Andy Murray will be back in action at Wimbledon when he kicks off his 2021 fortnight against Nikoloz Baslishvili on Monday. The day-one schedule also includes a showdown between Karen Khachanov and Mackenzie McDonald.
(WC) Andy Murray vs. (23) Nikoloz Basilashvili
Murray is playing singles at Wimbledon for the first time since an injury-plagued run to the quarterfinals in 2017. Since then he has played sparingly due to hip problems, with fleeting success in both singles and doubles but mostly just struggling. The 34-year-old Scot has competed in only four singles tournaments this season, including just one since February. Murray’s first-round draw at Queen’s Club was favorable (beat Benoit Paire 6-3, 6-2) but then it turned sour (lost to eventual champion Matteo Berrettini 6-3, 6-3).
Up first for the world No. 119 on Monday is Basilashvili, who is no stranger to facing future Hall of Fame opponents making comebacks. The 28th-ranked Georgian defeated Roger Federer in Dubai and went on to take the title, which has propelled him to surprising success in 2021. Basilashvili’s impressive bounce-back from a disastrous 2202 season includes 19 total match wins. He just reached the semifinals on the grass of Halle before falling to Andrey Rublev in three sets. Although Murray’s Wimbledon record is sparking, you can pretty much throw all of that out the window. He obviously isn’t the same player now, and it’s hard to see him surviving a best-of-five test against an opponent of Basilashvili’s quality.
Pick: Basilashvili in 4
Mackenzie McDonald vs. (25) Karen Khchanov
Khachanov and McDonald will be going head-to-head for the second time in their careers and for the second time this season when they meet again on Monday. Their only previous encounter came a few months ago on the indoor hard courts of Marseille, where Khachanov prevailed 7-6(4), 6-4. It has mostly been a disappointing 2021 for Khachanov, though. The 29th-ranked Russian is just 15-13 and his only grass-court appearance resulted in a first-round Halle loss to Rublev.
McDonald will be happy to get a shot at revenge on grass. The 108th-ranked American already has eight grass-court matches under his belt this summer, with a semifinal showing at the Nottingham Challenger and successful qualification for Wimbledon. McDonald’s last trip to the All-England Club resulted in a fourth-round run in 2018. The 26-year-old’s current form and grass-court experience should see him through to a minor upset over a struggling opponent.
Pick: McDonald in 5
WWW?
Agree with the winners.
MM has a better more natural game for grass than Hatch.
AM also better, but will do well to get through this one .
Would love for Andy to win a round, but Bash just too young and too tough….Bash in 4; and McD in 4.
Aaaaarrrggghhhh! Andy just snatched defeat from the very jaws of victory. Serving for the 3rd set a break up…and disaster struck! Good luck the rest of the way, Muzz!
It just wouldn’t be a Murray match without a bit of stress, would it? Love him! Well done in the end.
Andy Murray made it! He beat Basilashvili in 4 sets. I did not see it, only following scores. It’s just great to have hope.
I have him playing at least round 3 in the bracket. Could surprise us all and go deep.
For those who didn’t see the match, Andy was up 5-0 in the 3rd set and still lost it. It was brutal to watch. But he made it. There is hope part of Andy is back.
I did see that third set. Brutal is the word. Andy just let it slip away after being up 5-0. Then he couldn’t win a game. He did it the hard way.
I was rooting for him all the way.
Great to see, I didnt have enough faith and went for Basil .Only because he did well on grass lately.