The first round of Wimbledon featured absolute carnage, with all kinds of seeded players taking a tumble out of the tournament. Now it’s time for the second round, which gets underway on Wednesday. Carlos Alcaraz, Taylor Fritz, and Joao Fonseca are among those taking the court.
Here are my picks for two of Wednesday’s best matchups.
(5) Taylor Fritz vs. Gabriel Diallo
Overall, Fritz’s draw is a favorable one. He is in Alexander Zverev’s section, which was already weak even before all of the upsets (Zverev and Daniil Medvedev are among those already out). The story in the first two rounds, however, is entirely different. Right off the bat Fritz had to face the most dangerous unseeded player in the whole bracket in Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard. Sure enough, the fifth-ranked American was two points away from losing when he trailed 5-1 in a fourth-set tiebreak. From the brink of defeat, Fritz managed to prevailed 6-7(6), 6-7(8), 6-4, 7-6(6), 6-4.
It doesn’t get any easier in Diallo, whose breakthrough season features his first ATP title on the grass of ‘s-Hertogenbosch and a quarterfinal performance at the Madrid Masters. Combined this summer, Fritz and Diallo are an amazing 18-3 on grass three titles. It goes without saying that this could be the best match of the entire second round.
Pick: Fritz in 4
Joao Fonseca vs. Jenson Brooksby
This has to be one of round two’s most intriguing matchups, especially from a stylistic point of view. Fonseca bashes the ball at every opportunity, especially serves and forehands. Brooksby does the complete opposite; he massages the ball around the court with slices and spins, rarely swinging out with full force.
For the back-from-the-dead American (well, really just back from a suspension), it’s a style that can work on grass grass. It certainly has in recent weeks, as Brooksby reached the Eastbourne final (lost to Fritz) and crushed Mallorca winner Tallon Griekspoor 6-2, 7-5, 6-3 in the Wimbledon opening round. Fonseca also impressed on Monday, beating Jake Fearnley 6-4, 6-1, 7-6(5). The 18-year-old Brazilian does not have a lot of experience on this surface, but there are early positive signs. Fonseca fell to Flavio Cobolli 10-8 in a third-set tiebreaker in Halle, defeated Zizou Bergs in Eastbourne, and then succumbed Fritz 7-5 in the third set. I’m giving a slight edge to the teenage sensation.
Pick: Fonseca in 5
Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand. You can follow him on Twitter at @Dimonator.