Unfortunately the bad news is that the poor weather is set to return to South West London in the coming days and it could lead to more frustrations for those on the outside courts. The Doubles events at Wimbledon are going to be most affected, but the Singles event will also be severely impacted if we get anything like the poor weather we have seen earlier this week.
Day 6 does look like a day in which there are going to be moments when players need to come on and off court, but that may be good news for some of those in the draw who have already been playing catch up without earning any kind of break.
We are close to the second week of the tournament when a large majority of the Singles matches can be scheduled for the two courts that have a roof, which is a major bonus, but the next couple of days are still fairly busy and it might just mean more frustration for those who have not had the benefit of playing on Centre Court or Court One.
Friday was a difficult day for British Tennis fans with all three players in the Gentlemen's draw exiting within a couple of hours,
Liam Broady played well, but could not quite match the intensity he had in the win over Casper Ruud as he slipped to a four set defeat, while Cameron Norrie will be extremely disappointed in losing in four sets to Christopher Eubanks twelve months after making the Semi Final here.
Most disappointing may be the defeat suffered by Andy Murray in the Second Round.
The former two time Champion was genuinely distraught at going out as early as he has at Wimbledon and Andy Murray was speaking like someone who is going to be considering whether he wants to keep playing professional tennis. My feeling is that he was speaking in the heat of the moment after a very tight loss, but Andy Murray has shown again that there is still enough quality in his tennis to believe he can yet have an impact at the very highest level.
His return is not at the level it was when he won three Grand Slam titles and getting that back will not be easy, but Murray will hopefully have a couple of weeks off and then look for a strong couple of runs ahead of the US Open to get back into the Seeding positions for the major tournaments. This will certainly help him build himself into tournaments in the future and he can return to Wimbledon in 2024 with a bit more confidence a higher level, but it is a tough sport and Murray will have to work out whether he really wants to put in the work to improve the results.
Regardless, Andy Murray has made his mark on the sport and I do hope we still have more moments to enjoy before he does call time on his career.
It was a tough day for the Tennis Picks, but the winners eventually begun to come together to keep the totals in a positive place.
More work has to be done to make sure the third Grand Slam of the season can finish with a winning record and the tournament still has eight days to run before the 2023 Champions are decided.
Below you can see the selections from Day 6 at the tournament when the remainder of the Third Round is set to be played, weather permitting, and the totals are now completely updated with the tournament back on track.
Daniil Medvedev - 5.5 games v Marton Fucsovics: An unfamiliar home player caused Daniil Medvedev one or two problems in the First Round, but most anticipated a much tougher battle for the former World Number 1 in the Second Round. This time he was taking on a grass court specialist in Adrian Mannarino and a player who holds multiple wins over Daniil Medvedev on the surface.
He might not have given himself a very high grade for the First Round win, but Daniil Medvedev was impressive in dismissing Mannarino in straight sets. The serve looks to be working pretty effectively on the grass, despite poor results in the warm up events and Daniil Medvedev has shown in the past that he is a capable performer at Wimbledon, although he has only made the second week once before.
The loss in 2021 to Hubert Hurkacz in the Fourth Round really stung Daniil Medvedev, but he looks to be in a decent section from which he can reach the Quarter Final for the first time at the very least.
Once again the Number 3 Seed is going to have to show focus and avoid allowing frustration to set in as he takes on another solid grass court player in Marton Fucsovics. In 2021, the Hungarian reached the Quarter Final at Wimbledon, but the former Junior Champion at The Championships has otherwise a surprisingly poor record on the grass considering the game he possesses.
Injuries have not helped the World Ranking, but the Number 67 Ranked player is set for a positive move in those standings having won two matches at Wimbledon. Marton Fucsovics has impressed having dropped a single set and he reached the Final in Stuttgart after coming through the Qualifiers in preparation for Wimbledon this year.
The return has been a big weapon for Marton Fucsovics in his first two wins in the draw, while he showed that he can really back up his serve in his wins over Denis Shapovalov and Taylor Fritz last month. Marton Fucsovics also holds a win over Daniil Medvedev at a Grand Slam event when beating the Russian at the French Open in 2020, but this is a different kind of test for him and much will depend on how many first serves Fucsovics can get into play.
