tennis | Saturday, July 2, 2022 3:48 PM (Revised at: Saturday, July 2, 2022 11:37 PM)

Sunday's WTA Tennis Best Bet: Wimbledon, July 3rd

Jon Reid

WTA Wimbledon BEST BET: BOUZKOVA vs GARCIA

Sunday, July 3rd, TBD

With the second week upon us at Wimbledon, there aren’t likely to be many more under-the-radar type matches. One match that may not fly completely under the radar, but could certainly be overlooked in what could be a quality affair features Marie Bouzkova taking on Caroline Garcia for a spot in the quarterfinals of the women’s draw.

With Bouzkova surprising people by not just making the fourth round, but doing so in impressive fashion and Garcia having seemingly found the form that once took her to the upper echelons of the women’s game, we could see an absolute barn-burner.

The Czech is the more surprising of the two women to have reached this point, with Bouzkova having struggled (a hold plus break percentage of just 86% on grass over the last 52 weeks on grass prior to Wimbledon) on the grass. As someone who prefers a higher bounce from the courts she’s on, it’s incredible to see her in the second week. The way she dispatched the trio of Americans she’s beaten has been impressive as well, handling Ann Li and Alison Riske with ease and overcoming the incredibly powerful Danielle Collins in three sets.

As one of the better movers and defenders out there, Bouzkova has used her ability to move along the baseline to perfection through three rounds.

A much sterner test awaits Bouzkova in the Frenchwoman, however. Having more experience, pedigree and in better form on grass, Garcia is going to be a tough out. The former world No. 4 has been serving lights out dating all back to her tight loss to Madison Keys at Roland Garros. After a close call with Yuriko Miyazaki in the opening round, she advanced without dropping a set in her last two matches – both against better opponents than her first.

Currently, on an eight-match win streak, Garcia has an ace rate hovering around the 10% mark and winning nearly three-quarters of her first-serve points. With an elo rating on the surface about 100 points higher than her Czech opponent, Garcia should be a slight favourite in my books, not just over evens.