Wimbledon 2015 is nearly underway with men’s action scheduled to start on Monday and set to continue on through Saturday before the tournament takes one day break next Sunday. In the gentlemen’s singles draw Australia has 11 representatives in the field of 128.
The biggest name in the draw for Australian tennis fans remains Lleyton Hewitt. The former World No. 1 is a former champion from the All England Club however, now thirty-four years old, perhaps not much should be expected of the Aussie. That is especially the case given that Hewitt is near Novak Djokovic, the tournament favourite, in the draw. Nonetheless, Hewitt does have a winnable match in the first round as he will face another veteran in Jarkko Nieminen.
Aussie tennis fans might hope for Bernard Tomic to do a bit more damage at Wimbledon 2015 than Hewitt. However the key phrase is “a bit” as Tomic is also near Djokovic in the draw. The former Wimbledon quarterfinalist is still looking for another good showing in a major following his result back in 2011. However if he is to make the fourth round this year then he would have to outlast Djokovic as the two players could meet in the third round later this week.
The other two notable Aussies in the draw are both Nick Kyrgios and Thanis Kokkinakis, aged 20 years old and 19 years old respectively. The former did well at the All England Club last season as he made the quarterfinal round through Rafael Nadal. Can Kyrgios duplicate his result from 2014? Or is a little bit of a ranking slide in order?
Time will tell but he does share a draw to the quarters with both Milos Raonic and Grigor Dimitrov, two players that made the semifinals at last season’s Wimbledon event. From the onset, things do not look great Kyrgios.
With Kokkinakis, Aussies have a player that is making his Wimbledon debut. Currently ranked 71st in the world, the 19-year old remains an up-and-comer on tour. However, unlike some of his countryman, he does have a draw to the fourth round that he might reasonably be expected to win. Kokkinakis faces a talented but beatable Leonardo Mayer in the first round and then, surviving that, the Aussie would face no one more talented than Kevin Anderson before the fourth hurdle. It seems that Kokkinakis is a bit of a question mark in the Wimbledon 2015 draw: he could do some damage almost as easily as he could go out early.
Other Aussies contesting men’s singles are, comprehensively, Matthew Ebden, John Millman, Marinko Matosevic, John-Patrick Smith, Luke Saville, Sam Groth, and James Duckworth. While there is not a single player in that group that is expected to challenge for a spot in the round of sixteen perhaps Sam Groth is the one most worth watching.
Groth, a bit of a late bloomer, is now 27 years old however he is starting to come into his own on tour. He won a couple matches at the Australian Open earlier this year and his devastating serve could help him greatly on the quick grass court surface. A recent challenger title on grass combined with grass court wins over Sergiy Stakhovksy and Feliciano Lopez indicate that the 6’4” Aussie will not be easy pickings at Wimbledon. Groth might be a little too close to Federer in the draw to go on a deep run but the Australian could defeat Jack Sock in their opener and then either Malek Jaziri or Duckworth in the second round.
Aussie tennis fans can look for their players to be in action pretty quickly as, weather permitting, several of them will be in action on Monday, including Kyrgios, Hewitt, Tomic, and Kokkinakis in the men’s draw.
