Day 2 at Wimbledon will see the conclusion of the first round. That means there are 32 men’s matches on offer on Tuesday, and–as always–we here at LWOT will share our thoughts on all of them with you. We split the day’s 32 matches between eight articles. The other seven articles feature Carlos Alcaraz vs Jeremy Chardy, Stefanos Tsitsipas vs Dominic Thiem, Holger Rune vs George Loffhagen, Alex de Minaur vs Kimmer Coppejans, Daniil Medvedev vs Arthur Fery, Andy Murray vs Ryan Peniston, and Frances Tiafoe vs Yibing Wu. Predicting this set of matches are Shane Black, Jakub Bobro, Damian Kust. Who do you think will advance?
Wimbledon Day 2 Men’s Predictions
Sebastian Korda vs Jiri Vesely
Shane:
22-year-American Sebastian Korda is my dark horse to make a run deep into the second week in London. His fluidity is suited for the grass. Jiri Vesely is a solid grass-court player, but I do not think he cannot overcome Korda’s serve.
Prediction: Korda in 4
Jakub:
I’ve seen many tip Korda for a deep run here but Vesely will be a tougher first round than most expect. The experienced Czech has a game suited to grass and will give Korda a tough early test here.
Prediction: Korda in 5
Damian:
Everyone’s picking Korda to go deep here. I’m in that church too, but his opener is fairly tricky. Handling the big serve of Vesely is never easy. Over the course of a best-of-five match, the American should eventually manage to pull it off though.
Prediction: Korda in 4
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Zhizhen Zhang vs Botic van de Zandschulp
Shane:
Zhizhen Zhang and Botic van de Zandschulp square off in what could be one of the best Round 1 encounters in London. Both men have had relatively similar 2023 seasons and come to Wimbledon not holding the best form. The rally tolerance in this match will be high, but I give the slight edge to van de Zandschulp due to his experience on the surface.
Prediction: van de Zandschulp in 5
Jakub:
A match that could truly go either way here with both players’ games suiting the surface well. Pretty much a coin flip but I will give Zhang the edge here.
Prediction: Zhang in 5
Damian:
Van de Zandschulp is painfully low on confidence at the moment with everything going poorly for him since that Munich final choke. Just can’t really trust him at the moment, even against someone as tricky and all-or-nothing as Zhang.
Prediction: Zhang in 4
Hamad Medjedovic vs Christopher O’Connell
Shane:
Christopher O’Connell and qualifier Hamad Medjedovic will square off in Round 1 at Wimbledon for the first time. Medjedovic had not played grass tennis until this year but is 5-1 on the surface. That said, his best win came over world No. 122. O’Connell is 18-13 in his career on grass and should use that experience to his advantage.
Prediction: O’Connell in 4
Jakub:
Medjedovic’s explosive serve and forehand got him through qualifying and he is among the most dangerous qualifiers here. I see him as a pretty decent favorite over O’Connell and an upset candidate going forward.
Prediction: Medjedovic in 4
Damian:
Medjedovic disappointed a bit in his Roland Garros main draw showing, but his serve looked enormous in the qualifying. If he’s managed to get rid of the back issues that were hampering him in Roehampton, this is a matchup his power should allow him to dominate.
Prediction: Medjedovic in 4
Cameron Norrie vs Tomas Machac
Shane:
No. 12 seed Cameron Norrie gets his 2023 Wimbledon campaign underway against qualifier Tomas Machac. The 22-year-old Czech can be dangerous on the grass, but Norrie seems to play his best tennis in London.
Prediction: Norrie in 4
Jakub:
After a semifinal run here last year, Norrie faces one of the tougher qualifiers in the draw. Machac has now qualified for every Slam and his hard-hitting game will provide Norrie with an early challenge here.
Prediction: Norrie in 4
Damian:
Norrie might not be that comfortable here. Machac’s qualifying run wasn’t that great and he still needs some grass experience, but he can redirect off low balls and has that awesome backhand down-the-line. He should make it tough for the Brit.
Prediction: Norrie in 5
Main Photo Credit: Peter van den Berg-USA TODAY Sports
