By Ricky Dimon
Second-round action at Queen’s Club is getting underway on Wednesday, when a classic grass-court encounter between Marin Cilic and Alexander Bublik should be on display. Grigor Dimitrov and Botic van de Zandschulp are also taking the court.
Here are my previews and picks for the two matchups.
Botic van de Zandschulp vs. Grigor Dimitrov
Dimitrov is no stranger to success at the Cinch Championships and having already taken out a seed–No. 3 Cameron Norrie–the draw has opened up for him to make another run. The 22nd-ranked Bulgarian captured the title in 2014 and he has reached the semifinals on two other occasions. In fine form right now, Dimitrov has advanced multiple rounds in four of his last five tournaments and he can make it five of six on Wednesday.
Up next for the 31-year-old is Van de Zandschulp, who lost their only previous encounter 6-7(5), 6-0, 7-5 earlier this season at an ATP 250 in Melbourne. Van de Zandschulp dropped his ‘s-Hertogenbosch opener to Emil Ruusuvuori but managed to scrape past British qualifier Paul Jubb 7-6(5), 4-6, 6-1 on Tuesday. Dimitrov owns the advantage in current form and has always been great on grass, so this should be a straightforward result.
Pick: Dimitrov in 2
Alexander Bublik vs. (7) Marin Cilic
Cilic and Bublik will be going head-to-head for the third time in their careers on Wednesday. Both of their previous meetings have gone Cilic’s way; 6-7(4), 6-2, 6-4 at the 2020 Rome Masters and 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 at the same event one year later.
Even though Bublik is not at his best on clay, nothing figures to change on grass–because the green stuff also suits Cilic’s game to perfection. The 17th-ranked Croat is a former Wimbledon finalist and he is a two-time champion at Queen’s Club. Cilic endured a bit of a scare with a three-setter against Liam Broady on Monday, but a wakeup call should serve him well moving forward at a tournament he has a real chance of winning for a third time. Lapses on serve are deadly against Cilic on this surface, and Bublik usually has more than a few of those.
Pick: Cilic in 2
Ricky contributes to10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand. You can follow him on twitter at @Dimonator.