ATP Queens Club, Round of 16, Wednesday, 15.06.2022
Hall or London, which of these two preparatory tournaments for Wimbledon have the top stars chosen? In the English capital, among others, one of the surprises of the last French Open is getting fit.
For both players in Wednesday’s round of 16, it will be the first time that they will play in the main draw in Queens. In my Bublik Cilic tip, I look for reasons why the bookmakers are betting on a Croatian victory!
Has he digested the French Open experience yet? Marin Cilic was one of the big sensations, even played for a place in the final at the end. He lost to Casper Ruud in four sets, but the veteran still played a great tournament.
Whoever beats the two Russian top stars Andrey Rublev and Daniil Medvedev, the latter even in three sets, should also be a real alternative for Wimbledon. It’s a good thing that Cilic likes the fast grass very much anyway.
He started on his favourite surface a few days ago against local hero Liam Broady, winning 6-1, 4-6, 7-5. He took four of the five break chances and won 85% of the points on the first serve, so it can continue.
It’s the first time the Croatian has competed here in Queens. 2020, 2021, 2022, there has been one duel per year for some time against Alexander Bublik, his upcoming opponent. So far it’s going well, Cilic is leading 2:0.
Both matches so far have been played on clay, both finished in three sets. These results would suggest that we will see another close, even match on Wednesday.
The Kazakh, at 1.96m just two centimetres shorter than Cilic, managed to conserve his strength a little in his 1st round London match. Lorenzo Musetti retired at 6-3, so winning a set was enough
The service stats are strong, but you can’t hang them too high with only one set. After his early exit at the French Open (round 2 against Miomir Kecmanovic), Bublik competed in Stuttgart.
But only with moderate success, because after a narrow victory against Denis Kudla, he could not do anything against Andy Murray. It would be a big surprise if he were to beat Marin Cilic on Wednesday.
Since the Open Sud de France, which he surprisingly won, he has not managed to celebrate two victories in one tournament! The last time he did it was at the beginning of February, so we can definitely call this a crisis.
My Bublik Cilic tip
Marin Cilic wants to show that his semi-final in Paris was no flash in the pan. Moreover, he has won both previous duels against Alexander Bublik.
Nevertheless, I could see in my analysis that he struggled a bit against Liam Broady. Since Bublik hasn’t won two matches in a row since early February, but can serve strong, I make the following betting recommendation:
Cilic to win at over 22.5 games!
