Karen Khachanov and Roberto Bautista Agut are set to put on a highlight reel display in the third round of Wimbledon 2019. Young Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime will battle French young gun Ugo Humbert as well. Our panelists Yesh Ginsburg and Jim Smith offer their predictions, we also have predictions for matches featuring Novak Djokovic and Fernando Verdasco.
Felix Auger-Aliassime vs Ugo Humbert
Yesh: Umbert is surprisingly good on grass these year. Auger-Aliassime, though, has looked great for a month now–some poor play in his last match excluded. Auger-Aliassime in 4
Jim: Somewhat astonishingly, 19th seed Auger-Aliassime arrived at this year’s Championships without a main draw Grand Slam win to his name. He has rectified that in some style with fine victories over Vasek Pospisil and Corentin Moutet. Up against another French young gun in the shape of Humbert, Auger-Aliassime should feel confident again. Auger-Aliassime in 4
Kevin Anderson vs Guido Pella
Yesh: Anderson managed to lose a set to Janko Tipsarevic, but has looked great overall. Pella, meanwhile, needed a miracle to come back against Andreas Seppi, and might still be tired from a long and draining match. Anderson in 3
Jim: Jim: It has been a difficult season for 2018 runner-up Anderson, but he remains a devastating force at his best. There is far more to the South African than just a big serve and if he can get into the second week he could well do real damage. Pella, meanwhile, may be best known as a clay-courter, but he has played some fine grass-court tennis recently. But it is nonetheless hard to see him stopping the powerful Anderson as he did Cilic last season. Anderson in 3
Karen Khachanov vs Roberto Bautista Agut
Yesh: Khachanov won an impressive match against Feliciano Lopez, and now gets to play Roberto Bautista Agut, who has never been particularly great on the grass. Khachanov in 4
Jim: Karen Khachanov vs Roberto Bautista Agut Jim: This is probably one of the most intriguing matches of the day. Khachanov, to some extent, answered his critics with a fine four-set win over Queen’s champion Feliciano Lopez, but he won’t want to exit in the round of 32. Unfortunately for him, Bautista Agut is an excellent grass-courter in fine form. Indeed, this has been the best season of the Spaniard’s career. Expect him to claim another noteworthy result here. Bautista Agut in 5
Jiri Vesely vs Benoit Paire
Yesh: Vesely backed up his big win over Alexander Zverev with another solid one over Pablo Cuevas. He now gets the mercurial Benoit Paire with a chance to advance to the second week of a Major for the first time in his career. I think he takes it. Vesely in 4
Jim: Vesely looks to have rather squandered his considerable talent, but he is still an opponent none will relish facing at the All England Club. He has the sort of bruising power that is supremely hard to counter on a grass court, especially for a player like Paire, not known for his defensive skills. And the Frenchman will struggle to outhit his opponent. It looks like being another excellent Wimbledon for Vesely then. Vesely in 4
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