It’s finally time for the only grass court Grand Slam and the team at SportsTips.com are previewing the best six games of the first round. Read below to check out our picks for the three best men’s and three best women’s games for Round 1 at Wimbledon for 2022!
It is the opening round at Wimbledon and boy are there some interesting matchups for the first round. Who will take out the championship game in the men’s and women’s draw? It is sure to be a thrilling 2 weeks to find out!
Enjoy our free tennis picks and predictions for each round at Wimbledon for the 2022 season.
Round 1 Tennis Picks at Wimbledon: Men’s Draw
Novak Djokovic (1) vs Kwon Soon-woo
The number one seed and defending champion here at Wimbledon, Novak Djokovic, kicks off his tournament with a match against South Korean, Kwon Soon-woo. The last time we saw Djokovic was at the French Open, where he lost in the quarterfinals to Nadal. Soon-woo’s last tournament was earlier this month at the Rosmalen Grass Court Championships, where he lost in the first round to unseeded Gaston in straight sets.
Jeffery Thomas
Novak Djokovic comes into Wimbledon as the favorite to take the title home as the world number 3 and the winner of the last three Wimbledon’s. His path to that title defense starts in Round 1 against the hard-hitting South Korean Kwon Soon-woo. Djoker sits with a win-loss record of 16-5 on the season with just the one title on clay in Rome, which is a bit of a disappointment by the Serbian’s standards. However, this is his best Grand Slam event and conditions that favor him significantly over 99.9% of the field, so he deservedly is expected to be the last man standing in two weeks.
Soon-woo is hoping to put up a better fight here than he did in this pair’s only previous matchup which was last year at Belgrade where Kwon could only win 4 total games. I don’t think he has much chance though, considering he’s just 3-10 in his last thirteen matches including a four-match losing streak entering Wimbledon. Novak will have no issues winning this match.
Jeffery’s Wimbledon Pick: Game Spread – Djokovic -9.5 (-120)
Marko Nadin
Novak Djokovic is not having his best season so far as he has won only 1 tournament this year and has dropped from the top seed in the ATP rankings to third place. The Serbian is the defending champion in Wimbledon and is targeting his seventh title in the All England Club. He is 17-5 so far in the season and 1-0 on grass, defeating Felix Auger-Aliassime in an exhibition game. Djokovic has a lot to catch up since Rafael Nadal won both Grand Slams this year and is now two titles ahead of the Serbian on the all-time list. Djokovic will have no trouble in the opening round against Soon-woo who he has defeated in their only head-to-head so far.
Kwon Soon-woo is currently 75th in the ATP rankings with his career-high at no. 52. The 24-year-old is 14-18 for the season and 0-2 on grass. His career record on grass is 12-12. The South Korean is coming off a first round 6-2, 6-1 loss to Hugo Gaston in Hertogenbosch. His best result so far in the season is the second round at the Australian Open where he lost 2-3 against Dennis Shapovalov after defeating Holger Rune in the first round.
Marko’s Wimbledon Pick: Set Betting – Djokovic 3-0 (-430)
Jack Hartman
After two Grand Slams this year, Novak Djokovic would have been disappointed having not been able to add to his total of twenty Grand Slams, but heads into this year’s Wimbledon as the tournament favorite. The last few weeks have been quiet for the Serbian who hasn’t played a tournament since losing to Rafa Nadal in the quarterfinals of this year’s French Open. Despite everything that Djokovic has achieved, his performances at Wimbledon are sometimes overlooked, and it’s easy to forget that he has won on the hallowed turf of SW19 six times.
With a game perfectly suited for grass, Djokovic will expect another deep run at this year’s tournament. He will expect to make quick work of his first round opponent Kwon Soon-woo. Kwon currently finds himself at 75 in the world, and unlike Djokovic, has played in a couple of grass court warm up events, losing in the first round of both tournaments. Certainly not a natural on grass, this will be Kwon’s third appearance at Wimbledon and he has only been able to advance past the first round once. Facing an uphill task here, the smart money has to be on Djokovic winning in straight sets.
Jack’s Wimbledon Pick: Set Betting – Djokovic 3-0 (-430)
Francisco Cerundolo vs Rafael Nadal (2)
Argentine Francisco Cerundolo will have his work cut out for him in the first round as he takes on the number two seed, Rafael Nadal. The Argentine last played at the Eastbourne International where he lost in the first round, in three sets. Nadal is probably still riding high from his victory at the French Open, and throughout that Grand Slam, he only lost three sets.
