World No. 1 and Wimbledon defending champion Andy Murray gets his feet wet at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club is hoping his recent hip troubles won’t stop him from dispatching his much younger and massively less-experienced first-round opponent in Alexander Bublik.
The ailment had left the British to scratch the two exhibitions matches he was supposed to play this week along with a pair of scheduled practices. Murray’s coach, Ivan Lendl, however, has expressed his confidence on Murray’s health, saying “he’ll (Murray) be fine”.
Murray is priced +600 to win his second-straight and third-overall Wimbledon title this year, but some concerns about his chances of repeating have aroused after getting ousted in the first round of the Queen’s last June by an unknown Jordan Thompson. All things considered, Murray should still be able to outclass Bublik this Monday.
Betting on Alexander Bublik
Bublik is galaxies apart from Murray in the world rankings, as the 20-year old Kazakh is just 134th but he’s not letting that from damping his confidence.
Bublik, a self-confessed rap music and Eminem fan, knows that his chances of taking down Murray is slim and shady at best, but taking into consideration Murray’s embarrassing loss at the Queen’s, there seems to be some glimmer of hope for an earth-shaking upset.
Bublik, who has zero Wimbledon experience, had some measure of success in the recently concluded Australian Open, when he beat 16th-ranked Lucas Pouille in the first round, 6-0, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4. He wasn’t able to follow that up with another W, as he was downed by Malek Jaziri in the next round, 2-6, 3-6, 5-7.
Writer’s Prediction
Murray breezes past Bublik by winning in straight sets.
