Novak Djokovic and Hubert Hurkacz do head the list of potential finalists in the bottom half of the draw but Alexander Zverev will want to make his case as a contender on Thursday when he takes on Marcos Giron for a spot in round three. While Wimbledon is the German’s weakest slam, he does have a record elsewhere on grass that shows he has the game to make a deep run.
Zverev will be happy to have got through an early slam match with the minimum of fuss, easing past Roberto Carballes Baena in straight sets. A big serving day helped him on his way to the 6-2 6-4 6-2 victory with 18 aces and an 86% first serve win percentage against the Spaniard. “I’ve struggled over the years here on these beautiful courts, unfortunately, but I feel different this year. I feel somehow very much more into it, very much more alive on these courts, and hopefully I can show that in the next few matches.” he said after.
Giron will have been delighted to move to the grass following a clay season that saw him lose seven of his last eight matches. The American is a solid baseliner and will have no problems with a physical encounter should this go long. Wins over Andrey Rublev and Matteo Berrettini in Halle do show he has a decent grass pedigree, even if he has yet to make it past the second round at SW19.
Another big serving day should help Zverev on his way to victory here but he will need to be careful and make sure to not get into a scrappy encounter with his opponent here. Giron is capable of making things difficult but may lack the killer instinct to pull off a shock win without the German having a bad day.
Prediction – Alexander Zverev in four sets
