Lleyton Hewitt will resume his Wimbledon campaign on Wednesday when he goes up against qualifier Dustin Brown. Meanwhile, Steve Darcis is back in action two days after stunning Rafael Nadal as he faces Lukasz Kubot.
(Q) Dustin Brown vs. Lleyton Hewitt
Brown and Hewitt will be squaring off for the first time in their careers when they collide in the Wimbledon first round on Wednesday. This has not always been the case, but both men have plenty of momentum right now. Brown, who generally does his best work in doubles, registers at No. 189 in the singles rankings and he had not won an ATP-level main-draw match in 2013 before his arrival at the All-England Club. He qualified for the main draw, however, then powered past Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 on Monday.
Hewitt had lost four matches in a row prior to the grass-court swing, but it is seemingly all turning around for him on what is arguably his favorite surface. The 32-year-old Aussie ousted seeds Grigor Dimitrov, Sam Querrey, and Juan Martin Del Potro earlier this month at Queen’s Club before losing to Marin Cilic in the semifinals. He kicked off his Wimbledon campaign on Monday by upsetting Stanislas Wawrinka 6-4, 7-5, 6-3. Hewitt is playing stellar grass-court tennis at the moment and big servers have never fared particularly well against him. This will be a nightmare matchup for Brown unless he serves unbelievably well.
Pick: Hewitt in 3
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Steve Darcis vs. Lukasz Kubot
Darcis is coming off the win of his career, to say the least. The 29-year-old Belgian stunned two-time champion and former world No. 1 Rafael Nadal 7-6(4), 7-6(8), 6-4 on Monday to book his improbable spot in the second round. The victory came out of nowhere from Darcis, who is ranked 135th in the world and had been a meager 2-6 at the ATP level this season heading into Wimbledon.
Up next for Darcis is a second career meeting with Kubot. They have never faced each other on the ATP Tour but they did meet in Challenger event six years ago on the hard courts of Andrezieux, France–where Kubot prevailed 4-6, 6-3, 6-4. The 130th-ranked Pole, who also stands out in doubles more than singles, is just 6-11 for the year. Kubot opened on Monday with a 6-1, 7-5, 6-2 disposal of Igor Andreev. This should feature outstanding grass-court tennis, but it is always hard to follow up a career-defining win with a similar performance one round later.
Pick: Kubot in 5
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Re: Hewitt v Big Servers. I still recall the Wimbledon 2003 first round against Ivo Karlovic, when Hewitt was World Number 1 and reigning champion and still lost.