Ricky Dimon
Show Bio
Wimbledon 2024 gets underway on Monday, July 1, when the defending men’s singles champion once again has the honor of starting play on Centre Court. This time it is Carlos Alcaraz, who toppled Novak Djokovic in a five-set final last summer. Also on the opening schedule are Jannik Sinner, Coco Gauff and Naomi Osaka. Let’s take a look at the Wimbledon best bets to be made on the Day 1 schedule, and you can also find out my Wimbledon men’s singles predictions and Wimbledon women’s singles picks, which includes longshots at +5000 and +6000 odds!
Naomi Osaka -1.5 sets over Diane Parry (-120)
Although Naomi Osaka is still searching for a first real marquee result in her 2024 tennis comeback, she certainly made noise at the French Open by coming within one point of upsetting world #1 and eventual champion Iga Swiatek. There is no doubt that Osaka’s level is there; she simply needs to unlock it on a more consistent basis. The 4-time major champion has never fared particularly well, but keep in mind that she has not even played this tournament since 2019. Moreover, grass should be extremely conducive to her huge-serving, big-hitting game. There is no reason why she can’t have success at the All-England Club. Regardless of whether she ends up making a significant run this fortnight, Osaka should have no trouble in round 1 against Diane Parry. The Frenchwoman isn’t entirely hopeless on grass, but she is much better suited for clay.
Maxime Janvier +2.5 sets over Zhizhen Zhang (-140)
I actually think Maxime Janvier has a decent chance of winning this match outright (+470 on the money line is definitely worth a sprinkle). As such, asking him to simply win 1 set definitely shouldn’t be too much. The Frenchman comes in with confidence, having been victorious in 3 qualifying matches earlier this week. During those 3 contests, he won a combined 48 of 60 net points, displaying some impressive grass-court tennis. In a matchup between 2 relatively big servers, the margins are sure to be small – complete with in all likelihood multiple tiebreakers. Those are the kinds of matches that can generally go either way. I fully expect Janvier to take a set… and maybe even 3.
Parlay: Zizou Bergs ML over Arthur Cazaux and Roberto Bautista Agut ML over Maximilian Marterer (-128)
Arthur Cazaux and Maximilian Marterer are 2 players whom you have to feel good about fading at the moment. Dating all the way back to early March, Cazaux has not found the winner’s circle a single time, riding a horrific 7-match losing streak. The Frenchman has not won a main-draw match at the ATP level since February in Dubai. Meanwhile, Marterer is saddled with a dreadful 7-12 record in his last 19 matches and has won only a single main-draw match on the main tour in 2024. The left-hander from Germany is coming off a bad 6-1, 6-2 loss to little-known Brit Paul Jubb in the Mallorca first round. As for Bergs and Bautista Agut, both are in good shape. Bergs is playing by far the best tennis of his career this season and Bautista Agut has always been good on grass – in fact, the Spaniard reached the Wimbledon semifinals in 2019.