Jeffery Thomas
Rafael Nadal is entering Wimbledon the winner of this year’s Australian Open and French Open, so he has high motivations of winning this tournament and continuing his quest for the Calendar Grand Slam. His first obstacle will be Argentina’s Francisco Cerundolo who is a dangerous customer on his best day. Nadal has a couple Wimbledon titles under his belt, but both were from over a decade ago so he hasn’t been able to channel his best performances in recent history here.
His motivations are higher than ever now though as his career and health wind down, and it’s clear he wants to pad his legendary accolades even more before hanging the tennis shoes up for good. Cerundolo is sitting at a career-high ranking of 42 at the moment but just recently recorded his first main draw grass victory against Pedro Martinez in Queens earlier this month. Clay is the best surface for both of these players but obviously Nadal has the superior talent and pedigree at the Grand Slam events, so he will have no issues maneuvering through the 23-year old.
Jeffery’s Wimbledon Pick: Set Betting – Nadal 3-0 (-260)
Marko Nadin
Rafael Nadal is having an excellent season winning the first two majors in 2022 despite the fact that he missed the last 7 months of 2021 with a serious foot injury. The Spaniard is currently no. 4 in the ATP rankings and is heading to Wimbledon with no pressure on. He has won the tournament twice before in 2008 and 2010. This will be his first appearance at Wimbledon since 2019. Nadal is 31-4 so far this season and is 1-1 on grass. Besides the Australian Open and French Open, Nadal won in Acapulco and Melbourne this year.
Francisco Cerundolo will have a chance to play against his idol for the first time in his career. The Argentinian is currently 42nd in the ATP rankings which is his career-best ranking. He made his first appearance at Wimbledon last season but couldn’t go past the qualifiers. The 23-year-old is 25-16 for the season and 1-2 on grass. He is coming off a first round 4-6, 7-6, 6-4 loss to Tommy Paul in Eastbourne. His best result this season was the win in the Santa Cruz challenger.
Marko’s Wimbledon Pick: Set Betting – Nadal 3-0 (-260)
Jack Hartman
After an absence of two years Rafa Nadal is back at Wimbledon and looking to win a third Grand Slam title of the year. Having impressively won in both Australia and Paris, Nadal dampened expectations ahead of this year’s Wimbledon bid. Still struggling with a troublesome foot injury, it’s unknown what Nadal’s fitness situation is like. However assuming he is fit to play, this is a match-up that he should be happy with as he bids for a third Wimbledon title.
Nadal’s opponent Francisco Cerundolo has enjoyed a breakthrough year and now finds himself at 42 in the world. A clay courter by trade, he has very little grass court experience, this will be the Argentine’s first ever appearance at Wimbledon in the main draw and he couldn’t have been handed a tougher start. Cerundolo had warmed up for this year’s Wimbledon with a second round loss at Queens and first round defeat at Eastbourne. He has nothing to lose and will cause Nadal problems with his game but this is a match that Nadal should be able to come through.
Jack’s Wimbledon Pick: Set Betting – Nadal 3-1 (+310)
Lorenzo Musetti vs Taylor Fritz (11)
Young Italian, Lorenzo Musetti, takes on our top seeded American, Taylor Fritz, in the first round at The Championships. In Musetti’s last match, in mid-June at the Queen’s Club Championships, he retired at the start of the second set, after losing the first. Fritz is backing up after a couple of days where he played in the final of the Eastbourne International, a match in which he won in three sets.
Jeffery Thomas
It was a rough stretch of tennis for American #1 Taylor Fritz who bowed out early in the French Open and his first two grass tournaments of the year. But he found his form right on time, advancing to the final and winning the title in Eastbourne just days ago, and now appears to be a strong sleeper pick to make a deep run here at Wimbledon. His serve and forehand combo is one of the deadliest on the tour when he’s on his game and he’s going to be a tough out for anyone he runs into.
Lorenzo Musetti doesn’t appear to be much of a threat in this matchup as the young Italian has only played three matches on this surface at any level and has never won any of them. He also has a putrid 13-14 record overall this season, with serious health and fitness concerns coming in as he was forced to retire from his last match after a nasty fall. I don’t like the matchup for Musetti at all here and I don’t expect him to even get a set in this one.
