‘Manic Monday’ Preview: Del Potro, Federer Look To Keep Rolling

For Juan Martin del Potro, it’s almost as if it’s 2013 all over again. That season, the Argentine’s ninth on Tour, he returned to the Top 5 of the ATP Rankings for the first time since 2009, won four ATP World Tour titles and, at Wimbledon, recorded his best finish, making the semi-finals (l. to Djokovic).

This year, Del Potro, No. 4 in the ATP Rankings, has already re-entered the Top 5; he’s halfway to matching his four titles (Indian Wells and Acapulco); and, on Monday, he can come within a round of tying his best Wimbledon finish.

The fifth seed faces Frenchman Gilles Simon for the eighth time in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series (Del Potro leads 4-3). The two have played three times at grass, including twice at the All England Club, once during the 2011 championships and again the following year during the London Olympics. Del Potro won all three grass-court contests.

“I know my game, it’s adapting well for this surface. I had my chances to win here a few years ago when I lost against Djokovic in the semi-finals. But [he was] playing so good. I don’t know how far I will be in this tournament, but I’m confident with my game at this time,” Del Potro said after being Benoit Paire in the third round.

Simon is looking to make his third Grand Slam quarter-final and his second at Wimbledon (2009 Australian Open, 2015 Wimbledon). The 33-year-old Frenchman has already turned around his grass-court season, having gone 1-3 at the MercedesCup in Stuttgart, the Gerry Weber Open in Halle and the Nature Valley International in Eastbourne before The Championships.

Beat Del Potro and Simon, with some help from his compatriots, could make French tennis history. If Simon, Adrian Mannarino (vs. Federer) and Gael Monfils (vs. Anderson) all win on Monday, it will mark the first time a trio of Frenchmen have reached the Wimbledon quarter-finals.

Mannarino, however, will likely have the biggest challenge among the Frenchmen, or of anyone when “Manic Monday” commences. The left-hander, who’s trying to make his first Grand Slam quarter-final, is 0-5 against Federer in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series, and Federer, an eight-time champion, has looked at his Wimbledon finest.

The Swiss has won 29 consecutive sets at SW19, his second-longest consecutive sets won streak at Wimbledon. His best – 34 – came in between the 2005 third round and the 2006 final.

What’s more, the top-seeded Federer hasn’t even faced a break point this fortnight. The 36-year-old has won 67 consecutive games on serve at Wimbledon. The last time he lost his serve at SW19 was during the eighth game of his 2017 semi-final against Tomas Berdych. Federer hasn’t had to erase a break point at the All England Club since the fourth game of last year’s final against Marin Cilic.

On Saturday, two-time champion Rafael Nadal ensured that he’ll stay No. 1 when the new ATP Rankings are released on 16 July. On Monday, the Spaniard will try to return to the Wimbledon quarter-finals for the first time since 2011, when he made the final (l. to Djokovic).

Nadal faces Czech Jiri Vesely, who’s trying to make his first Grand Slam quarter-final and become the seventh Czech man in the Open Era to reach the last eight at Wimbledon.

Twelfth seed Novak Djokovic, who knocked out top Brit Kyle Edmund to make the fourth round, will meet Karen Khachanov for the first time. The 22-year-old Moscow native came back from two sets down against #NextGenATP American Frances Tiafoe to post his best Wimbledon result. Djokovic, a three-time Wimbledon champion, is looking to make his 10^th quarter-final at SW19.

Japan’s Kei Nishikori has reached at least the quarter-finals at the three other Grand Slams but never at Wimbledon. The 24^th seed can change that against Latvian qualifier Ernests Gulbis, who upset fourth seed Alexander Zverev in five sets to make the fourth round at Wimbledon for the first time.

Nishikori won their only FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting, but it came on Barcelona clay four years ago. Gulbis, No. 138 in the ATP Rankings, last made a Grand Slam quarter-final in 2014 en route to the Roland Garros semi-finals (l. to Djokovic).

Eighth seed Kevin Anderson will try to beat France’s Gael Monfils for the first time (0-5) and make his third Grand Slam quarter-final (2015, 2017 US Open). Monfils, playing in his first Wimbledon fourth-rounder, will attempt to join Jo-Wilfried Tsonga as the only two Frenchmen in the Open Era to make the quarter-finals at all four Grand Slams.

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Both American John Isner and his opponent, Greece’s #NextGenATP star Stefanos Tsitsipas, are making their Wimbledon second-week debuts. The ninth-seeded Isner will try to match his best Grand Slam showing (2011 US Open QF), while Tsitsipas, 19, will try to prolong the best Grand Slam run of his young career.

Canada’s Milos Raonic has been here – and much deeper – before, having reached the 2016 Wimbledon final (l. to Murray). The 13^th seed will go for his eighth Grand Slam quarter-final, and fourth at Wimbledon, against American Mackenzie McDonald, who’s playing in his first Grand Slam fourth-round match.

Read More: 10 Things To Know About McDonald