It looked like the start of another really good day for the Tennis Picks, but all changed when Diego Sebastian Schwartzman blew a 3-0 lead in the Fourth Set and the remainder of the day was tough to absorb.
I am still hopeful that there is a way for Maxime Cressy to force his match into the fourth set when play resumes on Friday, which would at least prevent Thursday from being a really bad day, but it has been a solid week and I am hoping the Third Round will turn the fortunes around.
It looks a busier day for the Tennis Picks with the selections you can see below.
John Isner v Jannik Sinner: Any time you win a big Grand Slam match, all eyes are on the player to see how they handle the experience. A first win over Andy Murray is a big achievement for John Isner, and I do think this is a very experienced player on the Tour who should be able to cope with the extra attention around his tennis in the day between matches.
Recent seasons have seen the 37 year old American fall away from the level he once was able to produce, but John Isner remains the owner of one of the very best serves and on the grass courts it is a huge weapon for him. If he can continue to hit his spots and make as many first serves as he did in his Second Round win over Andy Murray, John Isner has to be looking at his best run at any Grand Slam since the 2018 US Open when he reached the Quarter Final having made the Semi Final at Wimbledon that same year.
That Semi Final run is the best ever performance John Isner has produced in a Grand Slam, but his overall record at Wimbledon is perhaps a little disappointing. In fact, John Isner may be the first to admit that he should have made more than the three career Grand Slam Quarter Finals considering the serve he has, but the win over Andy Murray should open this draw up for him.
Confidence won't be an issue, but the challenges continue to come for John Isner with the Third Round opponent being Jannik Sinner.
The Italian has limited grass court experience and had to withdraw during the French Open with an injury, but Jannik Sinner has earned his way into the Third Round at Wimbledon behind back to back four set wins. The victory over Stan Wawrinka will have given Jannik Sinner confidence in his game, but I do have to wonder if the lack of grass court experience and the defeat to Tommy Paul prior to the tournament beginning leaves him as a vulnerable favourite in this Third Round match.
Jannik Sinner does have a serve that can contain John Isner, but the big question is whether he can find enough effective returns to handle the scoreboard pressure that can be built by the American. He was a dominant winner when these two met in the Davis Cup last November on a hard court, but Isner may feel his serve is working very efficiently at the moment and is enough to keep Jannik Sinner feeling the pressure more than it did on that day.
Before the two wins at Wimbledon, Jannik Sinner had lost six straight grass court matches and I do think John Isner can be aggressive enough against the second serve to at least give himself a chance of backing up the big win on Centre Court a couple of days ago.
You cannot ignore the limitations of the John Isner return, but he has long been a player that will push players all the way on a grass court and I think it could be a significant test for Jannik Sinner with some injury issues in recent months.
Nikoloz Basilashvili-Tim Van Rijthoven over 39.5 games: Anyone who follows the Tennis Picks here will long know that I have Nikoloz Basilashvili on my list of players that I cannot get a read on from week to week. The numbers are generally pretty average, but this is a player who can blow hot and cold within sets, let alone matches and I do find him very hard to trust if I back him to win, but an almighty dangerous opponent to oppose and never feel that comfortable doing that either.
There are moments when those worries are dampened by the layers and I do think this is one of those occasions.
First things first, I am surprised that Tim Van Rijthoven is as big a favourite as he is, even though he won the Hertogenbosch title and has looked strong through the first couple of Rounds. However, he was a little fortunate in a couple of matches in that run to the title and I do think the Dutchman has a relatively limited return game that could be put under pressure by Nikoloz Basilashvili.
The Georgian has a pretty effective serve on the grass courts, although his own return is one that cannot be expected to do a lot of damage consistently. He is very experienced though and that can be key in trying to get to the second week in Wimbledon, a tournament missing Ranking points which hurts Van Rijthoven much more than most.
I am expecting both of these players to serve well and largely contain the break points offered out to the opponent.
With that in mind, I do think this is a match that should be able to surpass the total games line as long as it goes four sets- only one of the four matches played by the two players at Wimbledon this year has ended in straight sets and I think tie-breakers will be a part of this match.
An upset here would not be a surprise to me, but I will look for the two to combine for enough games to cover this total games line set.
Cameron Norrie - 4.5 games v Steve Johnson: The five sets needed to beat Jaume Munar is a bit of a concern about the kind of level that Cameron Norrie is producing at Wimbledon so far this year. He had a mixed build up to the tournament with a couple of early losses, while the British Number 1 has beaten a couple of clay court experts on his run to the Third Round.
That makes it harder to know where Cameron Norrie is with his game right now, although he is going to be favoured to reach the second week of a Grand Slam for the first time. It is somewhat surprising that he has been able to crack the top ten of the World Rankings without doing that before, but Cameron Norrie has been an improving player on the Tour and will feel pretty good about his tennis ahead of a tough looking Third Round match.
Steve Johnson has long been someone who has enjoyed the faster surfaces with the extra pop it gives him behind serve, but the veteran American is not the player of old these days. That has been underlined by mixed results over the last twelve months and he is close to dropping out of the top 100 in the World Rankings.
A couple of mixed performances ahead of the Wimbledon tournament beginning underlines the slip, while Steve Johnson needed a Grigor Dimitrov injury to come through the First Round having looked the weaker player before the Bulgarian was forced to withdraw. although the Second Round crushing of Ryan Peniston is a reminder of the kind of player he can be on his best day.
I do think Steve Johnson is potentially dangerous with a serve giving him enough to get on the front foot, and also meaning he can take a few more swings on the return.
However, Cameron Norrie is someone who can be very effective on the grass courts with his lefty serve and I think that will be enough to keep Johnson on the back foot when it comes to the return.
While an underwhelming grass court season prior to Wimbledon, Cameron Norrie showed he can be an efficient return player on the surface in 2021. It feels like a match in which the fresher, younger legs can wear down his opponent and he may eventually crack through the Steve Johnson serve which is not as potent as it once was on this surface.
MY PICKS: John Isner @ 2.37 Bet Fred (2 Units)
Nikoloz Basilashvili-Tim Van Rijthoven Over 39.5 Games @ 2.00 Paddy Power (2 Units)
Oscar Otte-Carlos Alcaraz Over 36.5 Games @ 1.72 Bet Fred (2 Units)
David Goffin - 1.5 Sets @ 2.25 Paddy Power (2 Units)
Jiri Vesely @ 2.75 Bet Victor (2 Units)
Cameron Norrie - 4.5 Games @ 1.80 Bet Victor (2 Units)
Jelena Ostapenko - 4.5 Games @ 1.80 Bet Fred (2 Units)
Kaja Juvan - 3.5 Games @ 1.91 Bet Fred (2 Units)
Alison Riske - 2.5 Games @ 2.00 Paddy Power (2 Units)
Angelique Kerber - 4.5 Games @ 2.10 Paddy Power (2 Units)
Ons Jabeur - 6.5 Games @ 2.10 Bet Fred (2 Units)
Wimbledon 2022: 29-24, + 4.84 Units (106 Units Staked, + 4.57% Yield)
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