The first big upset in the mens draw saw David Ferrer bundled out by Andrey Kuznetsov in five sets.  The Russian player was fantastic and served out the match with ease, having been two sets to one down.  Ernests Gulbis and Mikhail Youzhny also fell as for the second year in a row, Sergiy Stakovsky’s serve and volley came alive on the first Wednesday as he took out Gulbis in straight sets.  There are some fabulous mens matches on the schedule for Thursday.  I wish I had a bit more time to preview Gasquet-Kyrgios and Monfils-Vesely but such is life.  Rafa and Roger both face interesting matches tomorrow…

TFF DreamTeam Update: Ray leads with julygrass in 2nd place and PauLyearley in 3rd place

Fantasy Tennis Update: Froudy leads by over 100 points from Jared Pine in 2nd place and mrcharlesc in 3rd place.  I really don’t understand this game, but I am enjoying it! I’m hanging in there at 6th place currently.

Who will win Wimbledon poll: After over 130 votes, the majority are going with Roger Federer to win Wimbledon (36%) followed by Novak Djokovic (25%) and Rafael Nadal (11%).  Somewhat surprisingly, Grigor Dimitrov received more votes than Andy Murray.

1. Roger Federer v Gilles Muller

Up to the quarter-finals, Roger Federer‘s toughest match of the week always looked to be his second round match.  Fed will play the huge serving, Gilles Muller in the second round after the world number 103 from Luxembourg defeated Julien Benneteau in straight sets, .  Muller has been rising back up the rankings after winning four Challenger events this year.  He’s also got a dynamite game on the grass.  Federer sailed through his opener against Paolo Lorenzi, 6-1 6-1 6-3, which took just 94 minutes.  Federer has won all three previous matches, which were all on hard courts and decided in straight sets.  Muller could certainly frustrate Federer with his serving and will give him a much, much tougher match than Lorenzi.  It was at this stage of the tournament in 2013 when Federer fell to Sergiy Stakhovsky… 2014 is a different year and I believe Fed will win in straight sets.

Prediction: Federer d. Muller in 3 very tight sets (2 tiebreaks)

2. Rafael Nadal v Lukas Rosol

The most anticipated match of the day will no doubt, be Rafael Nadal facing Lukas Rosol in a repeat of their second round match from Wimbledon in 2012.  On that day, Rosol produced the performance of his career and unbelievable quality in the deciding set to beat Nadal, 6-7(9) 6-4 6-4 2-6 6-4.  The pair have played since, in Doha, at the start of the year with Nadal prevailing in two tight sets, 6-2 7-6(7).  My hands are up; I had Rafa facing an early exit to Martin Klizan, but it was a risk too far.  Nadal lost the first set, but finished confidently to record his first win at Wimbledon since the first round in 2012 and halt a run of three straight grass court losses.

Rosol set up the rematch with a four set win over Wimbledon-hating, Benoit Paire, 6-3 3-6 7-6(5) 6-4.  This match is very likely to be hyped to the heavens, but I really don’t see it being close.  Nadal will be eager for revenge and there is virtually no chance that Rosol will be able to recreate what he did two years ago.  Rosol could get a set at best, but I really think Nadal will win this comfortably.  Now that Ivo Karlovic is out of his section, suddenly things are looking pretty delightful for Rafa.

Prediction: Nadal d. Rosol in 3 sets

ATP Wimbledon 2nd Round Predictions

Stan Wawrinka d. Yen-Hsun Lu in 4 sets

Denis Istomin d. Julian Reister in 4 sets

Feliciano Lopez d. Ante Pavic in 3 sets

John Isner d. Jarkko Nieminen in 4 sets

Lleyton Hewitt d. Jerzy Janowicz in 5 sets

Adrian Mannarino d. Tommy Robredo in 4 sets

Marcel Granollers. d. Santiago Giraldo in 5 sets

Milos Raonic d. Jack Sock in 3 tight sets

Lukasz Kubot d. Dusan Lajovic in 5 sets

Philipp Kohlschreiber d. Simone Bolelli in 3 sets

Kei Nishikori d. Denis Kudla in 3 sets

Richard Gasquet d. Nick Kyrgios in 3 tight sets (at least one tiebreak)

Jiri Vesely d. Gael Monfils in 4 sets

Frank Dancevic d. Mikhail Kukushkin in 4 sets