The last couple of days have been extremely disappointing for the Tennis Picks, but I am hoping to end the first week of the Grand Slam in a strong position.
Nick Kyrgios - 1.5 sets v Stefanos Tsitsipas: The bottom half of the Men's draw at Wimbledon has really been opened up following the withdrawals of Marin Cilic and, in particular, Matteo Berrettini. We have yet to see Rafael Nadal play his best tennis, although the Spaniard is clearly dangerous the longer he gets to hang around at the tournament to try and find the tennis that won him the title here.
That could leave a potential opening for a surprise Finalist and this Third Round match could provide the winner with the momentum to be that surprise Finalist.
Not many would have picked Stefanos Tsitsipas to get out of this half of the draw even after winning the title in Mallorca last week and that is largely down to the inconsistent form shown on the grass courts in his career. The disappointing early loss in Paris has meant Stefanos Tsitsipas has taken in more grass court warm up events than we have been used to from him, but the results have been better than the raw numbers.
Nick Kyrgios is another player that won't have been tipped up for a Wimbledon Final, but that is more down to the Australian's approach to his tennis rather than his actual quality. There is no doubting how good Nick Kyrgios can be on his day and he showed that in the Second Round, but he did not play as well as he would have liked in the First Round when pushed to five sets by unheralded Paul Jubb and it is that inconsistency that has made it hard to tip up Kyrgios in any tournament he plays.
He has had a strong summer on the grass without winning a title, but the defeats to Andy Murray and Hubert Hurkacz are easy ones to absorb and move on. No one should doubt that Nick Kyrgios has a game that is tailor made for the grass courts, and he will also benefit from playing an opponent he has beaten in all three previous pro matches, including on the grass courts of Halle a couple of weeks ago.
Nick Kyrgios had to come from a set down that day, but he was the much stronger player of the two and that mental edge should give him every chance of winning this match too. His serve can be a huge weapon and Stefanos Tsitsipas has only been winning 30% of return points on the grass courts prior to the start of Wimbledon.
I have to respect the performance produced by Stefanos Tsitsipas in the Second Round against a competent Australian grass court player, but this is a huge step up from Jordan Thompson.
In their previous matches, the Nick Kyrgios serve has proved to be slightly stronger and it was the case when they met in Halle. He has won 74% of service points played against Stefanos Tsitsipas and that has led to holds in 93% of service games played, while the Tsitsipas 71% and 89% numbers are not weak by any means.
However, the match in Halle saw Nick Kyrgios get a lot more out of his return and I do think he is capable of winning this match and looking impressive in doing so.
Botic Van de Zandschlup - 1.5 sets v Richard Gasquet: As a player that has long been pretty comfortable on the grass courts, it was a surprise to see Richard Gasquet take in a clay court Challenger event rather than any warm up events on this surface.
It hasn't held him back from making the Third Round at Wimbledon, but the Richard Gasquet run could come to an end against the Queens Semi Finalist Botic Van de Zandschlup who has played some solid tennis in SW19 too.
The Dutchman may not be the most experienced of grass court players out there, but he has shown his serve can be a major weapon for him and I expect that to at least give Richard Gasquet something to think about. Botic Van de Zandschlup has also been able to get something from the return games in the build towards Wimbledon and I do think he is going to be encouraged by the tennis that Joao Sousa and Mackenzie McDonald were able to produce in return games against Gasquet in the first two Rounds here.
It has been a long time since Richard Gasquet would have arrived at Wimbledon with genuine ambitions to try and win the title, but I do have to respect the fact that the veteran has been very comfortable playing on the surface. It should give him confidence, but I do think he could be under significant pressure from Botic Van de Zanschlup if the Dutchman serves as well as he can and that could see the scoreboard play a part in going against Richard Gasquet.
The numbers have not been that strong in the warm up to Wimbledon, but Botic Van de Zandschlup has built confidence with his run at Queens. Those are largely impacted by the blow out loss to Emil Ruusuvuori in Hertogenbosch, but Botic Van de Zandschlup has avenged that defeat by beating the same opponent convincingly in the Second Round at Wimbledon and I do think his serve is going to get him out of one or two more jams than Richard Gasquet will be able to manage.
I expect to see the younger player come through in three or four sets.
MY PICKS: Nick Kyrgios - 1.5 Sets @ 2.50 Paddy Power (2 Units)
Botic Van de Zandschlup - 1.5 Sets @ 1.72 Paddy Power (2 Units)
Alex De Minaur - 6.5 Games @ 1.91 Bet Fred (2 Units)
Brandon Nakashima - 6.5 Games @ 1.75 Bet Victor (2 Units)
Alex Molcan-Taylor Fritz Over 37.5 Games @ 1.85 Bet Victor (2 Units)
Jason Kubler @ 2.50 Bet Fred (2 Units)
Ajla Tomljanovic @ 2.10 Bet Victor (2 Units)
Elena Rybakina - 2.5 Games @ 1.75 Bet Victor (2 Units)
Petra Kvitova - 2.5 Games @ 2.00 Bet Fred (2 Units)
Cori Gauff - 3.5 Games @ 1.80 Paddy Power (2 Units)
Katie Boulter - 3.5 Games @ 1.80 Bet Fred (2 Units)
Wimbledon 2022: 33-31, - 1.26 Units (128 Units Staked, - 1% Yield)
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