Wimbledon got a lot more interesting on Friday for those making their tennis picks when one of the biggest stories of the year developed…and that wasn’t even a completed match. Novak Djokovic didn’t lose to Sam Querrey, but he did fall behind by two sets before rain suspended that match. The two men will come back on Saturday, which is a huge gift to Djokovic. The way he was playing, he was likely to be canceled out of Wimbledon very early. Instead, he’ll get a chance to rest, regroup and get back on track on Saturday. He has a big hole to dig out of but Querrey is a player who is inconsistent. He rarely holds this type of level together, which is why the break (in momentum) really hurts his chances.
With this knowledge hanging in the air, every other men’s tournament participant knows that a big opportunity lurks. How will this affect the men who are playing on Saturday in the third round?
Lucas Pouille vs. Juan Martin del Potro
There is a certain kind of electricity in the air, now that del Potro has scored the biggest win of his career since his march to the 2013 Wimbledon semifinals. Del Potro has constantly battled problems with a wrist injury, and even in his second-round match against Stan Wawrinka, it was clear that del Potro could not hit a fully vigorous two-handed backhand. He can’t hit through that shot in the emphatic way he’s used to. He can still crush a crosscourt forehand. That shot still works. However, Delpo basically slices a one-handed backhand at this point, merely trying to stay in or reset points with his backhand so that he can do damage with his forehand. He was basically playing with one and a half groundstrokes, while Wawrinka was playing with two. Yet, del Potro was able to serve big in a third-set tiebreaker. He won the key points in the match and benefited from a truckload of unforced errors from Wawrinka’s racquet. He pulled off a four-set win to move to the third round. It is the kind of win no one really expected, and no one knew if it was ever going to happen for a luckless player whose run of injuries has been incredibly and depressingly constant. Now, though, del Potro has managed to score a big result, and he is a much more accomplished player than Pouille, a youngster who is still trying to establish himself in the upper reaches of the tour. It would not be a stunner if Pouille wins, but del Potro has sharper groundstrokes and a clearly superior serve. He should win, so take him with your tennis picks.
Pick: Del Potro in four sets
John Isner vs. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
This is an old-fashioned serving contest. Both men serve huge and should get into a few tiebreakers. The difference is that Tsonga can do so much more with his backhand and his return of serve. This might not be a straight-set match, because Isner could pull out a tiebreaker, but as the match goes on, Tsonga should find openings on Isner’s serve and convert enough of them to win. Take Tsonga here with your tennis picks.
Pick: Tsonga in four sets
Nick Kyrgios vs. Feliciano Lopez
This is a match in which both men won in five sets on Friday and will have to come right back to the court on Saturday. The difference is that Kyrgios’ match against Dustin Brown was barely longer than two hours, while Lopez needed a lot more time to beat Fabio Fognini. Kyrgios should much more easily recover on a physical level.
Of course, he’s a guy who has been very erratic and inconsistent at times on the ATP Tour, but he’s had his head screwed on fairly tightly during the grass court part of the season this year. That’s an encouraging sign for a player who could be in the Top 10 consistently if he maintains his focus.
We like the way he’s playing right now as well as the fact that he can recover faster. Those factors will be the difference, so go with Kyrgios for your tennis picks.
Pick: Kyrgios in four sets
