Khachanov – Lopez

Karen Khachanov and Feliciano Lopez will square off on Wednesday in one of the most anticipated second round matches at Wimbledon.

Khachanov struggled a bit in the first round against a rather average opponent, Kwon Soon Woo. The 125th ranked Kwon was in pretty good form entering Wimbledon and got past the qualifying tournament, but still it was a bit surprising that he pushed Khachanov to four tight sets and over three hours of play. It`s questionable how ready Khachanov is to make big noise here at SW19, also considering that he hasn`t proved much on grass yet in his career, and didn`t play spectacular in the pre-Wimbledon tournaments (first round exit in Stuttgart, QF at Halle).

Lopez, one of the few true grass court and serve & volley experts left in the game (arguably the biggest of them all), is playing lights out tennis right now on his favorite surface. Lopez had a poor year and even struggled a bit at the start of the grass court season, but right now he is on a roll. Lopez won the strong Queens tournament a couple of weeks ago (def. Auger Aliassime, Raonic or Simon) and made light work of Giron in the first round here at Wimbledon, winning 6-4 6-2 6-4.

Khachanov leads the H2H 2-0 and defeated Lopez earlier this year in Indian Wells in a three setter. However, none of the meetings took place on grass, a surface on which Lopez in a true specialists, while Khachanov is yet to prove himself as an elite player.

Khachanov is obviously the better and more dynamic player at this point in his career, but he has not affirmed himself as a force on grass so far, and he doesn`t seem to be in great form. He only defeated Kecmanovic and Struff this year on the green before Wimbledon, while losing twice to Berrettini. He had a really tough first round matchup here in Wimby against Kwon, a match which could have easily gone into a deciding set.

Meanwhile, Lopez is riding a 5 match winning streak and looked as sharp as ever in the first round here against Giron. He is 37 years old, but he showed great fitness two weeks ago in Queens (winning all matches in three sets), and with his serve & volley style fitness shouldn`t be a problem even against the young Khachanov – especially as this is only the second round.

I am going to go with the grass court expert and the more in form player here. If Khachanov doesn`t raise his level quite a bit, Lopez should have the first chance in this match, and odds are great. My tip is Lopez to win. Prediction: Karen Khachanov – Feliciano Lopez 6-7 6-3 4-6 6-7.

Pick: Lopez
Odds: 2.12 @ Pinnacle
Stake: 8
Possible profit: 8.96
Event date: 3 July