Jeffery’s Wimbledon Pick: Set Betting – Fritz 3-0 (+115)
Marko Nadin
Taylor Fritz is a dark-horse candidate to make a deep run in Wimbledon this year. The American is currently 14th in the ATP rankings with his career-best being one spot higher. Last year at Wimbledon, Fritz made it to the third round where he lost to Alexander Zverev in four sets after defeating Steve Johnson and Brandon Nakashima in the previous rounds. The 24-year-old is 24-10 this season and 3-2 on grass. Fritz made his best achievement this season, winning the ATP Masters in Indian Wells defeating Rafael Nadal in the final.
Lorenzo Musetti will have his second appearance in Wimbledon after losing in the opening round last year. The Italian is currently 71st in the ATP standing with no. 51 being his career-best. The 20-year-old is 21-15 for the season and 0-2 on grass. He withdrew from his last match in the first round in Queen’s Club after being a set down in the match against Alexander Bublik. Musetti’s best result this season was the win in the Forli challenger.
Marko’s Wimbledon Pick: Match Winner – Fritz (-690)
Jack Hartman
Taylor Fritz enters this year’s Wimbledon having won in Eastbourne just last week. Now a regular inside the world’s top 15, Fritz will view this Wimbledon’s title as a tournament he can contend in. Armed with a huge serve and forehand, Fritz can trouble the best players in the world and he certainly is a live contender. Considering the American’s big game, Wimbledon hasn’t been a happy hunting ground with Fritz’s best appearance being a third round showing back in 2021. However, seeded 11 for this year’s tournament he will be hoping for a deep run. Fritz has been handed a tricky first round opponent in the form of Italian Lorenzo Musetti. Musetti finds himself down at 71 in the ATP rankings but is a better player than that.
At just 20 there is an expectation that Musetti will reach the highest heights of the game. Musetti’s game is better suited to the clay and he has experienced opening round defeats in both of his grass court warm up events. This will be the Italians second ever Wimbledon and he will be hoping that he will be able to better his first round appearance that he achieved last year. Musetti is no stranger to the big stage, he should have beaten Stefanos Tsitsipas in the first round of this year’s French Open but blew a two set lead. He will give Fritz a game but the American should have far too much for the Italian.
Jack’s Wimbledon Pick: Set Betting – Fritz 3-1 (+230)
Round 1 Tennis Picks at Wimbledon: Women’s Draw
Danielle Collins (7) vs Marie Bouzková
Our top seeded American on the women’s side of the draw, Danielle Collins will look to kick off her tournament with a bang against Marie Bouzková. Collins was knocked out in the second round of the French Open, in straight sets, and that’s the last time we saw her. Bouzková last played in the Eastbourne International, where she lost in the first round, in three sets.
Jeffery Thomas
World number 8 Danielle Collins comes into Wimbledon just 12-6 on the season with no notable results besides her run to the final at the Australian Open. Her career record on grass is even more alarming at just 5-6 due to her being primarily a hard court and clay court player. Due to the slickness of the grass surface and how quick the ball gets on you, she can’t time her ground strokes like she can on the other surfaces and she isn’t the greatest mover either. Collins hasn’t played since the French Open where she lost in straight sets in the second round to her compatriot Shelby Rogers. Her best showing at Wimbledon was back in 2019 where she made the third round, so she’s hoping this year is a much better showing.
Her first opponent will be Marie Bouzkova who has won just one round at Wimbledon in her young career. The Czech has also dealt with injury concerns and only played one match since the French Open where she lost in three sets to Shelby Rogers. The lack of matches under Collins’ belt on the lead up to Wimbledon gives us a great price on her against a player with limited weapons. Bouzkova will do a good job of fighting for every point and keeping balls in play but she doesn’t possess anything in her game that can really trouble the American. The entire match will be on Collins’ racquet and if she keeps the errors down and stays fit, she will win and advance.
