Queen’s Club R1 previews and predictions: Wawrinka vs. Evans, Tsitsipas vs. Edmund

British hopefuls Dan Evans and Kyle Edmund have tough opening matches at Queen’s Club on their hands as the first round concludes on Wednesday. Evans awaits Stan Wawrinka, while Edmund is running into top-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas.

(7) Stan Wawrinka vs. (WC) Dan Evans

Wawrinka and Evans will be going head-to-head for the third time in their careers when they clash in round one of the Fever-Tree Championships on Wednesday afternoon. Both of their previous encounters have gone Wawrinka’s way, but it has not been easy. He famously saved a match point in the 2016 U.S. Open third round, triumphing 4-6, 6-3, 6-7(6), 7-6(8), 6-2 before going on to win the entire tournament. They faced each other again at the Indian Wells Masters earlier this season, where Wawrinka prevailed 6-7(4), 6-3, 6-3.

Evans, though, has home-court advantage this time around and he is also in stellar form. The resurgent Brit is back up to No. 63 in the world thanks to consecutive grass-court Challenger titles in Surbiton and Nottingham. Still, that represents a lot of wear and tear on the body and this is a huge step up in competition (only one of Evans’ 10 opponents was in the top 100; none in the top 80). Wawrinka is coming off a quarterfinal performance at the French Open and he has had plenty of time for practice on grass–especially because this contest was initially scheduled for Tuesday but got rained out.

Pick: Wawrinka in 2

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(1) Stefanos Tsitsipas vs. Kyle Edmund

Both Wawrinka and Tsitsipas are seeking their first win since an epic showdown at Roland Garros, where the Swiss survived a fourth-round thriller 7-6(6), 5-7, 6-3, 3-6, 8-6. Tsitsipas started his grass-court campaign last week in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, losing right away to Nicolas Jarry in a three-setter. Still, the sixth-ranked Greek’s game should work well on grass and it has before; he reached the fourth round of Wimbledon last summer before succumbing to eventual semifinalist John Isner.

Up first for Tsitsipas on Wednesday is Edmund, whom the top seed has never faced. Edmund has been dealing with injuries of late and his 6-10 record in 2019 has him down at No. 30 in the world. The 24-year-old Brit compiled a horrendous 2-6 mark on clay, so he does not have any momentum heading into one of his home events at Queen’s Club. Tsitsipas has a grass-court match under his belt–albeit in a loss–and will simply be too good along with showcasing too much variety for a more one-dimensional opponent.

Pick: Tsitsipas in 2

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