Ricky’s Picks For Saturday @ Wimbledon • Including Medvedev vs. Goffin And Raonic vs. Opelka

By Ricky Dimon

 

Novak Djokovic and Felix Auger-Aliassime are on a collision course for the Wimbledon fourth. Both players are expected to cruise into that showdown at the expense of unseeded opponents. But there could be plenty of competitive matches to offer the All-England Club faithful on Friday. They include Daniil Medvedev vs. David Goffin and Milos Raonic vs. Reilly Opelka.

 

Ricky previews four of the best matchups and makes his predictions.

 

(11) Daniil Medvedev vs. (21) David Goffin

Medvedev and Goffin also squared off in the Australian Open third round and the Russian took Goffin to the woodshed in straight sets. Although the Belgian has gotten back in gear and finished runner-up in Halle, Medvedev has also rebounded from a brief slump with a semifinal showing at Queen’s Club and two mostly routine wins so far at the All-England Club. The No. 11 seed will win far more free points on serve and his backhand works to perfection on grass, so I think he has an edge in what should be a much more competitive contest than the one Down Under.

Prediction: Medvedev in 4

 

Reilly Opelka vs. (15) Milos Raonic

A matchup of this nature between two huge servers is almost always a crapshoot, complete with a whole host of tiebreakers. Anything can happen. Who knows, we might even get a tiebreaker at 12-12 in the fifth set. But you have to give an edge to the Canadian based on his experience and his successful history at Wimbledon (runner-up in 2016, semifinal in 2014, two straight quarterfinals) and Opelka is coming off an 8-6 in the fifth set battle with Stan Wawrinka.

Prediction: Raonic in 4

 

(10) Karen Khachanov vs. (23) Roberto Bautista Agut

Like Medvedev and Goffin, Khachanov and Bautista Agut also met at the Australian Open. Like Medvedev, Bautista Agut turned it into a laugher (6-4, 7-5, 6-4 to be exact). Th Spaniard leads the head-to-head series 3-2, with both of Khachanov’s wins having come on clay. Although both men are all-court players, clay–as the aforementioned results suggest–is far more conducive to the Russian’s game. On any other surface, RBA has been and will likely continue to be too tough.

Prediction: Bautista Agut in 4

 

(28) Benoit Paire vs. (Q) Jiri Vesely

Vesely is basically a poor man’s Sam Querrey, in that he always seems to do his best work at Wimbledon–albeit to a much lesser extent than Querrey. The Czech has reached the second Monday twice in his career. And in case it has to be said, being a poor man’s Sam Querrey is not a good thing. Vesely is playing great so far in London, but consistency has never been his forte. This is Paire’s best slam, as well, and he is simply the more talented of these two players. If the Frenchman can keep his head on straight for for all or most of the time, he should advance.

Prediction: Paire in 5

 

Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand. You can follow him on twitter at @Dimonator.