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 Andreas Pelekis. Who do you think will advance?
Wimbledon Day 1 Men’s Predictions
Lloyd Harris vs Gregoire Barrere
Jack:
Lloyd Harris’s serve is brilliant. The South African is a former Top 40 player and is back to serving close to his best. Though Gregoire Barrere will put up a good fight, Harris can afford to relax in his return games, especially over the best-of-five set format.
Prediction: Harris in 5
Damian:
Quietly one of the matches of the round in my opinion with both guys going on runs in the last warm-ups. Should be lots of quality serving and taking the ball early. Harris is better in the former, Barrere probably in the latter. Think the serve advantage might mean more.
Prediction: Harris in 4
Andreas:
Harris is coming off a heartbreaker in his tune-up event in Mallorca, as he failed to convert eight match points against eventual champion Eubanks, crashing out 7-6 (11-9) in a final set tiebreak. There could be some potential residual against Barrere, a solid player reliant on counterpunching tennis. The Frenchman made the semifinals of Eastbourne, but he most notably challenged Tsitsipas in what was the Greek’s lone grass court win all year. Ultimately, look for Barrere to win this one.
Prediction: Barrere in 4
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Roberto Bautista Agut vs Roman Safiullin
Jack:
Roberto Bautista Agut isn’t a former Wimbledon semifinalist by accident. He has the game to avoid the booming forehand of Roman Safiullin, and his run in Halle would suggest he can still play to that level. I could see Safiullin having the power to take advantage of the first week’s slick courts but RBA should come through in the long run.
Prediction: Bautista Agut in 4
Damian:
Bautista Agut is such a fantastic grass-court player, but this season it seems like the decline is starting to set in quite rapidly. However, he’s coming off a great run in Halle, which might give him the fuel to go deep here too. The draw is there for him, but will he take it and produce another run at SW19?
Prediction: Bautista Agut in 4
Andreas:
Contrary to Bautista Agut’s mediocre clay court season, the Spaniard’s playing excellent tennis on the grass. Bautista Agut stunned Medvedev in the quarterfinals of Halle, making a limited number of unforced errors. Wimbledon is surprisingly his best major, with Agut putting up a 73% win percentage, and reaching the semifinals of the 2019 tournament. This should be a great opportunity to ease into the draw; Safullin has been relegated to the qualifying level of ATP tournaments as of late.
Prediction: Bautista Agut in 3
Diego Schwartzman vs Miomir Kecmanovic
Jack:
This one could be close. Neither player has the serve to make life easy for themselves in these conditions. With the first few days generally being the fastest in the tournament coupled with either player’s respective forms, however, Miomir Kecmanovic should have the slight edge over Diego Schwartzman.
Prediction: Kecmanovic in 4
Damian:
Schwartzman at this point is a bit of a complete mess and will probably not be okay unless he plates a few South American Challengers later in the year. Kecmanovic is not the worst draw he could have gotten though and there is an outside chance for him to win this for sure.
Prediction: Kecmanovic in 4
Andreas:
This is definitely a 50-50 matchup on paper. While Schwartzman’s continuously suffered a poor 2023, his demolition job of McDonald in the Cinch Championships showed fans he’s still able to produce solid performances. Yet, his subsequent match against De Minaur exposed the flaws in his overly defensive game. Against the grass, his deep returning style won’t work against opponents, yet Kecmanovic similarly has been wildly consistent. The Serb’s issues notably come down to his lack of mental strength, evident in his disappointing fifth set tiebreak loss against Vavassori in the French. Even with Schwartzman’s enervated groundstrokes, the Argentine may win this one due to his mental strength and admirable will on the court.
Prediction: Schwartzman in 4
Felix Auger-Aliassime vs Michael Mmoh
Jack:
Michael Mmoh didn’t have an easy time of it in qualifying. He can be a little passive, turning every match into a bit of a slog. Even though Felix Auger-Aliassime has been a bit rusty, this style of play is particularly incompatible with the Canadian’s polished one-two punch on this surface.
Prediction: Auger-Aliassime in 4
Damian:
Mmoh goes in for Krajinovic and that probably doesn’t change all that much for Auger-Aliassime. While the Canadian has been out of form, the courts suit him and his opponent is coming back from an injury himself plus looked like a bit of a mess in the qualifying.
Prediction: Auger-Aliassime in 3
Andreas:
After Filip Krajnovic withdrew from the Championships, Auger-Aliassime’s life got a lot easier this fortnight. The Canadian had to withdraw from Halle with continued injury struggles, all while his weapons have disappeared in recent events. This is a great opportunity for Mmoh to challenge himself against Top 30 opposition, but the American’s game lacks power and depth. As long as Auger-Aliassime serves well, he should move into the second round. With the Canadian unable to play a grass court match yet, his rustiness should give Mmoh a set and perhaps a second.
Prediction: Auger-Aliassime in 4
Main Photo Credit: Susan Mullane-USA TODAY Sports
