Wimbledon 2012: Previewing Manic Monday

To accompany my YouTube preview of Wimbledon's second week, here's one sentence each (with help of some semi-colons) about of the 16 matches taking place in the gentlemen's and ladies' respective Rounds of 16 on Monday.

Centre Court

Gentlemen: No. 3 Roger Federer vs. Xavier Malisse (Match No. 1)

One Sentence: Federer beat Malisse in five sets at Wimbledon in 2001; he has won a few more matches there since.

Prediction: Federer in three.

Ladies: No. 2 Victoria Azarenka vs. No. 14 Ana Ivanovic (Match No. 2)

One Sentence: Interesting that they chose this match for Centre Court instead of one involving past champions; regardless, a huge opportunity for Ivanovic.

Prediction: Azarenka in two.

Gentlemen: No. 1 Novak Djokovic vs. Viktor Troicki (Match No. 3)

One Sentence: Djokovic has won nine of 10 versus his countryman, but Troicki did take him to five sets at the 2010 U.S. Open.

Prediction: Djokovic in four.

Court No. 1

Ladies: No. 1 Maria Sharapova vs. No. 15 Sabine Lisicki (Match No. 1)

One Sentence: Both players have improved since Sharapova beat Lisicki in straight sets last year at Wimbledon.

Prediction: Sharapova in three.

Gentlemen: No. 4 Andy Murray vs. No. 16 Marin Cilic (Match No. 2)

One Sentence: Cilic has had time to rest after his marathon versus Sam Querrey, but at this point I'm not sure he's better than Murray at any one thing.

Prediction: Murray in three.

Gentlemen: No. 7 David Ferrer vs. No. 9 Juan Martin Del Potro (Match No. 3)

One Sentence: In a match with a major contrast in styles (Ferrer is a 5'9 defensive whiz, Del Potro a 6'6 power hitter), go with the guy who leads the all-time series (and won their only matchup on grass).

Prediction: Ferrer in five.

Court No. 2

Ladies: No. 6 Serena Williams vs. Yaroslava Shvedova (Match No. 1)

One Sentence: Relegated again to Court No. 2, Williams should have enough left to take out a surging Shvedova who made the quarterfinals at the French Open.

Prediction: Williams in three.

Ladies: No. 3 Agnieszka Radwanska vs. Camila Giorgi (Match No. 2)

One Sentence: There are more Italian women in the Round of 16 than there are Spanish men, and Giorgi might just have the offense to take Radwanksa, the human backboard; might, but might not.

Prediction: Radwanska in three.

Another Prediction: Okay, fine, time to take a risk. Giorgi in three.

Gentlemen: No. 5 Jo-Wilifried Tsonga vs. No. 10 Mardy Fish (Match No. 3)

One Sentence: Tsonga won in five at last year's U.S. Open; it shouldn't take him as long this time, but good for Fish for making it to the second week in his first tournament back.

Prediction: Tsonga in four.

Court No. 3

Ladies: No. 4 Petra Kvitova vs. No. 24 Francesca Schiavone (Match No. 1)

One Sentence: A clay-court specialist, Schiavone has impressed to make it this far; it's hard to imagine she has the offense to take out the defending Wimbledon champ.

Prediction: Kvitova in two.

Ladies: No. 8 Angelique Kerber vs. Kim Clijsters (Match No. 2)

One Sentence: Clijsters better have some magic up her sleeves because Kerber has been smoking hot for a while.

Prediction: Kerber in three.

Gentlemen: No. 18 Richard Gasquet vs. No. 31 Florian Mayer (Match No. 3)

One Sentence: Mayer made a shocking run to the Wimbledon quarterfinals eight years ago, and Gasquet made the semis five years ago, so … recency effect!

Prediction: Gasquet in five.

Court No. 12

Ladies: No. 21 Roberta Vinci vs. Tamira Paszek (Match No. 1)

One Sentence: Paszek won their only meeting, but we'll say the 29-year old Vinci takes this one.

Prediction: Vinci in three.

Ladies: No. 17 Maria Kirilenko vs. No. 30 Shuai Peng (Match No. 2)

One Sentence: Peng has found more success here than any of the other slams.

Prediction: Peng in two.

Gentlemen: No. 27 Philipp Kohlschreiber vs. Brian Baker (Match No. 3)

One Sentence: The winner is in his first grand slam quarterfinal; the hard-hitting German wouldn't ruin the Baker comeback story, would he?

Prediction: Baker in five.

Court No. 18

Gentlemen: No. 26 Mikhail Youzhny vs. Denis Istomin (Match No. 1)

One Sentence: Youzhny has been to four slam quarterfinals and two semis, and Istomin had never been past the third round of a major until now.

Prediction: Youzhny in four.