The third round of the singles draws begins at Wimbledon on Friday which means that for the first time in the grass court Grand Slam the seeded players get the opportunity to face off against each other, which adds to the appeal of the event.
We have seen a whole host of shocks in the tournament to date which means that there aren’t as many matches featuring two seeds as there usually is at this stage of a tournament but that makes for an intriguing day of tennis.
Centre Court
There are three matches on the main court as ever on Friday and we get underway with a pair of men’s games. The first of them sees two seeded players colliding when Taylor Fritz takes on Alejandro Davidovich Fokina for the second tournament in a row after they met in the Eastbourne semi-final a week ago. When they are done the defending champion Carlos Alcaraz continues his title defence when he takes on the unseeded German player Jan-Lennard Struff. There is one women’s match which closes off the Centre Court schedule and it sees the number one seed Aryna Sabalenka taking on the top ranked British player in Emma Raducanu.
Court 1
The home crowd will enjoy their day over on Court 1 because there are two British players on in the opening two matches. We get underway with Sonay Kartal looking to make it into the second week of the tournament when she meets Diane Parry in what is a great opportunity for both players. The same can be said in the next match where the one remaining British male in the tournament in Cameron Norrie goes up against Mattia Bellucci. When they are done it will be the women who finish off the schedule when Elise Mertens faces Elina Svitolina.
Court 2
We were down to just the three matches on the Court 2 schedule on Friday but then the last match on the court on Thursday couldn’t be completed so that adds to the order of play. We get underway with a competitive looking match between Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Naomi Osaka. When they are done Ben Shelton will come out to serve for a straight sets victory against Rinky Hijikata, who will be looking for an amazing turnaround trailing by two sets and a break when they resume. The Australian Open champion Madison Keys will then be on court when she takes on the veteran Laura Siegemund before the Court 2 action will be closed out by two South American stars when Nicolas Jarry faces the exciting Joao Fonseca.
Court 3
The big hitting American player Amanda Anisimova will get a three-match schedule on Court 3 underway on Friday. She takes on the Hungarian player Dalma Galfi for a place in the second week of the tournament. When they are done two men who have been around the block will face off as Andrey Rublev goes up against Adrian Mannarino before another men’s match ends the schedule on this part of the grounds when Karen Khachanov will look to make progress when he takes on a Nuno Borges who has had a decent run here so far.
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Best of the Rest
That only leaves four third round matches and the conclusion of one of the second round matches on the outside courts on Friday with them all mixed in with a load of doubles stuff. It is singles all the way on Court 12 where the only seed on show is Linda Noskova. Elsewhere it is the giant killers such as Arthur Rinderknech and Kamilla Rakhimova who are taking to the stage. The remaining singles action comes on Court 18 where Gael Monfils and Marton Fucsovics will play their deciding set and then Jordan Thompson and Luciano Darderi will look to make the second week as an unseeded player.
Men’s Betting
I like a couple of bets in the men’s draw on Friday with the first of them coming in the form of Taylor Fritz and Alejandro Davidovich Fokina going beyond 38.5 games. That made sense anyway when you consider players with much more limited games than the Spaniard have taken Fritz the distance this week but I mentioned when I previewed their Eastbourne semi-final how their meeting prior to that ended 76 76 at Delray Beach. They went the distance in that last four clash a week ago and I would expect them to go four sets here at the very least, if not five. Four sets with one of those potentially being a tiebreak should ensure a good shot at this line being covered in what I expect to be a really good, and most importantly lengthy, match.
The other bet I like is for Luciano Darderi to come out on top of his clash against Jordan Thompson. I am full of respect for Thompson, who despite fitness issues during this grass court season has gone nearly four hours in two five-set matches to make it to this stage but you would imagine at some point all that tennis is going to catch up with him, especially in the heat he played in on Monday too. It is expected to be another fairly hot day in London here too. Darderi is solid more than spectacular but solid might be all he needs to be here because the longer this one goes and the Italian is in the match, you would imagine the stronger his chances are. Without the Thompson fitness issues and the time on the court this week this would be more of a 50:50 contest but put those factors into play and Darderi has to be the play at odds against.
Women’s Betting
I also like a couple of bets in the women’s draw too where Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova looks way too big to beat Naomi Osaka. If this was on a hard court I’d fancy Osaka all day long but on grass it becomes a much more even contest. Osaka has never really done anything here and while she has come through to this stage in straight sets, she struggled a little to get past world number 126 Talia Gibson in the first round and beat an underclubbed doubles specialist in the second round. Pavlyuchenkova is a former quarter finalist in this tournament and having got to the semi-final at Eastbourne ahead of the tournament and beaten a good grass court player in Ajla Tomjlanovic and a seed in Ashlyn Krueger, the Russian is ticking along nicely. This feels much closer than a 2/1 shot for Pavlyuchenkova and if she can keep this tight she might get joy as Osaka starts going for broke.
The other bet I like is for the match between Dalma Galfi and Amanda Anisimova to stay under 20.5 games. Anisimova has looked the real deal so far this week, coming through her two matches for the loss of just seven games and I don’t expect her to lose too many more against a Galfi who could struggle to come with the heavy hitting power game that the American provides. Galfi fought hard to come past Harriet Dart in the opening round and then caught Beatriz Haddad Maia on the right day but she will do well to punch holes in Anisimova, who could climb all over the Hungarian second serve should she face many of them. This is just a match I expect Anisimova to dominate and I’ll take the under 20.5 games to have a 64 64 score on my side which we wouldn’t get on the -5.5 game handicap.
Tips
Back T.Fritz vs A.Davidovich Fokina – Over 38.5 games for a 3/10 stake at 1.83 with Boylesports
Back D.Galfi vs A.Anisimova – Under 20.5 games for a 3/10 stake at 1.83 with Boylesports
Back them here:
Back L.Darderi to beat J.Thompson for a 3/10 stake at 2.40 with Paddy Power
Back A.Pavyuchenkova to beat N.Osaka for a 3/10 stake at 3.00 with Bet365
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