As per Wimbledon tradition, the defending champion will open proceedings on centre court. That honour will be carried out by Carlos Alcaraz for the second time in as many years as he chases a three-peat of Wimbledon titles. Others feature matches on day 1 include Zverev, Medvedev and young gun Joao Fonseca who takes on local hope Jacob Fearnley.
Alcaraz needs no introduction. He is the two-time defending champion and is the form player on tour. He has won 27 of his last 28 matches including each of his last 18. As part of that run, he won the Monte Carlos Masters, Rome Masters, French Open and Queen’s! Meanwhile, veteran Fabio Fognini has lost 8 of his last 9 matches – many of which were either qualifiers or Challenger Tour matches. This is a complete mismatch but Fognini will not go down without swinging. The issue for the Italian is that he no longer has the drive to chase balls and Alcaraz will feed of any power that he tries to hit with. Expecting a lot of errors from the Fognini racquet with Alcaraz to post a comfortable win.
Those who read the futures preview will be aware that Zverev has never made it beyond the 4th round of this tournament – a shocking statistic when you consider he has several assets that should help him succeed on this surface. With that in mind, things could get tricky for him here. Rinderknech has wins over Shapovalov, Shelton and Opelka on grass in the last fortnight which will prepare him well for this clash. Shelton and Opelka both have booming serves and Rinderknech did not face a single break point across those two matches. Really like the Overs in this one.
Medvedev is one of our value bets to go deep into the second week and should make a fast start against Bonzi. The Frenchman has never made it beyond the 2nd Round of Wimbledon and has lost his last 5 main draw matches on tour. In contrast, Medvedev made the final in Halle (lost to Bublik) in a run that includes wins over Zverev and Michelsen. Bonzi will not be able to hit through Medvedev and I am expecting the Russian to win at least one set by a double break margin. He’ll cover the games handicap as a result.
This is one of the most intriguing matches on Day 1. Fonseca has already been touted as a future major winner but if we are being frank, he has not produced the results that many have expected. Is 1-2 on grass this year with losses Cobolli and Fritz but has posted some big wins at the majors already this year. Beat Rublev in the opening round of the Australian Open and drew another tough assignment in the first round of the French Open in Hurkacz. He beat him as well and that speaks volumes of his talent. This will be the third meetings between the pair this season with Fonseca holding a 2-0 edge on the back of winning 4 of the 5 sets they have played. Should improve to 3-0 without any difficulty.
Alcaraz v Fognini: Under 27.5 games ($1.75)
Rinderknech v Zverev: Over 36.5 games ($1.83)
Bonzi v Medvedev: Medvedev -6.5 ($1.85)
Fearnley v Fonseca: Fonseca -1.5 Sets ($1.95)
Fritz v Mpetschi Perricard: Fritz -3.5 ($1.91)
Diallo v Altmaier: Under 38.5 games ($1.91)
Arnaldi v Van de Zandschulp: Van de Zandschulp WIN ($1.98)
Holt v Davidovich-Fokina: Holt +5.5 ($1.85)
Popyrin v Fery: Set 1 Tiebreak – YES ($3.90)
Kopriva v Thompson: Kopriva +5.5 ($1.73)
Cerundolo v Borges: Borges +3.5 ($1.83)
Mcdonald v Khachanov: Khachanov -1.5 Sets ($1.50)
Berrettini v Majchrzak: Set 1 Score After 6 Games 3-3 ($1.80)
Rune v Jarry: Sets Rune 3-1 ($3.70)
Tien v Basavareddy: Tien -4.5 ($2.05)
Brooksby v Griekspoor: Over 39.5 games ($1.75)
Lehecka v Dellien: Under 28.5 games ($1.91)
Norrie v Bautista-Agut: Bautista-Agut WIN ($1.90)
Moller v Tiafoe: Sets Tiafoe 3-0 ($1.50)
Rublev v Djere: Over 39.5 games ($1.85)
Bergs v Harris: Harris WIN ($2.55)
Mannarino v O’Connell: Mannarino WIN ($1.42)
Royer v Tsitsipas: Royer To Win A Set – YES ($1.48)
Auger-Aliassime v Duckworth: Auger-Aliassime -5.5 ($2.10)
Struff v Misoli: Struff WIN ($1.82)