Austria’s Dominic Thiem has a tough matchup against Sam Querrey in the opening round of Wimbledon, while Querrey’s fellow American Taylor Fritz looks to knock off Tomas Berdych and get his tournament off to a roaring start. Steen Kirby and Yesh Ginsburg offer their predictions. (And don’t worry, we have predictions for three other sets of matches too. One features Rafael Nadal vs Yuichi Sugita, the second highlights Roger Federer vs Lloyd Harris, and the third headlines Jo-Wilfried Tsonga vs Bernard Tomic.)
Dominic Thiem vs Sam Querrey
Steen: Querrey is playing well on grass in the UK right now and Thiem is not the best grass court player. Despite his accomplishments on other surfaces (including clay) he’s vulnerable to an upset here and I have him going out to the American who has always been capable on faster surfaces. Querrey in 5
Yesh: This is a rough draw for Dominic Thiem. Querrey is a former Wimbledon semifinalist who loves the grass. He’s also looking in solid form, having reached the final in Eastbourne last week. There’s an upset brewing here. Querrey in 4
James Ward vs Nikoloz Basilashvili
Steen: A great opportunity for “Wardy” here, the longtime British journeyman who has been in the shadows of Andy Murray, Kyle Edmund, and other British players, has a real shot to notch an upset against a solid tour level player at Wimbledon. Basilashvili has built a nice career for himself but this is not his surface and Ward should find enough comfort in playing at home to score a huge upset. Ward in 4
Yesh: Basilashvili has been very quiet recently, though he’s still in the Top 20. Facing James Ward in front of a British crowd won’t be fun, but he has the talent to see this through. Basilashvili in 4
Kei Nishikori vs Thiago Monteiro
Steen: Nishikori is tough to read right now. He could make a deep run at Wimbledon and put himself in contention for the second week or crash out early. Despite his uncertain form, Monteiro is one of the easier round 1 opponents, the Brazilian is not comfortable on this surface and still has limited tour experience. He’s happy to be here but won’t expect much against the Japanese #1. Nishikori in 3
Yesh: For some reason, Nishikori just can’t find success at Wimbledon. Last year’s quarterfinal appearance is his only trip past Manic Monday. We’ll see if that matters later this week, but Thiago Monteiro isn’t the right player to stop him. Nishikori in 3
Taylor Fritz vs Tomas Berdych
Steen: On paper Berdych is the bigger name but these players are headed in opposite directions in terms of their career trajectories. Berdych hasn’t been a top tier player in a while while Fritz is rising and just won his maiden ATP title to claim a career high ranking. If Fritz isn’t overly fatigued, he’ll get the win against Berdych. Fritz in 3
Yesh: Fritz is coming off the first ATP title of his career, with an impressive win over Sam Querrey in the Eastbourne final. Berdych is a seasoned veteran and a good grass player, but this is a rough draw. Fritz is playing too well, and just beat up someone with a similar skill set to Berdych. Fritz in 4
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