By Kamakshi Tandon
Fabrice Santoro (FRA) vs. Andy Murray (GBR) [12] Centre Court: 3rd match
The 35-year-old Frenchman gets one of his dearest tennis wishes as he finally makes his Centre Court debut at Wimbledon, but Andy Murray is looking to fufill a greater ambition: reach the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam for the first time. He certainly has the draw to do so - there are no players who should threaten him in the next three matches, and then it's a winnable encounter against whoever comes out of Richard Gasquet's section.
This particular match is one for the aficionados and even the players themselves may take a moment to admire each other. "He's just a completely different player, plays some unbelievable shots. I love watching him," says Murray.
Fabrice Santoro returns the compliment. "He's also a player that I enjoy watching. He's a very smart player and I like the way he moves. I prefer players like that rather than the players who just rely on their power."
Both are cagey shotmakers who will deftly move the ball all over the court, but Murray has some firepower to go along with his variety as well as the pressure to fulfill national expectations. But even he'll probably take a moment to watch 'The Magician' perform his sorcery at Wimbledon for the last time.
Prediction: Murray
Richard Gasquet (FRA) [8] vs. Mardy Fish (USA) Court 1: 1:00 p.m.
This was one of the potential upsets circled in the draw when it was first made. Richard Gasquet's shotmaking talents are obvious and he reached the semifinal last year in memorable fashion: coming from two sets and break down against Andy Roddick in the quarterfinals. But recently all the talk has been about his mental struggles. He suffered meltdown afer meltdown during the spring and eventually pulled out of the French Open with a knee injury.
Mardy Fish made a big splash (sorry) at the beginning of the year when he dominated Roger Federer to reach the final of Indian Wells. As usual, he didn't do much during the clay season, even choosing that time to hold his bachelor party in Las Vegas with good friends James Blake and Andy Roddick among the attendees. But this is grass, and his attacking style is well-suited to the surface. He'll put constant pressure on Gasquet, and we'll learn a lot about where the Frenchman is at by seeing whether he can respond.
Prediction: Fish
Andy Roddick (USA) [6] vs. Eduardo Schwank (ARG) Court 1: 3rd match
Even leaving aside the hotel room fire episode, Eduardo Schwank has has quite a ride the past two months. He won 20 straight matches in challengers, qualifying and tour events during the spring clay season before finally falling to Paul-Henri Mathieu in a third-round thriller at the French Open. But the going on grass hasn't been quite as good: he lost his second match at Nottingham 7-6 in the third and now has to face Andy Roddick in the first round of Wimbledon
Roddick, like most people, considers himself the fourth favorite in this event, and the sixth seed has been lucky enough to land in Nikolay Davydenko's quarter rather than Federer's, Nadal's or Djokovic's. He's still getting his serve back in full firing mode after missing the French Open with a shoulder injury, but it should be enough to allow him to force the pace against Schwank and come through without too much of a scare.
Prediction: Roddick
Jesse Levine (USA) vs. Donald Young (USA) Court 5: 3rd match
A former Wimbledon junior champion (Donald Young) against another rising youngster who qualified for this event. They're both lefties with pleasing games who know each other quite well - as Levine joked to the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, "We could have stayed at home and played this." The match should be competitive and both players will be eager to prove themselves against a peer, but the temptation is go with the more enterprising and more match-tough player - Levine.
Prediction: Levine
Others to note
John Isner vs. Ernests Gulbis, Anne Keothavong vs. Vania King, Victoria Azarenka vs. Tsevtana Pironkova, Nicholas Mahut vs. Dmitry Tursunov
SOURCE: Tennis.com
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