Fresh off the French Open final Stefanos Tsitsipas will begin again in a grand slam tournament against Frances Tiafoe who has plenty of talent to disrupt the Greek’s path to the next round. Our panelists have all the predictions for day 1 at Wimbledon to go with this set of matches.
Stefanos Tsitsipas vs Frances Tiafoe
Pablo Mosquera Hasselbaink : A lot has been said about Tsitsipas’ woes on grass. Massive overreaction. He qualified for Wimbledon in 2017 as an 18-year-old, reached the round of 16 in 2018 and sure, bowed out too soon to Tomas Fabbiano in 2019, but his head was still in that brutal five-set loss to Stan Wawrinka at the French Open. Tiafoe has logged a lot of match play the last three weeks and will not bend the knee, but the Greek star will make a statement. Tsitsipas in 4
Steen Kirby: A title at the Nottingham challenger and the quarterfinals at ATP London Queens was a great way for Tiafoe to prepare for the grass court Grand Slam. Tsitsipas leads the h2h 3-0 though and during his great season has proven himself as simply one of the best players in men’s tennis right now. This will be a mountain to climb for Tiafoe, and Tsitsipas should figure it out as the matches goes on, finding form on grass. Tsitsipas in 5
Andreas Seppi vs Joao Sousa
Pablo: Sousa desperately needs a few wins unless he wants to fall off a cliff, rankings-wise. The Portuguese has only won a main draw match since 2019 Shanghai. Let that sink in. For some reason, Sousa refuses to play Challengers, unlike Seppi. The 37-year-old Italian has to be favored here, although Sousa holds a narrow 3-2 head-to-head lead. Seppi in 4
Steen: The style of both Seppi and Sousa is bound to produce some quality rallies in this match, Sousa is just 1-11 on the season though and far removed from being a top 50 player like he was. In fact, a 2-20 record over the last two seasons is one of the worst ever for an ATP player. Seppi was a quarterfinalist in Eastbourne and the Nottingham challenger, both on grass. He’s capable on this surface and experienced. A win for Seppi would even the h2h, as Sousa leads it 3-2. Seppi in 3
Pablo Cuevas vs Laslo Djere
Pablo: Who doesn’t love a duel between two clear clay-courters at Wimbledon? Cuevas is more versatile so he gets my vote here. It won’t be the most popular match on Monday, but it should be a real battle. Cuevas in 4
Steen: Djere won their only meeting, which came on both players’ preferred surface, clay. Djere has had a solid season but his grass court record is terrible. Cuevas once reached a tour final on grass and has a little more experience. He can grind out a win. Cuevas in 4
John Millman vs Pablo Bautista Agut
Pablo: These two have played each other six times. Millman won the first meeting at a $15K Futures back in 2009 and Bautista Agut cleaned up the other five duels. The Spaniard needs a strong performance at Wimbledon to remain in the Top 10, given that he reached the semis in 2019. Weirdly, the Castellon native has underachieved at the major level ever since. I don’t think Bautista will go really deep, but he won’t be stopped by Millman. Bautista Agut in 3
Steen: RBA dominates the h2h and did reach the Mallorca quarters in preparation for Wimbledon. His record on grass is good, and although Millman’s is also good, the h2h record speaks for itself. An upset is possible but Bautista Agut’s five tool game should prove too much once again for Millman. Bautista Agut in 4
Main Photo:
