Wimbledon second round preview and predictions, featuring Felix Auger-Aliassime and Novak Djokovic
It was a rough Monday for the Canadian contingent at Wimbledon. The opening day of competition at the All-England Club saw four Canadians take the court, and only Felix Auger-Aliassime advanced.
While Auger-Aliassime had no trouble with Alexander Shevchenko, Denis Shapovalov retired due to a shoulder injury against Pablo Carreno Busta after crashing into the back wall. On the women’s side, Bianca Andreescu bowed out at the hands of Shuai Zhang, and Leylah Fernandez fell to Janice Tjen.
The players who won on Monday will be back in action for the second round on Wednesday. Let’s break down the odds for some of the Wimbledon second-round matchups and discuss the best bets to make.
Check out our full list of live men’s and women’s Wimbledon odds.
Felix Auger-Aliassime vs. Dino Prizmic best bet: Prizmic +2.5 sets (-146)
Even when he is playing well, consistency is never going to be Auger-Aliassime’s strongest attribute. Finishing off matches in straight sets is not an easy task for the world No. 4. He did it against Shevchenko on Monday, but Prizmic represents a steep step up in competition. The 20-year-old Croat beat Ben Shelton at the Madrid Masters in April and pushed eventual quarterfinalist Joao Fonseca to five sets at Roland Garros. Prizmic’s grass-court experience is slim, but he looked good during a four-set victory over Adam Walton in round one.
Dating back to the Hamburg tournament during the middle of the clay-court swing, Auger-Aliassime has won only three of his last 109 matches in straight sets. The 25-year-old should win this one, but it probably won’t be a walk in the park.
Novak Djokovic vs. Stefanos Tsitsipas best bet: Over 35.5 games (-125)
When both guys were in their prime, this was a Grand Slam final-caliber matchup. Djokovic and Tsitsipas did, in fact, go head-to-head in the 2021 French Open final and in the 2023 Australian Open final. The Serb triumphed in five sets in the former and in three sets in the latter, although the last two sets of their Aussie Open showdown went to tiebreakers.
Tsitsipas could be poised to make things competitive once again on Wednesday. That has more to do with Djokovic than it does with the Greek. The 39-year-old Serb lost to Fonseca from two sets up at the French Open, and he needed four tight sets to scrape past Yibing Yu on Monday night in London. There is no denying that Tsitsipas is struggling these days, but he did well to clobber Hugo Gaston in the Wimbledon first round. This match could end up being more competitive than many expect.
Daria Kasatkina vs. Janice Tjen best bet: Tjen ML (+102)
As she does to so many opponents, Tjen sliced and diced Fernandez into submission on Monday. Tjen may not be a household name (yet!), but anyone who watches her play probably remembers the experience fondly. Opponents probably remember it without any fondness. The 24-year-old from Indonesia does not have much grass-court experience, but his game should work very well on this surface.
Kasatkina, on the other hand, brings a weak-serving and heavy-topspin game to the table that generally works better on grass. The 65th-ranked Aussie is just 3-7 in her last 10 matches on grass dating back to last season. Kasatkina was on a four-match losing streak before beating unheralded Mingge Xu in three sets on Monday. Tjen has a great chance to win this one outright and has good value as a small underdog.
