The first day of the third Grand Slam of the season should begin in lovely sunshine and improving weather as the week goes on. I have put up a preview of the tournament and outright picks for the fortnight which can be found here.
Here are the picks from the first day of action at Wimbledon:
Andy Murray - 7.5 games v Benjamin Becker: I know these two players met at Queens a couple of weeks ago and Andy Murray had to come through a couple of tough sets, but I am expecting it to be a little more straightforward when they meet on Centre Court.
Murray seemed to lose a touch of concentration in the match with Benjamin Becker at Queens and made that a much harder match than it looked like being when he moved a double break up in the opening set.
The courts definitely play a little faster at Queens which would have aided Becker's game, and Murray will certainly make him work for his service games. I just think Murray will be a little more concentrated with the Grand Slam and I can see him winning this match 64, 62, 64 to go through to the Second Round with the minimum of fuss.
Fernando Verdasco v Xavier Malisse: Xavier Malisse has shown some decent form on the grass courts over the last couple of weeks, which isn't a big surprise considering the grass courts are some of his favourite surface.
However, he is playing an enigmatic player in Fernando Verdasco who is much more comfortable in best of five set matches these days than he is outside of the Grand Slams. Verdasco was beaten in five sets here by Malisse last year, but he definitely has the game to hurt Malisse and I think it is a misjudgment to have the Spaniard as the underdog in this one.
Verdasco has the arsenal to hit through Malisse, but I wouldn't be surprised if this is another long match between these two. It wouldn't even surprise me if this one goes to five sets again, but I expect Verdasco can overturn the result from last year.
Ernests Gulbis - 5.5 games v Edouard Roger-Vasselin: Ernests Gulbis has won all 4 matches played against Edouard Roger-Vasselin and I think Gulbis can make it five in a row after this one is completed.
Gulbis has continued to underachieve at Grand Slam level, even if he has started to show more consistent form on the Tour. He has the big serve and heavy groundstrokes to be very effective on the grass courts and his straight sets win over Tomas Berdych at this stage last season shows what he is capable of.
The match up does look a good one for him, especially as the Roger-Vasselin serve can be a bit of a weakness and I expect the Latvian to come through 76 64 63.
Ana Ivanovic - 5.5 games v Virginie Razzano: Ana Ivanovic lost her only warm up match ahead of Wimbledon, but she has definitely shown some good form in the early Rounds of tournaments for the most part this season.
The Serb does come up against a qualifier in the form of Virginie Razzano, but this is a match up that has been dominated by Ivanovic and I do think the latter can frank the form that saw her beat Razzano in the First Round at the French Open last month.
Razzano hasn't had much success to write home about in the last three years on the grass courts, but my one concern for this pick is that Ivanovic can blow hot and cold during the course of a single match. That allows opponents to come back from seemingly inevitable losses, but I am expecting Ivanovic to record a 64 62 win in this one to move through to the Second Round.
MY PICKS: Andy Murray - 7.5 Games @ 1.92 Paddy Power (2 Units)
Fernando Verdasco @ 2.00 Pinnacle (2 Units)
Ernests Gulbis - 5.5 Games @ 1.92 Paddy Power (2 Units)
Ana Ivanovic - 5.5 Games @ 2.00 Pinnacle (2 Units)
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