The grass court season is in full swing and the first big tournament to be held in the UK is the Cinch Championships which begins at Queens Club in London on Monday when a number of the best players in the world descend on the English capital for what is always a good week of tennis.
Matteo Berrettini was due to attempt to win the title for the third year in succession but the Italian pulled out on the eve of the tournament so we are guaranteed a different champion for the first time since 2019.
Recent Winners
2022 – Matteo Berrettini
2021 – Matteo Berrettini
2019 – Feliciano Lopez
2018 – Marin Cilic
2017 – Feliciano Lopez
2016 – Andy Murray
2015 – Andy Murray
2014 – Grigor Dimitrov
2013 – Andy Murray
2012 – Marin Cilic
The Format
This is a typical ATP 500 event with 32 runners which have all been placed into the draw bracket. The tournament is a straight knockout from the first round on the opening day on Monday with every match being the best of three sets. Should the final set go to 6-6 a normal tiebreak will decide the match rather than at Wimbledon where the set will go to a first to 10 breaker. The champion will be determined on Sunday 25 June.
Top Half
The tournament is headlined by the world number one this week as Carlos Alcaraz gets his grass court campaign underway when he makes his debut in the tournament. The Spaniard is housed right at the top of the draw and will be joined in the top half of it by three other seeds. They are Francisco Cerundolo, the winner in Stuttgart in Frances Tiafoe and the British number one Cameron Norrie. Grigor Dimitrov is a former champion here and he is in the top half as a qualifier while Dan Evans will join Norrie in the British charge. There is also a return to London for Milos Raonic.
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Bottom Half
Holger Rune is the second seed this week. The man who starts his grass court season after a wonderful campaign on the clay hasn’t yet won a single match as a professional on this surface on tour so he immediately looks vulnerable which will interest the three other seeds in this section. They are Alex de Minaur, Taylor Fritz and Lorenzo Musetti. Andy Murray has won this title on a number of occasions and if he wins from the bottom half this year he will have won the first three grass court events in 2023. Fellow Brits Ryan Peniston, Liam Broady and Jan Choinski will look to make names for themselves this week while Diego Schwartzman and Adrian Mannarino are veterans looking for a decent week.
Betting
Sometimes we get to the Queens Club and the courts play a little on the slow and greasy side but even though there was plenty of rain in London on Sunday that was the only rain there has been in a good while with the exception of a flash storm a week ago and even with that the ground is still firm so I’m expecting conditions to be very hard and fast and so the bigger servers should come to the fore throughout the week.
To be fair, there aren’t many with a huge serve here and those who are like Taylor Fritz are priced accordingly, although he has an awkward part of the draw to navigate. One man who does have a big serve and enjoyed himself on the grass last year is Maxime Cressy and his serve and volley style might have a lot of joy this week. He comes in here in terrible form but his style isn’t suited to clay and I think he’ll play much more effectively on the grass where his serve is significant. He has Holger Rune first up but the Dane is yet to win on the lawns at pro level. If he wins that the draw opens right up and at 33/1 I’ll pay to see how far the Eastbourne finalist and Newport winner on grass last year goes here.
Tips
Back M.Cressy to win Cinch Championships (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 34.00 with William Hill (1/2 1-2)
Back him here:
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