Rafael Nadal may be the top seed at Wimbledon but he will be forced to weave his way through possible potholes to meet home favorite Andy Murray in the semis. In the French Open, Nadal drew John Isner who stretched Nadal to five sets and was up two sets to one heading in to the fourth set. It was Nadal’s only five set match of the tournament.

This time around the defending champion will most likely face some aggressive and hungry players before he reaches the quarters where Tomas Berdych should be waiting. If form holds, Nadal should walk through his first two matches before meeting Milos Raonic in the third round. The winner of that match will probably meet Juan Martin Del Potro in the fourth round. Andy Murray looks like a probable fifth round opponent. To get to the fifth round, Rafa will be happy to be still standing, but Gilles Simon will stand in the way of a semifinal match against Murray.

Raonic and Del Potro both have big games that will benefit from the grass. Raonic is one of the game’s best young players and has top ten potential already. Del Potro has recovered nicely from his troubling wrist surgery and has claimed one title this year but is very suited for the pace of the grass game. With one Grand Slam in his pocket, he would like to add Wimbledon to his resume. These are two formidable opponents for the champion.

Fourth seeded Andy Murray does not have as difficult a path to the semis as does Nadal, if the defending champ emerges the winner of the his quarterfinal bracket. Murray might be playing the best tennis of his career but Nadal has always been tough on the Scot.

To reach the semis, Murray will most likely meet Marin Cilic in the third round and Stan Wawrinka in the fourth. Wawrinka is playing well but Cilic has been in a prolonged slump. In the quarters, three-time runner-up Andy Roddick should be waiting unless Gael Monfils pulls the upset. Roddick has been recuperating from injury and has missed much of the year. If he is healthy the quarterfinals will be interesting and Murray will have to prove that he is the best returner in the game.

Second seeded Novak Djokovic may get his chance to avenge the French Open loss to Roger Federer. That would be a likely semifinal meeting. Djokovic has the likes of Marcos Baghdatis and Jurgen Melzer as possible third and fourth round opponents and strong but slow Robin Soderling looks like the quarterfinal match before reaching Roger. If Djokovic has checked the draw, he likes what he sees. With a 40-1 record in 2011, he would like another run like that.

Roger Federer, the third seed and six time Wimbledon Champion, fared well in the draw. He will probably have to get past David Nalbandian and Mikkhail Youzhny in the middle rounds. His quarterfinal opponent is scheduled to be David Ferrer, but the seventh seed will have difficulty getting past the winner of the John Isner – Nicolas Mahut match. The first round rematch of last year’s 11-hour marathon has the buzz around Wimbledon and will be the most anticipated first round pairing.

If the press lets him play, this looks like Andy Murray’s best chance to win a major. From here, it looks like Andy Murray will reach the finals and face Djokovic. Surprisingly, Murray will upset Djokovic and hoist the Wimbledon trophy to thunderous support.

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