Felix Auger-Aliassime takes on serve and volleyer Maxime Cressy on day 2 of the Wimbledon Championships in London in one of the most exciting matches of the first round. We have predictions for every day 2 match including Rafael Nadal’s opening match.
Felix Auger-Aliassime vs Maxime Cressy
Damian Kust: An absolute nightmare of a draw for Felix Auger-Aliassime. Maxime Cressy gives you absolutely no rhythm from the ground with his serve-and-volleying style. The Canadian isn’t the best problem-solver and Cressy can make any match way more of a 50/50 than it should be. Cressy in 5
Jakub Bobro: An absolute popcorn match in the first round and a big challenge for Auger-Aliassime. The Canadian made his first slam quarterfinal here last year, following it up with more success at the majors. Auger-Aliassime looked good but not great at Den Bosch and Halle with Karen Khachanov being the best win. Cressy is probably the best serve and volleyer on tour today and he comes in off of the Eastbourne final. The 21-year-old will definitely be pushed but I believe he is on a level where he can problem-solve this match. Auger-Aliassime in 5
Alex de Minaur vs Hugo Dellien
Damian: This should be very straightforward, Alex de Minaur’s game often shines on this surface and he’s just played very well to make the semifinal at Eastbourne. This will be Hugo Dellien’s fifth-ever match on grass. de Minaur in 3
Jakub: De Minaur is a pretty strong grass player with a 35-18 record and titles from Eastbourne and the Nottingham Challenger. Dellien has somehow only played three grass tournaments in his career and has just one win. Even on his beloved clay, the Bolivian is struggling, so I expect De Minaur to go through easily. de Minaur in 3
Roberto Bautista Agut vs Attila Balazs
Damian: Attila Balazs hasn’t managed to get going yet after coming back to the sport from a long injury hiatus. Roberto Bautista Agut is a former Wimbledon semifinalist and should be way too strong to even struggle here. Bautista Agut in 3
Jakub: Bautista Agut is a former semifinalist here and made the second week in four out of his last five appearances. The 34-year-old had a bit of a down season last year and started great this year with the Doha title. The Spaniard only played Madrid in the clay season but has looked great on grass, pushing Stefanos Tsitsipas to a third-set tiebreak in the final of Mallorca. Balazs made his comeback in April after a 15-month hiatus, not playing since the 2021 Australian Open. The Hungarian is 2-4 and yet to put up an impressive performance. Balazs won just three games against Marin Cilic at the French Open and the 33-year-old could very well suffer a similar defeat if he is just using a protected ranking to pick up first-round prize money. Bautista Agut in 3
Sam Querrey vs Ricardas Berankis
Damian: The grass season will be a huge blow to Sam Querrey’s ranking, making him end up at about 290th in the world when all points drop. The American showed he can still be competitive on this surface though and the serve remains a force. Querrey in 4
Jakub: An interesting meeting of two veterans here. Querrey looked cooked to me when he won just four games against Zsombor Piros at Roland Garros Qualifying but the 34-year-old has come alive on grass. He is obviously far from his peak at Wimbledon, his famous wins over Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray are a long time ago. Querrey looked decent though, especially at Queen’s Club, where he beat Diego Schwartzman. Berankis has also played sparingly this season but reached his 23rd career Challenger final at Lille in March. The Lithuanian has not won since though. That combined with the fact he has never been past the second round at Wimbledon and Querrey’s 3-0 head-to-head lead makes the American a favorite. Querrey in 4
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