The third slam of the season is upon us as the second round of the 2024 Wimbledon Championships begins on Day 3. The All England Club draw has given us some scintillating Round 2 matchups, including No. 5 seed Daniil Medvedev vs Frenchman Alexandre Muller. As always, we at LWOT have our roundtable predictions for all the Wimbledon action. Ateet Shrivastava, Glenys Furness, and Shane Black offer their insights.
Wimbledon Men’s Day 3 Predictions
Denis Shapovalov vs Daniel Altmaier
Ateet
Denis Shapovalov defeated the dangerous, Nicolas Jarry in straight sets in the first round. Shapovalov served well, never being broken, and grabbed possession of the match early in the first set. Daniel Altmaier did well to win his first match at Wimbledon but his level isn’t good enough to trouble the Canadian.
Prediction: Shapovalov in 4
Damian
Shapovalov getting past Jarry in three sets is a huge win for him and it’s high time for the Canadian to start improving his ranking. The former semifinalist should also like his second-round draw with Altmaier struggling physically in the opening win over Fery. The biggest threat to Shapovalov here is the Canadian himself, just needs to avoid shooting himself in the foot.
Prediction: Shapovalov in 3
Shane
Denis Shapovalov has slowly been climbing back into form this season. He put the Wimbledon draw on notice by blasting Jarry in Round 1. Altmaier survived a five-set battle in the first round and may suffer from tired legs in the later stages of this match. Give me the former Wimbledon semifinalist in four.
Prediction: Shapovalov in 4
Alexander Bublik vs Arthur Cazaux
Ateet
Arthur Cazaux made life difficult for himself after being ahead two sets but did well to compose himself and win the match. Cazaux has been through a lot this season, so this was a much-needed win for him. Bublik also played a five-setter but an opposite scenario from Cazaux. He was down 2 sets and upped his level from the third set to win comfortably at the end. The Kazakh will need to be more clinical on break points to win his next match.
Prediction: Bublik in 4
Damian
Both players survived five-setters in round one, although one led 2-0 and the other trailed 0-2. Bublik has shown us a lot of gritty performances this year, but Cazaux should have the game to keep this one close. If the Frenchman can serve well and move as efficiently as he did against Bergs, he might get a lot of errors from Bublik and simply be the more stable competitor.
Prediction: Cazaux in 5
Shane
Alexander Bublik overcame a two-set deficit in the first round, a result he can build on. Bublik has a game suited to the grass and will attack the net early and often against Cazaux. The young Frenchman came to Wimbledon having won just one of his previous seven matches. His first round win was positive, but I doubt he has the firepower to get past Bublik.
Prediction: Bublik in 4
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Zhizhen Zhang vs Jan-Lennard Struff
Ateet
Struff struggled for rhythm in the first couple of sets but found his level in the third set and cruised to victory. This was his first Wimbledon win since 2019 and he will want to win more. Zhang continued his hot streak as he put up a great performance to win his first-round match in straight sets. These two have only played once on tour level and it was on grass, which Struff won comfortably. Zhang will give a tougher battle this time, but Struff will prevail.
Prediction: Struff in 4
Damian
Zhang handled his business impressively against Janvier to win in three sets and never really dropped his level. Now he’s into another big-hitter matchup with Struff, who took him out on grass comfortably in Stuttgart last year. It should be closer this time, but it’s probably the German who has a lot more ways of rushing his opponent and trying to neutralize his pace by taking time away.
Prediction: Struff in 5
Shane
No. 32 Zhizhen Zhang comfortably cruised in his first-round encounter, though Struff is an adept grass-court player and will test the seed on Wednesday. These two will exchange pace all match long. In the end, I favor Struff’s ability to win points off his serve and first-strike tennis.
Prediction: Struff in 5
Daniil Medvedev vs Alexandre Muller
Ateet
Daniil Medvedev looked comfortable in his first match and served at a good rate. He is a bit underrated on grass considering he has a healthy 66% win rate on this surface. Medvedev will get better with every match and Alexandre Muller doesn’t have the big serve to trouble him.
Prediction: Medvedev in 3
Damian
Medvedev needs his serve to be firing on grass and the recent shoulder injury made him drop a bit of intensity when it comes to practicing that element of the game. It will still require a certain amount of grass pedigree to take him out though and that’s something Muller doesn’t really have. Might be a bit of a slog given their playstyles, but Medvedev will likely pull through.
Prediction: Medvedev in 3
Shane
Medvedev and Muller advanced to the second round without dropping a set. That said, Muller worked much harder than his Russian counterpart, overcoming two tiebreaks against Gaston. Medvedev’s serve will be an x-factor in this match and should lead him to victory.
Prediction: Medvedev in 3
Main Photo Credit: Peter van den Berg – USA TODAY Sports