Wimbledon: 3rd Round Predictions for Day 6

The Top 4 on Day 6

Andy Roddick

1. David Ferrer v Andy Roddick

The third section of the mens draw is littered with exciting matches but I have gone for the one between Ferrer and Roddick as my top pick.  Ferrer has never had his best results at Wimbledon, but he has been largely untroubled on his way to the third round with wins over Dustin Brown and Kenny De Schepper.  Roddick, who won the tournament in Eastbourne, was pushed hard by Brit, Jamie Baker in his first round match but has progressed through to the 3rd round for the loss of no sets.  Ferrer leads the head-to head by 6 wins to 4 including a three set win in their last match in Shanghai at the end of last year.  This will be a first encounter on the grass between the two and I have a sneaky feeling that Roddick will nick this one...

Prediction - Roddick to beat Ferrer in 4 sets

2. Andy Murray v Marcos Baghdatis

I did originally have Raonic against Cilic in this position but when Milos Raonic was beaten by Sam Querrey I had to do a tactical reshuffle! Andy Murray begins his tricky descent into the depths of the draw with a third round tie against Marcos Baghdatis.  There has been much talk that his chances have dramatically improved with Rafael Nadal's loss last night, but he still has an extremely tricky draw to contend with and needs to take it one match at a time.  Baghdatis will no doubt be a stiff test, but the best I can see him doing is grabbing a set off Murray.

Prediction - Murray to beat Baghdatis in 4 sets

3. Ana Ivanovic v Julia Goerges

In one of just two seeded match-ups in the bottom half of the womens draw, the most attractive match sees Ivanovic take on Goerges!  Neither had inspired much hope before the tournament began with Ivanovic pulling out of Eastbourne and Goerges opting to play no warm-up tournaments on the grass; however both have done well to make the third round with Ivanovic losing one set in her opener to Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez and Goerges winning both her matches in straight sets.  I was actually in the stands for their last match, which took place at Eastbourne last year where Ivanovic prevailed in straight sets.  I still don't fancy either to reach the quarter-finals, but Ivanovic would be my tip to win this match.

Prediction - Ivanovic to beat Goerges in 2 very tight sets

4. Serena Williams v Zheng Jie

Serena Williams recorded a comfortable second round win over Melinda Czink and is slowly gathering pace at this year's Wimbledon Championships.  She now takes on the tenacious, Zheng Jie who defeated Aleksandra Wozniak in straight sets yesterday.  Zheng is a superb competitor and is particularly dangerous on the grass with her flat groundstrokes.  The  last time they played on the grass was in the 2008 Wimbledon semi-finals where Serena prevailed, 6-1 7-6.  I think the difference in this match will be the serve and ultimately, I think Serena will progress in straight sets.

Prediction - Serena to beat Zheng in 2 sets

Best of the rest: women

Petra Kvitova

Petra Kvitova will play Varvara Lepchenko, who took out Nastia Pavlyuchenkova in the last round.  The two last faced off in the quarter-finals of Roland Garros where Kvitova prevailed 6-2 6-2.  I expect plain sailing once more for Kvitova and for Victoria Azarenka too who has been handed an official cakewalk of a draw to this stage; she now takes on Jana Cepelova in the third round.  Two of the French Open's biggest success stories, Sara Errani and Yaroslava Shvedova will do battle, as will Francesca Schiavone and Klara Zakopalova in what should be a very tight match.  The Austrian, Tamira Paszek backed up her win over Caroline Wozniacki with a 6-2 6-1 win over Alize Cornet and takes on Yanina Wickmayer tomorrow.

WTA Predictions

Shvedova to beat Errani in 3 sets

Zakopalova to beat Schiavone in 3 sets

Kvitova to beat Lepchenko in 2 sets

Paszek to beat Wickmayer in 2 sets

Vinci to beat Lucic in 3 sets

Azarenka to beat Cepelova in 2 sets

Best of the rest: mens

Juan Martin Del Potro

Juan Martin Del Potro will have the tricky task of playing Kei Nishikori, who has made an impressive return from injury, meanwhile the Queens Champion Marin Cilic will look to avoid the fate of Milos Raonic against Sam Querrey.  All eyes will be on Nadal's conqueror Lukas Rosol and whether he can keep the wins coming against Philipp Kohlschreiber... and finally keep an eye on the match between Mardy Fish and David Goffin.  Fish has made his comeback this week following heart problems and squeaked past James Ward in five sets, meanwhile the ever-rising Goffin, who beat Bernard Tomic in the 1st round, will look to make it back-to-back 4th round appearances at the Grand Slams.

ATP Predictions

Del Potro to beat Nishikori in 4 sets

Cilic to beat Querrey in 5 sets

Tsonga to beat Lacko in 3 sets

Goffin to beat Fish in 5 sets

Baker to beat Paire in 4 sets

Kohlschreiber to beat Rosol in 4 sets

You can view my original ATP and WTA predictions for Wimbledon; my mens champion is gone but things are still looking OK in the womens (for now!!!)