Ricky Dimon
Third-round action at Wimbledon wraps up on Saturday at the All-England Club, where spots in the prestigious second week continue to be handed out. Jannik Sinner, Novak Djokovic, Elena Rybakina and Iga Swiatek are among those taking the court.
Let’s take a look at the Wimbledon best bets to be made on the Day 6 schedule.
Parlay: Ben Shelton ML over Marton Fucsovics and Grigor Dimitrov ML over Sebastian Ofner (-133)
Shelton is on an absolute roll so far at Wimbledon. That’s nothing new for the American, because he absolutely loves the big stage. Put Shelton at a small tournament and he can lose to pretty much anyone on any given day; put him at a Grand Slam and he is one the most reliable players outside of Sinner, Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz. The world #10 did not lose a set in his first 2 rounds against Alex Bolt and Rinky Hijikata. Now he faces Fucsovics, who needed a lucky-loser spot in the main draw after falling in qualifying. Moreover, the Hungarian had to survive back-to-back 5-set matches in the main draw against Aleksandar Kovacevic and Gael Monfils. He’s gotta be running out of gas. Meanwhile, you also have to feel good about Dimitrov. If the Bulgarian was going to lose early in London, it probably would have been right away due to injury. Now though, at long last Dimitrov appears to be healthy. And whenever he has been physically fit at Wimbledon, he has generally played great. This fortnight is shaping up to be no exception – especially with a favorable third-round draw against Ofner on the horizon.
Jakub Mensik vs Flabio Cobolli Over 38.5 games (-122)
Mensik and Cobolli may not be household names for casual tennis fans, but the diehards can confirm that this may be the best matchup of the entire third round. Mensik and Cobolli are 2 of the most promising rising stars on tour. Already a Masters 1000 champion (Miami this spring), Mensik’s game works pretty much perfectly on grass. Cobolli’s probably isn’t quite as suited for this surface, but he is also playing well on it. The Italian has won 7 grass-court matches over the past 2 years, including 4 this summer. With the total set at a modest 38.5 number, this doesn’t have to go 5 sets to exceed it. Even a 4-set match should go over without too much trouble.
Marin Cilic -2.5 games over Jaume Munar (-116)
Like the case with Dimitrov, the only real concerns surrounding Cilic are injury issues. Also like Dimitrov, however, Cilic appears to healthy at the moment. When he is, the 36-year-old Croat can still get it done. That is exactly what he is doing right now. Cilic accrued some confidence with a recent grass-court title at the Nottingham Challenger and he has parlayed that into even more success – a lot more – at the All-England Club. The 2014 U.S. Open champion extended his current winning streak to 7 matches by upsetting world # 4 Jack Draper in the second round. Moreover, he is 2-0 in the head-to-head with Munar and 4-0 in total sets. Munar is an anemic 6-15 all time on grass, so he really should be a much, much bigger underdog in this matchup.