Jeffery’s Wimbledon Pick: Match Winner – Collins (-130)
Marko Nadin
Danielle Collins has found her way to the top 10 players in the WTA rankings as she is currently at no. 8. The 28-year-old American is 12-6 for the season and has not played on grass in 2022. Her best result in Wimbledon is the third round in 2019 when she lost to Petra Martic. Collins made a name for herself after making it to the Australian Open Final this year, where she lost to Ashleigh Barty. This will be her first match after a month break as her last match was the second round loss at the French Open to Shelby Rogers. Collins has defeated Bouzkova 6-4, 7-6 in their only head-to-head so far which took place in Newport Beach in 2018.
Marie Bouzkova is 65th in the WTA rankings with her highest ranking at no. 46. The Czech is 22-9 this season and lost her only match on grass last week in Eastbourne to Shelby Rogers. The 23-year-old has made it past the opening round in Wimbledon only once in 2019. Her best result of the season was reaching the final in Guadalajara where she lost 1-2 to Sloane Stephens.
Marko’s Wimbledon Pick: Match Winner – Collins (-130)
Jack Hartman
Tricky tricky tricky. Out of all the first round opponents that Danielle Collins could have hoped to draw, the Czech Marie Bouzkova wouldn’t have been near the top of the list. In reality this is a match between the eighth best player and the world number 65 but Bouzkova is an accomplished doubles player and her all-court game could see her do well on the grass courts of SW19. The two have only previously played once and that came back in 2018 with Collins winning in straight sets. Both players have come a long way since then but Collins will be hoping for a change of fortune at this famous tournament.
Collins has never gone past the third round of Wimbledon and surprisingly this is her worst Grand Slam when it comes to results. There is no finer competitor on all of the WTA Tour than Collins and if she is on top of her game, she is going to be a tough nut to crack. Collins’ form in the lead up to this year’s tournament can be questioned as she hasn’t played a competitive match since her second round defeat at this year’s French Open. Collins, who has had her fair share of health and injury scares in her career, will be hoping that she arrives fresh. This is a tough opening round matchup for the American but if she competes as we know she can, it should be a match she just comes through.
Jack’s Wimbledon Pick: Set Betting – Collins 2-1 (+280)
Serena Williams vs Harmony Tan
One of the greatest of all time, Serena Williams, makes her Grand Slam comeback at The Championships, and in the first round she is up against Harmony Tan, from France. Williams was playing in the doubles with Jabeur in the Eastbourne International, and the pair won two matches. Tan made it all the way to the semifinals at the Veneto Open Internazionali Confindustria Venezia e Rovigo, before losing in straight sets to the number one seed.
Jeffery Thomas
Tennis legend and arguably the greatest ever Serena Williams is returning from a year’s absence to play at this year’s Wimbledon. Her last singles match was at this same event in 2021 where she had to retire in the first round due to an ankle injury. She returned last week for doubles with Ons Jabeur in Eastbourne where they made it to the semi finals before having to pull out because of a knee issue with Jabeur. Williams looked good in those matches, at times taking over and looking like her old self. The serve will always be a threat and she showed that, and now she’ll have to deal with Frenchwomen Harmony Tan here.
Tan entered 2022 with zero career wins on grass but changed that with a few wins at the ITF level. The step up to this level is a steep one however, and it’s very doubtful that the world number 113 gives any real problems to Serena here, despite all the time off. Serena has just one loss to a player ranked outside the top 100 in a Grand Slam event and that came 10 years ago at the French Open. Expect her to be able to serve out of any tough spots and just use her pure power to overwhelm the young and inexperienced Tan.
Jeffery’s Wimbledon Pick: Set Betting – Williams 2-0 (-125)
Marko Nadin
Serena Williams will play her first singles match of the season in Wimbledon, a tournament that she has won seven times in her career, the last time in 2016. The former world no. 1 and a 23-time Grand slam champion is 107-15 in her career on grass which clearly describes how dominant she was on this surface. It is hard to predict the shape she will be in when she returns to the court but she will definitely not come back if she wasn’t in a competitive form. We will get the answer to that question in the opening round and see if the American is a contender for the title.
Harmony Tan is currently 113th in the WTA rankings with her best result being at no. 90. The Frenchwomen is 13-16 for the season including 3-2 on grass. This is the first time she has made it to the main draw in Wimbledon. The 24-year-old is coming off a semi-final loss to Alison Van Uytvanck in Galiba. She has won a total of 8 titles in her career but none of them on a high level.
