seppi could capitalize, as he did with Federer six months ago, and overcome his second top 10 player this season.

Gael Monfils (18) v. Gilles Simon (12)

This all-French match-up is sure to be a thriller as the always-entertaining 18th-seeded Monfils takes on counter-punching (and “Twilight” vampire look-alike) 12th-seeded Simon.

Side note: Can someone please give me a legitimate reason as to why is Simon seeded higher than Tsonga at Wimbledon, despite Tsonga being ranked higher and doing considerably better than him at this Grand Slam in the past five years?

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Simon leads the duo’s head-to-head 5-1, but Monfils does consistently challenge his fellow compatriot. In their last two meetings, Monfils pushed Simon to the brink and I expect him to do the same at Wimbledon.

In Monfils’ first two rounds he was… well, being Monfils. He has breezed through without dropping a set and has been in relatively fine form all season, amassing a 26-11 record and briefly peeking back into the top 15 in mid-May.

Simon has also fared similar easy results thus far, only dropping one set in two matches. His only dropped set was due to a momentary drop in focus, as he dominated his opponent 6-1 in the other three sets to win the match.

Both players have had consistent seasons, so truthfully this match could go to either of them. The only question is: Will Monfils feel like winning that day, or nah?

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