Monday means Day 1 of the 2023 Wimbledon Championships. Half of the first round will be contested, which means we get to see 32 men’s matches. As always, our writers here at LWOT will try to share our thoughts on all of the matches for you. We split the 32 matches between eight articles. Our other articles for Day 1 feature Felix Auger-Aliassime vs Filip Krajinovic, Lorenzo Musetti vs Juan Pablo Varillas, Nick Kyrgios vs David Goffin, Hubert Hurkacz vs Albert Ramos-Vinolas, Casper Ruud vs Laurent Lokoli, Andrey Rublev vs Max Purcell, and John Isner vs Jaume Munar. Predicting this set of matches are Jack Edward, Damian Kust, and Jakub Bobro. Who do you think will advance?
Wimbledon Day 1 Men’s Predictions
Yoshihito Nishioka vs Daniel Elahi Galan
Jack:
Yoshihito Nishioka is a lovely player but the lack of serve and loopy forehand make him pretty vulnerable on grass. If he can get his backhand into play often, it might be tricky but Daniel Galan is a quality enough opponent to likely avoid a loss here.
Prediction: Galan in 4
Damian:
Who’s got a better shot on grass? Maybe Galan, whose serve and forehand game is quite conventional, but patterns like that just work really well on the surface. Nishioka can put the ball in very uncomfortable spots and yet somehow it never truly worked out for him on the lawn.
Prediction: Galan in 5
Jakub:
Nishioka is one of the weaker seeds in this draw, not playing a single warm-up event and winning just one grass match since 2016. Galan got a couple of lower-Challenger-level wins over Maxime Janvier and Jan Choinski in Eastbourne qualifying. Don’t be fooled by the Colombian’s third-round run here last year, it is very unlikely to be replicated.
Prediction: Nishioka in 4
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Alexander Bublik vs Mackenzie McDonald
Jack:
You probably won’t see a tougher run to a 500 title all year than Alexander Bublik’s in Halle. Even the Kazakh is now taking his Wimbledon hopes pretty seriously as he withdrew from Mallorca. It’s a difficult first round for sure but his first serve can be nigh-untouchable if he’s on.
Prediction: Bublik in 4
Damian:
Bublik won Halle and is entering a Slam with plenty of expectations for maybe the first time in his career. This is already a banana skin, though, with McDonald’s flat game and some decent confidence coming off a semifinal (which he totally blew though). Bublik will need to be sharp and motivated.
Prediction: Bublik in 5
Jakub:
Bublik has proven his grass pedigree year after year, taking it to the next level this year with an ATP 500 title in Halle. He will not have it easy against McDonald, the American being a better grass-court player than most think with a 29-19 career record. McDonald beat Borna Coric in Hertogenbosch and Taylor Fritz in Eastbourne. I think Bublik will come through a tough opener here.
Prediction: Bublik in 5
Aleksandar Vukic vs Daniel Altmaier
Jack:
Aleksandar Vukic should be more suited to grass than Daniel Altmaier. I think the Aussie will be able to come up with something big enough in the crunch moments to get the win in what will likely be a close match.
Prediction: Vukic in 5
Damian:
Altmaier was injured recently and generally doesn’t perform on grass. Vukic is yet to master it too, but he has a way more natural play style for the surface. His warm-up swing wasn’t amazing, but he probably got himself to a point where he should take this in Eastbourne.
Prediction: Vukic in 4
Jakub:
Vukic started his second-ever grass season with three straight losses but after getting a couple of easier wins in Eastbourne qualifying, he beat Brandon Nakashima. Altmaier has a 4-8 record on grass over the past three seasons and had to retire from his last match in Halle. Vukic should enter as a favorite.
Prediction: Vukic in 4
Andrey Rublev vs Max Purcell
Jack:
Andrey Rublev didn’t win Halle but his run to the final was seriously impressive. Max Purcell is actually a pretty tricky first-round on grass but Rublev’s Wimbledon chances grew for me after his week in Germany.
Prediction: Rublev in 4
Damian:
Will this get tricky for Rublev? It could, especially if Purcell had a better grass campaign. The Australian was injured though and only played one match in what should be a great hunting ground for him. He’ll cause his opponents some nightmares with the slice here, but I can’t pick him when he has no momentum.
Prediction: Rublev in 4
Jakub:
Rublev had a solid showing in his run to the Halle final, getting decent wins over Tallon Griekspoor and Roberto Bautista Agut. The Russian has never advanced past the fourth round here with just one second-week appearance. Purcell’s game is very well-suited to grass, coming in as a defending doubles champion. The Australian has also had singles grass success in previous years but played just one warm-up on the surface this season, losing to Feliciano Lopez in his Mallorca opener. Purcell will provide an interesting challenge but one that Rublev should overcome.
Prediction: Rublev in 4
Main Photo Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports
