Wimbledon Day 2 will feature former finalist Marin Cilic in action against Adrian Mannarino, Marcos Baghdatis perhaps playing his final professional match against Jan-Lennard Struff, and shotmakers Bernard Tomic and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga facing off. Our panel of Steen Kirby and Yesh Ginsburg offer their predictions. (We also 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 Sam Querrey vs Dominic Thiem.)
Fabio Fognini vs Frances Tiafoe
Steen: Fognini is not a grass court player, Tiafoe hits a bigger ball and will be more at home on this surface. Despite Fognini having a good season and being the better player in terms of ranking, this is Tiafoe’s time to grab a solid opening round win. Tiafoe in 4
Yesh: Fabio Fognini is the better player in this matchup, but not on grass. Tiafoe is still looking for a huge breakthrough, and starting off with a win over Fognini here will put him on the right track. Tiafoe in 4
Marin Cilic vs Adrian Mannarino:
Steen: Cilic is in terrible form and has been all season, he’s far from showing the kind of tennis that saw him win a Grand Slam and also make a Wimbledon final during the best parts of his career. Mannarino is a tricky opponent on a fast surface and could trouble the better known Croat. I expect Cilic to come through, but I don’t expect much from him right now if we’re being honest. Cilic in 5
Yesh: This is a rough draw for both players. Cilic is a former finalist who suffered an early loss last year. Mannarino is slowly but steadily improving, and could have made a deep run with the right draw. Unfortunately for him, this isn’t the right draw. Cilic in 4
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga vs Bernard Tomic
Steen: Tomic has always been capable on grass but most of the time he’s just showing up to collect a prize money check rather than compete these days. Tsonga is in the twilight of his career and far removed from his best years, but he still has enough game to avoid the upset in this one. Tomic may be too far mentally gone to revive his career. Tsonga in 3
Yesh: This is another shame of a first-round match. Tomic has been on hiatus from being a top player for a few years now, but he always brings his best on grass. The same is true of Tsonga, those his woes have been more with injury than motivation. This should be a tight match, and anyone can win. I’ll take the Frenchman, if he’s healthy. Tsonga in 5
Marcos Baghdatis vs Jan-Lennard Struff
(Editor’s Note: After publishing, withdrawals forced changes to the seeding. Baghdatis will face Brayden Schnur. Struff will instead face Radu Albot.)
Steen: Baghdatis has mostly vanished from the main tour in the last years of his career, but he’s still a capable shotmaker and a fan favorite. Now that he’s retiring at Wimbledon I don’t see him going out quite yet to Struff. Struff is not great under pressure, and though Baghdatis isn’t particularly fit, he should work to get this one other quickly and continue his final tournament. Baghdatis in 3
Yesh: This may be the last match of Marcos Baghdatis’ career. He will retire after Wimbledon. Struff is playing well, but I think the Cypriot has one more win left in him–for old times’ sake. Baghdatis in 4
Main Photo:
