Wimbledon R2 previews and predictions: Murray vs. Tsitsipas, Medvedev vs. Mannarino

After days of rain delays, Wimbledon is in full swing with fan favorite Andy Murray taking on Stefanos Tsitsipas and Russian Daniil Medvedev battling in-form Frenchman Adrian Mannarino as part of a packed Thursday schedule.

Andy Murray vs. (5) Stefanos Tsitsipas

The Wimbledon crowd would love to see compatriot Andy Murray have another crack at the second week of the Championships. As luck would have it, the draw gods have smiled on the Scot. The world No. 40 is unseeded, which would have spelled disaster if he had wound up in…say…Novak Djokovic’s section. Instead he is staring down a second-round encounter with No. 5 seed Stefanos Tsitsipas.

Tsitsipas, the polarizing Greek star, has never made it to the second week of Wimbledon. His best-ever showing was the fourth round in 2018 and his grass-court preparation this season doesn’t inspire much confidence, either. He played three grass warmup events and won just a single match. Tsitsipas made it out of round one this week, but it was over the struggling Dominic Thiem–who is also not known for his grass-court prowess.

Murray played impressively in his first-round match against fellow Brit Ryan Peniston. The former world No. 1 showed why he is a two-time Wimbledon champion (2013, 2016). This is winnable match for Murray and it won’t be an upset if he makes his way into the third round. Expect Murray to ride the wave of crowd sentiment right into the last 32.

Cheryl pick: Murray in 4

Ricky pick: Murray in 4

Adrian Mannarino vs. (3) Daniil Medvedev

This is a tricky early match for Russia’s Daniil Medvedev. Adrian Mannarino is one of the more in-form grass-court players on the tour. The world No. 35 just missed nabbing a seed, which is bad luck for Medvedev. The French veteran made a pair of quarterfinals and the final in Mallorca last week in the run-up to the Championships. He wasn’t fully fit in the final against Chris Eubanks, but he seemed well in his opener this week against Alexander Shevchenko.

Another bit of bad news for the world No. 3 is that he has had a bit of a matchup problem with Mannarino. Medvedev has only beaten the lefty twice in their six previous encounters. Mannarino has won three of their four meetings on grass, too.

Medvedev won a few matches in this year’s tune up event in Halle and he advanced to the second round at the All-England Club with a straight-set win over British wild card Arthur Fery. Still, with the head-to-head and current form the edge goes to Mannarino in this one.

Cheryl pick: Mannarino in 4

Ricky pick: Medvedev in 5