Tuesday Wimbledon Previews and Picks: Will Milos Raonic Find New Success?
BSR Agency/Getty. Pictured: Milos Raonic.
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The dust has settled on the opening round for the bottom half of the men's draw at Wimbledon. Tuesday brings another 32 opening-round matches from the men's draw, as the first round of action wraps up.
Let's dive into a pair of those encounters, with some value showing on the underdogs in each one.
Match times are subject to change. Read here for advice on viewing Wimbledon matches.
Tuesday Wimbledon Previews and Picks
Milos Raonic (-135) vs Dennis Novak (+114)
7:30 a.m. ET
It's nice to see Milos Raonic back on court again after such a prolonged absence, but the continual overvaluation in the betting markets because of a win against Miomir Kecmanovic (not known for his grass-court prowess and already out of Wimbledon) is getting to be a bit much.
Yes, the big-serving Canadian has the game to perform well on grass and has a great track record on the lawns at the All England Club, but he's still played under a handful of professional matches in the last several years. After the win against Kecmanovic, he was dispatched with relative ease by Jordan Thompson and then withdrew from the second tournament he was slated to play prior to The Championships. In that loss to Thompson, he looked at least a step slow – particularly on return – and won just a dozen points in Thompson's service games.
As for Novak, he may be a Challenger Tour player, but he has a big serve and forehand combo and he's now qualified for the main draw in back-to-back seasons. He's certainly a threat to Raonic, who is clearly still far from his best.
This price has come down since the opening prices were released, but with Novak still being the underdog, I still don't think they've adjusted enough. There's still plenty of room to back the Austrian here.
Pick: Novak ML (+106 via FanDuel)
Marc Andrea Huesler (-140) vs Yosuke Watanuki (+118)
9:30 a.m ET
Another underdog to watch for Tuesday is Yosuke Watanuki, who has had a strong 2023 campaign, prefers quick surfaces and has the weapons to beat Marc Andrea Huesler.
What I like most about this matchup is that I'm getting the much more well-rounded player at plus money.
Huesler likes grass courts thanks to his massive lefty serve and desire to keep points short. He occasionally throws in a serve-and-volley here and there and that can be effective on the slick grass courts as well.
The problem is, he's not even that great at net and from the baseline, this should prove to be one-way traffic in favor of the Japanese.
Watanuki is the better mover, better returner and his flat groundstrokes should stay low and skid through the courts, making them even harder for the lanky Huesler to track down.
The fact he's a lucky loser is likely depressing his price in this matchup, but he lost to the aforementioned Novak in the final round of qualies and I'm not entirely sure Huesler makes this main draw if he had to play Novak in qualifying either.
I'll side with the strong quick courter who is far more likely to dominate play in baseline exchanges and generate break point opportunities.
Pick: Watanuki ML (+118 via FanDuel)
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