After a two year wait to see tennis being played in the SW19 postcode of Greater London, I don't think anyone would have been that surprised to see the weather decide to play games with fans.
Wimbledon opened up with a huge delay to the outside courts and it actually means the First Round is not going to be completed on Tuesday evening like would have been scheduled. Fortunately the weather picked up enough to make sure that plenty of the First Round matches from the top half of the Men's draw and bottom half of the Women's draw were played and that should mean the tournament can get back on track by the end of the week.
There have already been some upsets in both the Men's and Women's draws already on the opening day of the tournament with Stefanos Tsitsipas and Petra Kvitova exiting, but Andy Murray was able to win his opening match despite blowing a 5-0 lead in the third set and being forced to complete the match under the roof late in the evening.
I anticipated there may be some upsets early in the tournament with the courts likely needing to be worked into shape and with players missing a year of grass court tennis in 2020. Avoiding those surprise results won't be easy, but it was a positive enough beginning for the Tennis Picks for this fortnight, although a number of matches from Day 1 have to be completed on Day 2.
It could be another day filled with delays because of the little amount of rain and mist that makes the courts very slippery, but I am hoping the morning will get through comfortably enough.
Below I have added the selections for Day 2 as the other half of the Men's and Women's draws also get underway.
Nick Kyrgios-Ugo Humbert over 40.5 games: The Covid-19 outbreak in 2020 dented the Tennis Tour and there have been a few players that have decided they did not want to travel at such a time.
Most have returned to the Tour before now, but Nick Kyrgios took a few more months to get himself a little more comfortable and will return to competitive action for the first time since the Australian Open. He played in the tournaments that were arranged by Australia, but Nick Kyrgios has left his home country for the first time since the global pandemic began and it is difficult to know what to expect from him.
He played well Down Under, but the travelling and playing on a new surface may take some getting used to for Nick Kyrgios who is also in the Mixed Doubles alongside Venus Williams.
The Australian has spoken about using this time as a vacation having not left home for fifteen months, but I think that is partly to ease some of the pressure that competitive tennis bring. Nick Kyrgios is very comfortable on the grass courts with his huge serve and powerful forehand a big weapon on the surface, but the draw has not been very kind to him and facing a Seed like Ugo Humbert is going to be a big challenge.
Ugo Humbert won a grass court title in Halle, a big warm up event for Wimbledon, and the serve is a big weapon for the Frenchman on this surface too.
However, I do wonder if the return aspect will let Ugo Humbert down at times even if he is facing an opponent that has had little competitive tennis over the last few months. One aspect of the Nick Kyrgios game that should have remained largely steady is the big serves and I think that will give him a chance to get into tie-breakers in this First Round match and from there anything can happen.
It isn't the first time Nick Kyrgios will have faced Ugo Humbert in a Grand Slam tournament after a long lay off after beating him at the Australian Open in February in a five setter. Both players had very strong serving numbers in Melbourne and you would expect that to be more noticeable on the grass courts of Wimbledon and I think there is every chance we are going to need at least four sets in this one.
That should set the match up on the way to a cover of the total games line and I do think there are going to be some long sets with both players able to come through service games fairly quickly. The edge has to go to Ugo Humbert in the match considering the lack of competitive tennis played by Nick Kyrgios, but the latter is very comfortable in his own mind and I think the surface is one that will mean he doesn't have to see his tennis completely tested with short points likely to his benefit.
We should see Nick Kyrgios able to take at least a set, but Ugo Humbert should be able to come through in four tough sets and the pick is to see the match cover the total line.
Jan-Lennard Struff-Daniil Medvedev over 35.5 games: The first match back on the grass courts after a two year absence for both Jan-Lennard Struff and Daniil Medvedev came against each other in Halle and it was the German who upset the odds in his own country. However, the two players have been producing vastly different results on the surface since then and it would be a bigger upset if Jan-Lennard Struff is able to beat the Number 2 Seeded Daniil Medvedev in the opening Round at Wimbledon.
The win over Daniil Medvedev was the sole one that Jan-Lennard Struff produced on the grass courts in preparation for Wimbledon and defeats to Marcos Giron and Adrian Mannarino are disappointing ones since then.
On the other hand, Daniil Medvedev bounced back from the surprise loss early in Halle to win the title in Mallorca and he has openly admitted that he is a fan of the grass courts. That is a marked difference to the Russian's opinion of the clay courts, but he had a strong run in Paris and I do think he can potentially make the Final here at Wimbledon.
The serve is a big weapon for Medvedev on all surfaces, but it is particularly potent on the hard and grass courts and it should set him up for a good run here. Backing up the serve with an impressive return only makes Daniil Medvedev all the more dangerous and I do think he is going to have picked up some vital information about what he is going to be expecting from Jan-Lennard Struff having met him very recently on the grass courts.
The Jan-Lennard Struff serve is a strong weapon for the German on the grass courts too and I think that will at least make him competitive in this match even if he is not able to win. He can force tie-breakers and Struff will feel he can take a swing at enough returns to win at least one of those if it comes down to it and matches between these players have usually seen some swings in momentum and sets being split up.
