tennis | Monday, July 3, 2023 8:07 AM

Monday Tennis Best Bet: ATP Wimbledon, Emil Ruusuvuori vs Stan Wawrinka

Jon Reid

Emil Ruusuvuori vs Stan Wawrinka Best Bet: Monday, July 3rd

No good from Yannick Hanfmann. We somehow backed Adrian Mannarino’s opponent in the only match of the final three in which he looked healthy. Knee issue in his quarterfinal and then again in the final, but no signs of it in the semifinal match here. Those are the breaks, I suppose.

We’re into a fresh month and onto the biggest event on the tennis calendar, as The Championships get underway on Monday from the All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC). For our men’s preview, let’s look at the match between Emil Ruusuvuori and Stan Wawrinka.

In this article:

Emil Ruusuvuori vs Stan Wawrinka Preview
Emil Ruusuvuori vs Stan Wawrinka Best Bet

Emil Ruusuvuori vs Stan Wawrinka Preview

July 3rd, 16:30 (UK Time)

After a decent performance at the French Open for Wawrinka, the veteran from Switzerland may very well be primed for a decent run on the lawn courts of the AELTC. He’s shown as the season has progressed that he’s still a capable player if not the contender for slams he was once.

The grass courts should also help him a bit more than the clay in Paris. There, after a gruelling physical battle with Albert Ramos Vinolas in the opening round, he fell in five sets against Thanasi Kokkinakis. That second match saw him dominant through a set and a half, however, before the tough nature of clay-court tennis and the best-of-five set format took their toll and saw him deteriorate physically.

Grass courts reward power, which he has in abundance, and produce much shorter points on average, meaning we should see him fare a bit better physically over the course of a best-of-five set match.

Ruusuvuori is also a very talented player and loves playing on quicker surfaces, where his power is rewarded and shorter points help him reduce his error count, but he is certainly vulnerable against a strong player in Wawrinka, who can hit with him from the baseline and has a decent track record on the grass in his career.

Emil Ruusuvuori vs Stan Wawrinka Best Bet

While I don’t disagree that the Finn should be the favourite here – it is 2023 after all – I do believe having Wawrinka priced over 3.00 (or under 35%) to win the match is a little extreme.

Sure, the 38-year-old hasn’t played on grass this season, but it’s not as though it’s a new surface to him and it also means he’ll be well-rested heading into this first-round encounter.

I’ll take a shot with the underdog who isn’t getting the respect he deserves here.