The third slam of the season is upon us as 128 men descend upon London, England, for the 2024 Wimbledon Championships. The All England Club draw has given us some scintillating first-round matchups, including No. 1 seed Jannik Sinner vs Yannick Hanfmann. As always, we at LWOT have our roundtable predictions for all the Wimbledon action. Ateet Shrivastava, Damian Kust, and Jordan Reynolds offer their insights.
Wimbledon Men’s Day 1 Predictions
Stan Wawrinka vs Charles Broom
Ateet
This might be the last Wimbledon for Stan Wawrinka and despite being his least successful slam he has made the quarterfinals twice at this place. Wawrinka has only won three main draw matches this season but has a winnable first round against the wild card Charles Broom, who has impressed in the challenger tour but is inexperienced at this level. Broom has the game but can he deliver at such a big stage in front of a big name?
Prediction: Wawrinka in 4
Damian
Wawrinka’s decline has sped up this year with him barely winning matches all season. This can be perceived as a lucky break, but can he actually take down someone who’s gotten some nice grass rhythm, especially with the runner-up finish in Nottingham. Broom is consistent and will make the Swiss play. Quality gap is pretty huge though.
Prediction: Wawrinka in 4
Jordan
British wild card Broom has a chance against Wawrinka. The three-time Grand Slam champion, who is now 39-years-old, has struggled for victories this season and did not play any grass court warmup events. The Swiss legend’s individual quality is still undoubtedly better than Broom’s, but something tells me an upset could happen in this one.
Prediction: Broom in 5
Zhizhen Zhang vs Maxime Janvier
Ateet
Zhizhen Zhang has impressed a lot this season with his tough mentality and clutch game. He showed that in his win against Daniil Medvedev in Halle. Zhang can be a dark horse if he can play with the right balance of aggression. Maxime Janvier was very impressive in qualifying but has no experience at the biggest stage as he has played all his tennis at the Challenger level. Zhang should get his first win at Wimbledon.
Prediction: Zhang in 4
Damian
Janvier is rarely healthy and plays two good tournaments every year, always making him an underrated threat. He’ll have to make this one a tie-break lottery like he did vs Mpetshi Perricard in the final qualifying round, but if he can then it’s not impossible for him to take out Zhang in a similar manner. Body and mind need to hold up though and that’s not easy.
Prediction: Zhang in 4
Jordan
Zhang can be very dangerous on grass when he finds his range. His powerful serve and flat groundstrokes have the potential to be a real handful. That combination is likely to be too much to handle for Janvier.
Prediction: Zhang in 3
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Miomir Kecmanovic vs Sumit Nagal
Ateet
Grass is not the best surface for either of these players but Kecmanovic has more experience on it and has a couple of wins under his belt this season on grass. Sumit Nagal made back-to-back Challenger finals on clay this month but this will be his first main draw appearance at Wimbledon. Kecmanovic has the advantage on this surface.
Prediction: Kecmanovic in 4
Damian
Nagal is enjoying some of the best form of his career the last year or so, but frequent winning on the main tour still isn’t something he’s uncovered. While Kecmanovic isn’t a grass expert, he made a final on it a few years ago and should get a lot more out of his serve and early aggression here.
Prediction: Kecmanovic in 4
Jordan
Nagal elected to play in clay court Challenger Tour events in the lead up to Wimbledon. That would indicate he does not rate his chances much on grass. Kecmanovic is also not completely natural on grass but this is a very good draw for the Serbian.
Prediction: Kecmanovic in 3
Nicolas Jarry vs Denis Shapovalov
Ateet
This match can become a great match if both these players bring their best level. Nicolas Jarry suffered an injury at the French Open which kept him out of any grass-court events. He has the game to have success on grass with his big serve and forehand. Denis Shapovalov can take the racket out of the hands of his opponents with his offense but discipline has been his main problem. Shapovalov likes these fast conditions and has made the quarterfinals before. Jarry might be rusty as this is his first match on grass this season so the advantage is with the Canadian.
Prediction: Shapovalov in 5
Damian
Shapovalov is always a threat on grass and this could be a good event for him to properly round back into form. It’s not the best matchup though with Jarry potentially going hard at the Canadian’s backhand return. It’s the first match since the French Open for the seed as he was recently sick and that just about gives the edge to Shapovalov.
Prediction: Shapovalov in 5
Jordan
This could be one of the tightest first round battles on the men’s side. Grass suits Shapovalov’s attacking style when he is near his best. The major problem for him in this matchup is his backhand return. Jarry’s huge serve can take advantage of that weakness consistently, which might be what decides the match.
Prediction: Jarry in 5
Main Photo Credit: Susan Mullane – USA TODAY Sports