{"id":57699,"date":"2023-07-02T11:03:34","date_gmt":"2023-07-02T15:03:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/?p=57699"},"modified":"2023-07-02T10:35:47","modified_gmt":"2023-07-02T14:35:47","slug":"wimbledon-day-1-mens-predictions-rublev-purcell","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/2023\/07\/02\/wimbledon-day-1-mens-predictions-rublev-purcell\/","title":{"rendered":"Wimbledon Day 1 Men’s Predictions Including Andrey Rublev vs Max Purcell"},"content":{"rendered":"

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<\/a>, Lorenzo Musetti vs Juan Pablo Varillas<\/a>, Nick Kyrgios vs David Goffin<\/a>, Hubert Hurkacz vs Albert Ramos-Vinolas<\/a>, Casper Ruud vs Laurent Lokoli<\/a>, Andrey Rublev vs Max Purcell<\/a>, and John Isner vs Jaume Munar<\/a>. Predicting this set of matches are Jack Edward, Damian Kust, and Jakub Bobro. Who do you think will advance?<\/p>\n

Wimbledon Day 1 Men’s Predictions<\/h2>\n

Yoshihito Nishioka vs Daniel Elahi Galan<\/h4>\n

Jack:<\/em>
\nYoshihito 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.
\nPrediction: Galan in 4<\/em><\/p>\n

Damian:<\/em>
\nWho\u2019s 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.
\nPrediction: Galan in 5<\/em><\/p>\n

Jakub:<\/em>
\nNishioka 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\u2019t be fooled by the Colombian\u2019s third-round run here last year, it is very unlikely to be replicated.
\nPrediction: Nishioka in 4<\/em><\/p>\n

[cta id=4014 type=cta]<\/p>\n

Alexander Bublik vs Mackenzie McDonald<\/h4>\n

Jack:<\/em>
\nYou probably won\u2019t see a tougher run to a 500 title all year than Alexander Bublik\u2019s in Halle. Even the Kazakh is now taking his Wimbledon hopes pretty seriously as he withdrew from Mallorca. It\u2019s a difficult first round for sure but his first serve can be nigh-untouchable if he\u2019s on.
\nPrediction: Bublik in 4<\/em><\/p>\n

Damian:<\/em>
\nBublik 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\u2019s flat game and some decent confidence coming off a semifinal (which he totally blew though). Bublik will need to be sharp and motivated.
\nPrediction: Bublik in 5<\/em><\/p>\n

Jakub:<\/em>
\nBublik 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.
\nPrediction: Bublik in 5<\/em><\/p>\n

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