You know Daniil Medvedev will be happy to sit deep in the court and try and get as many balls back into play and see if he can wear down his opponent and that has proven to be an effective plan in his two wins.
As long as Medvedev serves as he has been in the first two Rounds, the feeling is that he can ride through a couple of tough opening sets before seeing Marton Fucsovics perhaps just melt away in what is expected to be cooler conditions at Wimbledon on Saturday.
Alexander Zverev v Matteo Berrettini: If the conditions are as wet as some are forecasting, it could mean this Third Round match is going to be played under the roof on Court One and that should only increase the chances of this being a big-serving match.
Regardless of an indoor or outdoor setting, both Alexander Zverev and Matteo Berrettini have certainly been getting plenty out of their serve in their first two wins this week at Wimbledon.
Both have been impacted by the weather and it does mean they are playing a lot more tennis on successive days than they would be used to under the Grand Slam schedule. Both are going to be playing for a third day in a row, although Matteo Berrettini's First Round match was played over three days, while Alexander Zverev was forced to wait until Thursday to hit a ball in anger for the first time in competitive action at Wimbledon.
Matteo Berrettini is a former Wimbledon Finalist and he has won multiple titles on the grass courts, while wins over Lorenzo Sonego and Alex De Minaur have to be respected at Wimbledon. The form has been somewhat surprising considering Matteo Berrettini was forced to miss much of the clay court season and was well beaten in his only warm up match played on the grass, but the Italian is clearly enjoying being back at Wimbledon after missing out in 2022 when impacted by Covid.
His record on the grass and at Wimbledon is considerably superior to Alexander Zverev, but the latter has won both matches having dropped a single set and was a relatively comfortable winner in the Second Round. It should mean Alexander Zverev has plenty left in the tank despite getting ready to play his third full match on consecutive days, while a run to the Semi Final in Halle to follow his Semi Final run at the French Open will have restored some confidence.
Serving has been key for both of these players and there is every chance that we are going to see a potentially long match with tie-breakers needed to separate the two in this big Third Round match.
If Matteo Berrettini had been playing more tennis of late, he might have been an appealing player to back on the surface. However, it has long felt like Alexander Zverev has the tools to be an effective grass court player, while the German has won three of the four completed matches played between these two and also was leading Matteo Berrettini at the Tour Finals in November 2021 before the latter had to retire mid-match.
In their previous matches, Alexander Zverev's serve has been the more effective with holds in 90% of service games played compared with Matteo Berrettini's 80% mark. While none of those have been on the grass, which is Berrettini's favourite surface, the feeling is that Alexander Zverev will offer the most significant test of the Italian's fitness and can break him down over four or five sets.
MY PICKS: Daniil Medvedev - 5.5 Games @ 1.95 Coral (2 Units)
Alexander Zverev @ 1.80 Bet Victor (2 Units)
Grigor Dimitrov @ 2.00 Bet Victor (2 Units)
Tommy Paul @ 1.83 Bet Victor (2 Units)
Carlos Alcaraz - 6.5 Games @ 2.00 Bet365 (2 Units)
Holger Rune - 1.5 Sets @ 1.66 Paddy Power (2 Units)
Christopher Eubanks - 1.5 Sets @ 2.00 Paddy Power (2 Units)
Ons Jabeur - 4.5 Games @ 1.91 Coral (2 Units)
Beatriz Haddad Maia - 1.5 Games @ 1.90 Bet Victor (2 Units)
Elena Rybakina - 4.5 Games @ 1.70 Bet Victor (2 Units)
Elena Rybakina - 4.5 Games @ 1.70 Bet Victor (2 Units)
Madison Keys - 3.5 Games @ 1.72 Bet365 (2 Units)
Ekaterina Alexandrova - 4.5 Games @ 1.75 Coral (2 Units)
Wimbledon Update: 42-34, + 6.88 Units (152 Units Staked, + 4.53% Yield)
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