The Wimbledon first round will kick off on Monday, with Spanish sensation Carlos Alcaraz in action against Jan-Lennard Struff. Swiss veteran Stan Wawrinka will also take the court on Monday against Jannik Sinner.
(5) Carlos Alcaraz vs. Jan-Lennard Struff
Spanish teenager Carlos Alcaraz has had a blockbuster start to the season. He won four titles, including the Miami and Madrid Masters. He headed into Roland Garros as the second favorite to win the title (after Novak Djokovic), but Alcaraz was knocked out in the quarters by Alexander Zverev.
The No. 5 seed elected to sit out the grass tournament lead-ups to Wimbledon, so while he comes in fresh, the downside is that he has had no competitive grass court tennis and plays on the first day when the courts have been notoriously slick. He runs into the German veteran Jan-Lennard Struff on Monday.
Struff has had a miserable season so far. He heads into Wimbledon with a 2-10 record on the year, including a failed attempt last week to qualify for the event in Mallorca. In a different year, Struff might actually have made Alcaraz work for the win on Monday. But the German is simply not playing well enough right now to make a real stand against Alcaraz.
Cheryl pick: Alcaraz in 3
Ricky pick: Alcaraz in 4
(10) Jannik Sinner vs. Stanislas Wawrinka
Like Alcaraz, Italy’s Jannik Sinner elected to forego the grass tournament warm up events prior to Wimbledon. The world No. 13 suffered a knee injury in his round of 16 match at the French Open against Andrey Rublev and he was forced to retire at 0-2 in third set, after taking the first set 6-1.
Sinner will take on Stan Wawrinka, the 3-time major champion. Wawrinka’s ranking has dipped to No. 265 in the world, a consequence of his recovery from foot surgery in 2021. Wawrinka has played a handful of events since he returned to the tour in late March, though without much success.
The Swiss veteran won a couple matches in Rome and another over Frances Tiafoe at Queen’s Club, but he’s 3-4 on the season. Wawrinka does own a 2-0 lifetime record over Sinner, but that was from back in 2019, before Sinner became the top-10 player he is now and prior to Wawrinka’s surgeries.
Wawrinka is good enough that it would not be surprising if he took a set from Sinner, especially since they’re playing on opening day on slippery courts, and the Italian may still have his knee injury from Paris on his mind. Still, Sinner has had a good season. Expect the No. 10 seed to advance.
Cheryl pick: Sinner in 4
Ricky pick: Sinner in 4
Alcaraz survives
Already this Wimby is looking full of upsets..Struff has not the game for grass as we discussed. Neither has Alcaraz by looks of it…