Wimbledon Tennis Day 13 Picks 2018- Men's Final (July 15th)

The World Cup Final may be taking centre stage this Sunday, but the men's Wimbledon Final will also be played and is set to begin a couple of hours before the match between France and Croatia kicks off in Moscow.

Whether we have enough time to see both matches is another question, but for the majority of fans it will feel the Wimbledon Final was completed on Saturday when Novak Djokovic was able to see off Rafael Nadal in five long sets.

You shouldn't disregard Kevin Anderson completely, but he has to be feeling the tennis he has played over the last few days and I am not sure one full day of rest will be good enough.

Men's Wimbledon Final 2018- Men's Final

This is not the Final most would have picked at the start of the tournament, but the lesser of the surprises is clearly Novak Djokovic who showed enough at Queens to think he could go close.

On the other hand Kevin Anderson has reached a second Grand Slam Final in eleven months, but he has had to do that the hard way. The Fourth Round saw him beat Gael Monfils in four very long sets, but it has only become even harder for Anderson who needed twenty-four games in a marathon fifth set to see off defending Champion Roger Federer.

You would have been forgiven for thinking that is as tough as it would get for Anderson, but he then needed FIFTY games in the fifth set to see off John Isner and it would be a major surprise if Anderson hasn't got a lot left in the tank. He did have a full day to recover while Novak Djokovic needed eighteen games in a long fifth set of his own to beat Rafael Nadal in a delayed Semi Final, but Djokovic has not played nearly as much tennis as the big South African.

Three years ago these two met in an epic match at Wimbledon which had the grounds buzzing on 'Manic Monday' as Anderson took a two set lead before being undone in five sets by Djokovic. It looks a big ask for Anderson to even make this match that competitive even though the big serve will be dangerous throughout this match as the last weapon that will weaken.

Djokovic is one of the best returners out there though and I think he will put Anderson under enough pressure to break him down. I was a little critical of Djokovic's poor play on the returning points at break point against Rafael Nadal, but I think the pressure contributed to that as he knows how good Nadal can be and how important the match was to him.

While this match is bigger with a Wimbledon title on the line, I think Djokovic will know a deep return will help him get into rallies he would expect to win more often than not and I think that will help him improve the return. There is a little way to go before we see Djokovic returning to the level he showed in 2015 when beating Anderson in five sets at Wimbledon, but I think he will do enough to find a break in every set.

The Djokovic serve has been in good shape over the last month on the grass courts and Anderson is a pretty limited returner. I expect Djokovic to get the big man moving plenty in this match and I think it may be a situation where Anderson just cannot do enough to keep this competitive and so backing the former World Number 1 to return to the top 10 of the World Rankings with a Grand Slam title to add to his collection looks the way to go.

I have nothing but respect for Anderson maximising his talent over the last couple of years as he has begun to find some big Grand Slam results. However he was beaten handily by Rafael Nadal in the US Open Final and I think Djokovic will come through some nervy moments to produce a routine win of his own on Sunday.

MY PICKS: Novak Djokovic - 4.5 Games @ 1.72 Ladbrokes (2 Units)

Wimbledon Update: 44-41, + 1.36 Units (170 Units Staked, + 1% Yield)