TENNIS: Preview of Weekend Event: Wimbledon
Wimbledon, the oldest tennis tournament in the world, takes center stage this weekend with plenty of intriguing matches ahead. The 137th edition of the tournament is shaping up to be a memorable one with plenty of intriguing storylines. Novak Djokovic is seeking his 25th career grand slam title and first of the season, but is coming off a knee injury and hasn’t been at his best this season. Meanwhile, Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, who won the first two grand slams this season, are looking to stake their claim as the next great player in the sport.
First Week Recap
The top five seeds in the men’s draw at Wimbledon are still in contention, but there has been a few notable upsets. Andrey Rublev, Hubert Hurkacz, and Casper Ruud are the three top-10 seeds already eliminated from contention. Eleventh seed Stefanos Tsitsipas is also out of the tournament after losing 6-7 (6), 6-7 (10), 6-3, 3-6 to Emil Ruusuvuori. Other top-20 players out of contention include Felix Auger-Aliassime and Sebastian Korda.
There have been a number of competitive matches thus far as well. Ben Shelton booked a spot in the third round via 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-7 (5), 6-3, 7-6 (7) win over Lloyd Harris in the second round. His third-round opponent, Denis Shapovalov, beat Daniel Altmaier in five sets in the second round. Tenth seed Grigor Dimitrov also needed five sets to beat Juncheng Shang, rallying from down 2-0 to win 5-7, 6-7 (4), 6-4, 6-2, 6-4.
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ATP Wimbledon Outright Odds
Jannik Sinner +160
Carlos Alcaraz +175
Novak Djokovic +333
Alexander Zverev +1000
Alex de Minaur +1600
Taylor Fritz +2200
Holger Rune +2800
Daniil Medvedev +3300
Tommy Paul +4000
Grigor Dimitrov +4000
Weekend Previews
Alex Zverev (-650) vs. Cameron Norrie (+400)
Alex Zverev is a good outright pick to win Wimbledon and, as such, should have little trouble beating Cameron Norrie in the third round on Saturday. Zverev, the 2020 Olympic champion, was runner-up at Roland Garros and appears to be on the cusp of grand slam greatness. He had a 2-1 set lead over Alcaraz before losing in the final of the French Open and has seemingly used that as motivation at the All England Club.
Alcaraz beat Roberto Carballes Baena 6-2, 6-4, 6-2 in the first round and followed that up with a 6-2, 6-1, 6-4 win over Marcos Giron. He’s 4-2 in his career against Norrie.
Arthur Fils (-160) vs. Roman Safiullin (+125)
Arthur Fils, a 20-year-old rising star on the ATP Tour, earned the biggest win of his young career in the second round, beating Hubert Hurkacz, the seventh seed, in four sets. Hurkacz technically retired, but he did so while facing match point in the fourth round as he was unable to continue due to a knee injury. Roman Safiullin, meanwhile, scored upset wins over Francisco Cerundolo and Tomas Machac.
Fils is the pick here as he is 2-0 in his career against Safiullin and looked like a player ready to take the next step in his match against Hurkacz. Expect big things from him going forward.
Alexei Popyrin (+500) vs. Novak Djokovic (-900)
This should be an interesting match as Djokovic has really yet to be tested through his first two matches. He won his first two matches, but both opponents were ranked outside of the top-100. His second-round opponent, Jacob Fearnley, ranked No. 271 in the world, even took a set off the 24-time grand slam champion. Popyrin, meanwhile, is into the third round at Wimbledon for the first time in his career after a five-set win over Tomas Martin Etcheverry. Djokovic beat Popyrin in four sets at the Australian Open earlier this season.