I do anticipate the Daniil Medvedev return to prove to be the difference on the day, but the layers are perhaps underestimating where the total games line should be. It might need Jan-Lennard Struff to steal a set, but even without that there is a possibility a straight sets win could cover this line as long as the German serves as he can on the surface and perhaps force a couple of tie-breakers too.
Richard Gasquet - 5.5 games v Yuichi Sugita: Most of the talk about veterans on the Men's side of the draw are focused on Roger Federer and Andy Murray and as former Wimbledon Champions you can't be surprised by that. Many feel those two players could potentially be playing in their last tournament at SW19, but another in the draw is Richard Gasquet who is a former Semi Finalist at Wimbledon.
Injuries have hurt the latter years of Richard Gasquet's career and he has slipped outside of the top 50 of the World Rankings and with another fall likely to come once the World Rankings are restored to the 52 week formula. He hasn't played since entering the Nottingham Challenger earlier this month and Richard Gasquet was forced to pull out with an injury in the Quarter Final there after two strong wins.
That is a concern going into Wimbledon, but Richard Gasquet will likely only take to the court if he is ready to compete and I think he would have been preparing for this tournament rather than risking further issues by entering other events in the build up to the Grand Slam. The Frenchman has always been a pretty efficient grass court player and I do think Richard Gasquet is good enough to win a match like this one even if the return of serve has been an issue for him in more recent years.
He won't be facing a massive serve in this First Round match when taking on Yuichi Sugita who lost his sole grass court match played in 2021 at the Nottingham Challenger mentioned. It has been a difficult twelve months for Sugita and he has dropped out of the top 100 of the World Rankings.
Yuichi Sugita has to be respected for some of the past successes he has had on the grass courts, but he does have a losing record against top 100 Ranked opponents on the surface. The tennis is something that should be pretty comfortable for Richard Gasquet to deal with too and I think that is where the favourite should be able to get on top of the match.
Their sole previous Grand Slam meeting came at the US Open and was won very comfortably by Richard Gasquet in 2018, but there are more doubts about the veteran these days. With that in mind I do think it will be a closer match than the 6/3, 6/1, 6/3 score produced by Gasquet that day, but Yuichi Sugita may still have issues getting much more out of this one.
I think it is possible that both of these players have successes on the return of serve, but over the last twelve months it is Richard Gasquet who has just shown a little more with the serve. That should pave the way for the Frenchman to perhaps set up another old rivalry in the Second Round where Roger Federer could wait having played Rafael Nadal at the French Open.
Marin Cilic - 7.5 games v Salvatore Caruso: His best days may be behind him, but former US Open Champion and former Wimbledon Finalist Marin Cilic will head to SW19 feeling pretty good about his chances at this year's tournament. The Croatian may have dropped back into World Number 37 which would have meant heading into the tournament without being a Seed, but Marin Cilic has snuck in as the Number 32 Seed here after withdrawals from those higher up the Rankings.
Marin Cilic struggles for consistency these days, but he has long been comfortable on the grass courts and the experiences have clearly helped him in the build up to Wimbledon. He won the title in Stuttgart and then reached the Quarter Final at Queens Club which will have given Marin Cilic plenty of belief in his game and where it is at this point in time.
A kind draw looks to have give Marin Cilic an opportunity to build some momentum into this tournament and I think he will be a big favourite to win the first two matches at Wimbledon before a potentially huge match against Daniil Medvedev in the Third Round.
First up is Salvatore Caruso who has lost his only grass court match played this year and has not really ever been that comfortable on the surface. The Italian has never won a main draw match at Wimbledon, although he did play well enough to come through the Qualifiers for this Grand Slam two years ago, while Salvatore Caruso has never beaten a top 100 Ranked opponent on the grass courts either.
In those previous three matches in that spot, Salvatore Caruso has seen his serve being attacked repeatedly and he has won just 51% of service points behind it, while the return has not been good enough to prevent one-sided defeats.
The Marin Cilic return is not where it was when the Croatian reached World Number 3, but he has shown some positive signs over the last month back on the grass. Marin Cilic has won 39% of return points played and broken in 20% of return games played, but now faces someone who is not very confident on the grass and I think this is the kind of match where Cilic should be able to go through the gears and eventually win with some margin to spare.
Nothing seems to come very easy for Marin Cilic these days, but I think he should have too much for Salvatore Caruso and a move through the gears as the match wears on should see the former Finalist clear a big number.
MY PICKS: Nick Kyrgios-Ugo Humbert Over 40.5 Games @ 1.91 Paddy Power (2 Units)
Jan-Lennard Struff-Daniil Medvedev Over 35.5 Games @ 1.83 Bet365 (2 Units)
Richard Gasquet - 5.5 Games @ 1.72 Bet365 (2 Units)
Marin Cilic - 7.5 Games @ 1.85 Coral (2 Units)
Alex Bolt - 1.5 Sets @ 2.20 Paddy Power (2 Units)
Angelique Kerber - 4.5 Games @ 1.80 Bet Fred (2 Units)
Serena Williams - 5.5 Games @ 1.80 Bet Victor (2 Units)
Katerina Siniakova - 5.5 Games @ 2.10 Paddy Power (2 Units)
Wimbledon Update: 6-4, + 2.40 Units (20 Units Staked, + 12% Yield)
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