Ricky Dimon
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The Friday order of play at Wimbledon is absolutely stacked. Unfortunately for the patrons, rain – and quite a bit of it – is in the forecast. Of course, there are roofs over Centre Court and Court 1; so even if it does rain, there will be tennis. Among those in action are Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz, Coco Gauff and Emma Raducanu. Let’s take a look at the Wimbledon best bets to be made on the Day 5 schedule at the All-England Club.
Emma Raducanu ML over Maria Sakkari (-120)
It feels like a lifetime ago that Raducanu won the 2021 U.S. Open from pretty much out of nowhere. She is one of the most famous women’s players in the sport now, but for various reasons, she has been unable to back up that 1 standout result. Some of that has been due to poor play amidst the pressure of expectations; a lot of it has to do with injuries. Well, Raducanu is finally healthy again and she is making the most of it. The Brit’s current grass-court swing includes a semifinal performance in Nottingham and a quarterfinal result in Eastbourne (defeated both Sloane Stephens and Jessica Pegula). Raducanu won her only previous contest against Maria Sakkari 6-1, 6-4 in the U.S. Open semis. I expect her to get it done again, this time in front of the home crowd.
Brandon Nakashima ML over Ugo Humbert (+110)
Admittedly, my picks during the first week have not gone according to plan – complete with some spectacularly bad beats. So we’re going back to the drawing board and keeping it simple on Friday. Every play is just straight on the money line. That includes this enticing matchup between Ugo Humbert and Brandon Nakashima. Humbert withdrew from his scheduled doubles match on Thursday, with “hip pain” being the official reason. It may be nothing more than precautionary, but even if the Frenchman is 100 percent he could be in trouble. Humbert has cooled off considerably since a hot start to the season and Nakashima is red hot on grass this summer. The American has won 8 matches on the lawns, highlighted by straight-set routs of Sebastian Baez and Jordan Thompson so far in SW19.
Lin Zhu ML over Lulu Sun (-120)
Lulu Sun qualified for the main draw and is now in the third round, but only 1 of her wins (over Qinwen Zheng) has been particularly impressive. A couple of wins were very close against less-than-spectacular opponents. It is true that Lin Zhu is another beatable opponent, especially considering that this is round 3 of a Grand Slam, but 62 spots ahead of Sun in the rankings (#61 to #123) the 30-year-old is simply the more experienced and the all-around better player at this point in time. Zhu’s 6-4, 6-3 second-round destruction of Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova was especially impressive. Look for her to keep it going.
Tommy Paul ML over Alexander Bublik (-145)
Grass gives Alexander Bublik a chance in this matchup, but regardless of surface, Tommy Paul is the more reliable performer. The American is as steady as it gets, whereas Bublik can go off the rails at any moment. With few exceptions, I’ll always back steadiness on the tennis court. Paul struggled with qualifier Otto Virtanen in round 2, but the Finn was playing at a very high level. Paul is without question still playing great. The 13th-ranked American is coming off a title at Queen’s Club and showing no signs of slowing down in London. The odds are moving in Paul’s favor, so I’d recommend jumping on it ASAP.
