The Ageon Championships begin at the Queens Club in London on Monday with the first four singles matches being played on what is a fairly quiet day to kick off the historic Wimbledon warm up. The low key nature of the day is replicated in the order of play where Marin Cilic is the only major champion on show.
Richard Gasquet vs Steve Johnson
The first match of the tournament sees the aesthetically pleasing Frenchman Richard Gasquet on show on centre court when he takes on the American Steve Johnson. This will be the second meeting between these two men with Gasquet having won the first one.
Gasquet is a warm favourite for this match and that is pretty much how I see it but Johnson can wing his serve down which might mean he is capable of a tie-break or something so I’m not keen on a handicap here. In fact there isn’t anything I am keen on so I’ll give this one a swerve.
Dan Evans vs Paul-Henri Mathieu
The British interest in the tournament begins when Dan Evans takes on another French player in Paul-Henri Mathieu. If this was in any other country Mathieu would probably be a huge favourite but in England playing an Englishman it might level it up a little bit.
I can’t be betting on crowd support though especially as sometimes that adds pressure rather than eases it. Evans hasn’t even been in great form on the Challenger circuit in recent times so I’m not sure he is going to justify his wildcard into this tournament. It feels like another match to leave alone.
Grigor Dimitrov vs Janko Tipsarevic
Two players whose star has fallen meet in the third game of the afternoon when a woefully out of form Grigor Dimitrov takes on Janko Tipsarevic whose problems had nothing to do with form and mentality.
This is immediately a match not to get stuck into even though I begin the week desperate to take on Dimitrov in his current form. Hopefully the Bulgarian can come through this and we can take him on later in the week but for now I’m keeping my powder dry and leaving betting alone until the final game.
Feliciano Lopez vs Marin Cilic
That match is the battle of the big servers as Feliciano Lopez and Marin Cilic battle it out for a place in the second round. These two have met five times with Cilic having the edge 3-2. I probably give him the edge in the match but that is factored into the odds.
I’m not expecting to see too many breaks of throw in this match though. Both are competent at holding their serve and both don’t rely purely on power so if the conditions don’t allow for the ball to zip through the court that won’t worry them.
The only previous time these two met on grass was here when Lopez won in three sets and I wouldn’t be surprised if this one goes three too. There were 35 games on that occasion with a tie-break in the second set and I fancy we’ll see another one of those here at the very least.
25.5 games is quite a high line for an ATP Tour event but sets aren’t going to be won quickly in this match so I am happy to play it knowing if there is three sets it gets covered easily but we’ve still got a pair of tie-breaks on our side which is perfectly possible too.
Tips
WON – Back F.Lopez vs M.Cilic – Over 25.5 games for a 4/10 stake at 1.91 with Bet365
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