Wimbledon R1 previews and predictions: Tsitsipas vs. Tiafoe, de Minaur vs. Korda

Opening day at Wimbledon will feature French Open finalist Stefanos Tsitsipas taking on Frances Tiafoe. Monday’s schedule will also see Eastbourne champ Alex de Minaur face American hopeful Sebastian Korda.

(3) Stefanos Tsitsipas vs. Frances Tiafoe

Stefanos Tsitsipas is one of the in-form players of 2021. The world No. 4 capped off a brilliant European clay court swing with a run to the finals of the French Open, where he took the first two sets from eventual champion Novak Djokovic. Tsitsipas’ grass court results have generally been less than impressive; he has a lifetime record of 8-7 on the surface and his best result (by far) at Wimbledon was a run to the round of 16 back in 2018. Tsitsipas did not play a Wimbledon warmup event this summer.

American Frances Tiafoe has played three tournaments on grass in 2021 so far. The American, whose ranking has slipped from a career high of 29th in 2019 to No. 57, entered the Nottingham Challenger on the heels of his first-round exit at the French Open and won it. He also had a quarterfinal showing at Queen’s Club, where he lost to Denis Shapovalov.

While Tsitsipas hasn’t had time to fine tune his grass-court game since his disappointment in Paris, he has been in the best form of his career this spring. He’ll carry the confidence of his first Masters win (Monte-Carlo) and his first slam final into this fortnight. Tiafoe may have enough game to take a set from the No. 3 seed, but Tsitsipas should see his way through.

Cheryl pick: Tsitsipas in 4

Ricky pick: Tsitsipas in 4

(15) Alex de Minaur vs. Sebastian Korda

This is one of the more compelling first-round matches on the docket on Monday. Alex de Minaur comes into Wimbledon off a title run in Eastbourne and a semifinal showing at Queen’s Club. His opponent, Sebastian Korda, had never played a professional grass-court match prior to his first-rounder in Halle against Roberto Bautista Agut a couple of weeks ago. Not only did he upset Bautista Agut, he also did so handily and with impressive form.

Their respective rankings suggest that de Minaur is the clear favorite. The Aussie is No. 15 in the world with a recent string of grass-court successes. Korda is ranked a career-high 50 in the world, with inconsistent and often disappointing results at the slams. His best showing at a major (by far) was his fourth-round run last fall at the French Open. And yet despite that, he may well have a decent chance at the upset on Monday evening.

De Minaur has played a lot of tennis in the past three weeks; fatigue may factor into Monday’s result if it goes to four or five sets-and it could. Korda played well in Halle–well enough that he is a legitimate threat in the first week of Wimbledon.

Cheryl pick: Korda in 4

Ricky pick: De Minaur in 4