Marko’s Wimbledon Pick: Match Winner – Williams (-345)
Jack Hartman
Is there a bigger banana skin in all of the first round than this matchup between Serena Williams and Harmony Tan? On paper this should be a match that Williams wins easily but this is her first competitive singles match in a year and there are bound to be huge levels of rust in the Williams game. Serena is a living legend and has won this tournament a staggering seven times. A wildcard in this week’s draw, an eighth title looks highly unlikely but being the champion that Williams is, she wouldn’t be playing if she didn’t think she could win.
Her opponent Harmony Tan is a tricky first round opponent. Tan will be playing her first ever match in the Wimbledon main draw and heads into Wimbledon having lost in the semi-finals of last week’s Gaiba Challenger. The occasion is bound to be massive for the Frenchwoman and there is a huge deal she needs to overcome if she is going to be victorious in this match up. Tan will cause Serena plenty of problems and considering how rusty Williams is bound to be, I will go with Tan to pull off the upset.
Jack’s Wimbledon Pick: Match Winner – Tan (+270)
Iga Świątek (1) vs Jana Fett
The world number one, Iga Świątek, will look to continue her fabulous winning streak at The Championship when she takes on unseeded Frenchwomen, Jana Fett. The Pole hasn’t played a professional match since she won the title at Roland Garros, where she only lost one set in the entire tournament. Fett has already played three games, as she made her way through the qualifiers.
Jeffery Thomas
Iga Swiatek enters Wimbledon on a 35 match winning streak and has only dropped one set over her past 13 matches. She took time off and didn’t play any lead up events after winning the French Open for the second time in three years but is still expected to blow past her best showing here at the All England Club which was a fourth round appearance last year. Iga’s first round opponent is 254th ranked qualifier Jana Fett who only owns one win at a Grand Slam in her career.
That was back in 2018 when she got a win at the Australian Open but she’s not expected to build that resume in this matchup. Her only notable result this season is making a final on hard courts at the ITF level but that won’t hold much weight on this surface. I’m expecting a 6-2, 6-1 type of win here for Iga who is just on a level which is head and shoulders above everyone else right now.
Jeffery’s Wimbledon Pick: Set Betting – Swiatek 2-0 (-1250)
Marko Nadin
Iga Swiatek is having one of the most dominant seasons in the history of women’s tennis. She is on a 35-match winning streak as her last loss came in February in Dubai. In the last couple of months, Swiatek has won six consecutive tournaments in Doha, Indian Wells, Miami, Stuttgart, Rome and the French Open. The world no. 1 has had her best result in Wimbledon last season in the Round of 16. The 21-year-old is 44-3 for the season and is yet to play her first match on grass in 2022. Given her form, she is the favorite to win in Wimbledon even though she hasn’t had any major success on grass court in her career so far.
Jana Fett is the player who got the chance to step up on the court and try to compete against Swiatek in the opening round of Wimbledon. Fett is currently at no. 254 in the WTA rankings with her best ranking being at no. 97. The Croat is 18-15 for the season and 8-3 on grass. She has survived three qualifying rounds to find her place in the main draw in Wimbledon for the second time in her career.
Marko’s Wimbledon Pick: Set Betting – Swiatek 2-0 (-1250)
Jack Hartman
The Iga Swiatek train rolls into SW19 and if the sportsbooks odds are anything to go by, it looks like it isn’t showing any signs of stopping. Having won 35 straight matches and bagging her second Grand Slam title, Swiatek is looking to create even more history with a first Wimbledon title. A shoulder injury has seen Swiatek’s Wimbledon preparation disrupted but she should be fully fit by the time her first round match comes around. Swiatek lost just the one set in her run to the French Open title and should start her 2022 campaign in dominant fashion.
Swiatek’s 1st round opponent is the little known Croatian Jana Fett. Ranked at 254 in the world, Fett has progressed through three rounds of qualifying to advance this far and she will be determined to give Swiatek a scare. In all reality this could be one of the most one sided matches of the entire fortnight and I expect Swiatek to advance easily and quickly. There is very little value in predicting a Swiatek win so we will try and predict the score, and with nerves and a lack of experience bound to play a part, we will back Swiatek to win the first set 6-0.
Jack’s Wimbledon Pick: Correct Score First Set – Swiatek 6-0 (+550)
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*Odds and spreads correct at time of publication, courtesy of FanDuel.
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