Wimbledon, 3rd Round, Friday, 07.07.2023
On with the 3rd round! In the English capital, after several breaks in the rain, play could finally continue. From the German point of view, they are particularly pleased that a qualifier has kept his nerve.
The world number 170 has reached Wimbledon as far as he has ever gone, but now he will meet the newly crowned champion from Halle. At Bet365, he is the clear underdog, but in my Bublik Marterer tip, I now reveal why I would still bet on a long, intense match!
Is it the biggest success of his career? Maximilian Marterer makes a completely surprising appearance in the 3rd round of Wimbledon, and as a qualifier! He had to be 28 years old to get this far on the Holy Lawn.
Granted, it’s not the first time we’ve found him in this category. In 2018, he even reached the last 16 at the French Open, but Wimbledon is of course a different kettle of fish.
Marterer won against Luciano Darderi, Gauthier Onclin and Fabian Marozsan in the qualifiers, eventually finding himself in the skin field. His first opponent, Borna Gojo, was then beaten 7-5, 6-7, 6-3, 6-4.
Finally, the German faced Michael Mmoh in the 2nd round, another qualifier. It developed into an interesting, close match, but in the end, an outright success was on the scoreboard.
7-5, 7-6, 6-4, no break allowed, 84% won points on the first serve and 13 aces, his own service was really excellent over the net. His statistics in this respect improved compared to the first match.
He has already enjoyed five victories here in London, but his next opponent is a challenge. Marterer has already played Alexander Bublik once in 2017, in the qualifying round of Halle.
6-0, 6-3, the German won then highly superior. Since then, of course, Bublik has improved a lot and is among the best 30 players in the world. The player who starts for Kazakhstan oscillates between genius and madness, and you never really know what you’re going to get beforehand.
In Halle, he outplayed some top stars, won against Jannik Sinner and Andrey Rublev, among others, and even took the trophy at the end! In Wimbledon, curiously, he started with a lost set.
After losing 6-7 to Mackenzie McDonald, he rallied to win 6-7, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4, even though his service was actually very strong and his opponent was simply in a really good mood.
90% of points won on the first serve and one break surrendered, that was something to be proud of. In round 2, he met the next American, J.J. Wolf, and the fans were treated to a 6-3, 7-6, 6-0 win.
His service stats were again similarly strong, so Marterer will be in for a treat. In the last two years, Bublik also reached round 3 of Wimbledon, but lost both times.
Admittedly, with Hubert Hurkacz and Frances Tiafoe he had really strong opponents on the other side. Despite all the fingers crossed for Marterer from the German point of view, he does not (yet) fall into this category. Accordingly, the odds at our bookmakers are clear with 1.15 to 5.60.
My Bublik Marterer tip
Can Maximilian Marterer continue to write his story in London? He makes his debut on the sacred turf in the 3rd round and has shown a great side so far, especially in his own service game.
Now he will face Alexander Bublik, an opponent who can be found in the extended world class. Among us, the Russian-born has attracted attention with brilliant service, with the same strength that we could discover in Marterer.
This leads me to see a good chance of a close, intense match and I’m guessing at the end.
We see more than 35,5 Games!
