Day 5 at Wimbledon usually means the start of the third round, but this year we’ll get a mix of second- and third-round matches due to the rainy first week. We get 16 men’s matches on Friday, eight from each round. However, we were expecting three of those matches to be played on Thursday, so we’ve already predicted those in other articles (including Carlos Alcaraz vs Alexandre Muller and Cameron Norrie vs Christopher Eubanks). We are going to predict the other 13 matches for you now, split between four articles. In addition to this article, the others feature Holger Rune vs Roberto Carballes Baena, Jannik Sinner vs Quentin Halys, and Andrey Rublev vs David Goffin. Predicting these matches are Jordan Reynolds, Yesh Ginsburg, and Damian Kust.
Wimbledon Day 5 Men’s Predictions
Jason Kubler vs Nicolas Jarry
Jordan:
Kubler reached the fourth round last year and has a great chance to do it again. Jarry is a clay court specialist, but in the first round came up Marco Cecchinato who has a 12-59 win/loss record outside of clay. Kubler to win.
Prediction: Kubler in 4
Yesh:
Jarry has serious potential on every surface, but he doesn’t yet love the grass. Kubler, meanwhile, is a solid player who shines on this surface. I think the Australian’s run continues.
Prediction: Kubler in 4
Damian:
Jarry and his big serve can work on grass, even if his ground game is usually much cleaner with a higher bounce. It will be interesting to see how Kubler fares against him, but it feels like the Australian has the more multi-dimensional skillset and his craftiness could shine here.
Prediction: Kubler in 4
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Guido Pella vs Roman Safiullin
Jordan:
Pella is an interesting case. Almost every final he has reached at ATP and Challenger level is on clay, yet has reached a quarterfinal at Wimbledon and knocked out 13th seed Borna Ćorić in the first round. Safiullin is a dangerous player and this could be close. Pella to edge it.
Prediction: Pella in 5
Yesh:
Pella has never loved grass, but his opponent hasn’t shown much affinity for it, either. Safiullin’s power might give him an advantage, but he also has a tendency to overhit or be inconsistent at times. That makes Pella a safer pick, though I can’t be confident about it.
Prediction: Pella in 4
Damian:
Pella’s grass efforts over the years have been quite astonishing, especially considering how poor his records on this surface once were. He’s tough to play against and will try to overcome the power difference here with his smart lefty tennis. He might just do that.
Prediction: Pella in 5
Novak Djokovic vs Stan Wawrinka
Jordan:
Finally after all their epic battles, these two titans of tennis meet on grass. It is wonderful to still see Wawrinka playing at a good level at the age of 36 and he is a favorite of mine. But at the only Grand Slam the Swiss has never won I just struggle to make a case for how he can topple Djokovic.
Prediction: Djokovic in 3
Yesh:
At some point during the last decade, Wawrinka became Djokovic’s kryptonite at Majors. Something about the Swiss’ style led to long, grueling matches that let him overpower Djokovic in the end. Wawrinka is a shadow of that version of himself now, though, while Djokovic is as dominant as ever. This won’t be close, unfortunately.
Prediction: Djokovic in 3
Damian:
22-6 head-to-head doesn’t look that promising, but the 4-4 in Slam main draws? Maybe Wawrinka can actually push Djokovic here. Yeah, he’s not that good on grass, but the bounce at Wimbledon isn’t ultra-low anyway and his serve should help. He always liked the longer format too, I’ll give him a set.
Prediction: Djokovic in 4
Main Photo Credit: Susan Mullane-USA TODAY Sports
