The third Grand Slam of the season is in the bag and while the Andy Murray story will continue in Britain, the rest of the tennis world will move on to the next stops on the almost year long Tour.
You can read a few of my thoughts about Wimbledon, Andy Murray and my outright picks from the tournaments at Bastad, Stuttgart and Newport here.
As always, Monday is usually the day the smaller tournaments will conclude their qualifiers and get some of the First Round matches going. These are my picks from the day:
Martin Klizan v Albert Montanes: This has been set as a close match and the layers have got that about right as far as I am concerned considering how well matched they are on the clay courts. The players have already split two matches on the clay earlier this season and both Martin Klizan and Albert Montanes will feel they can win this one.
Initially, Klizan had been set as the clear underdog, and I was very interested in backing him... While the price has come in, I still think the Slovakian is worth taking on board this time.
Klizan should be able to win a few more points off his serve and if he can bring his first serve percentage to between 60-65 for this match, I think it will be made more awkward for Montanes to get his teeth into those games. On the other hand, Montanes' serve can be erratic and he will give Klizan a chance to get involved in those service games and that could prove to be the ultimate difference between the players.
The clay courts are Klizan's favourite surface but Montanes won in Nice ahead of the French Open so it is likely to be a tight battle that will be decided by a couple of points here and there. Even though it may go three sets, I just feel Klizan's game can be a little more solid and he will move through to the Second Round.
Adrian Mannarino v James Blake: One underdog I will be backing to cause a shock in the First Round at a tournament on Monday is Adrian Mannarino who plays James Blake in Newport.
Mannarino has shown he is capable on the grass courts in the past and he is playing an opponent that is tough on his day, but is not at his most comfortable on this surface. James Blake had struggled on the grass courts before this season when he came through qualifying at Eastbourne and reached the Second Round at Wimbledon, but he can be incredibly erratic and that may cost him here.
The Frenchman he faces is outside the top 100 in the World Rankings, but he might be able to play a solid enough brand of tennis to see Blake make the mistakes to cost him the match. I can't back Mannarino for more than a unit though in this one.
MY PICKS: Martin Klizan @ 1.92 Stan James (2 Units)
Adrian Mannarino @ 2.20 Stan James (1 Unit)
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