Wimbledon, 2nd round, Thursday, 03.07.2025, 14:45
Anyone who has reached the final for the last eight years will have been very happy to make the trip to England! Novak Djokovic should be on everyone’s Wimbledon list; the grand master wants to strike fear into the hearts of his young rivals on the hallowed turf.
After his successful start, he will face a local hero on Thursday – and is, of course, the clear favorite.
In my Evans Djokovic tip, I went in search of more accurate predictions and now reveal why I’ve decided on a straight win for the Djoker.
Who does Novak Djokovic still have to prove himself to? The answer is very simple: absolutely no one. The Serb is increasingly hinting that an early end to his career is entirely conceivable. After his French Open, where Djokovic was defeated in the semifinals by Jannik Sinner, he hinted at a departure from Roland Garros.
On the faster surfaces, however, he wants to give it another go. The 38-year-old has already triumphed seven times at Wimbledon, so there is still a new record to break. Roger Federer is currently the leader with eight titles, and Djokovic could catch up with him in just a few days.
After the French Open, as we have seen from Djokovic for a few years now, he withdrew from the tennis stage and prepared for Wimbledon away from the public eye. In the first round, he faced Alexandre Müller, whom he defeated quite confidently after a slight wobble.
The tennis legend prevailed 6-1, 6-7, 6-2, 6-2. Curiously, he fended off all three of his opponent’s break points, but still let the second set slip through his fingers. With seven breaks out of 27 opportunities, there is definitely room for improvement. All in all, Djokovic played a strong match, which was also reflected in his serve.
22 aces, one double fault, 70% first serves in, plus 82% of points won on his first serve – it doesn’t get much better than that. Djokovic does not want to take the problems from the second set into the second match. Has he ever been eliminated in the second round at Wimbledon before?
Yes, he has: most recently in 2008, and this incident has been an exception so far! Djokovic loves Wimbledon, Wimbledon loves Djokovic, and everything is set for his 25th Grand Slam title. However, before he can advance to the later rounds, the Djoker wants to improve his negative record.
On Thursday, he will face Daniel Evans – and the Brit actually leads 1-0! Evans won the only direct duel between the two players in 2021. A nice fact, but not one that will affect the odds set by the tax-free betting providers. As expected, they see Djokovic in the lead, with odds averaging 1.04 to 11.0.
Daniel Evans is unlikely to be bothered by his underdog status; he has absolutely nothing to lose in this match. The current world number 154 had plenty of time to prepare for Wimbledon, having been knocked out of the qualifiers in Paris. He has been given a wild card in London and wants to stay in the tournament as long as possible.
The Brit attracted attention a few days ago with his quarter-final appearance at Eastbourne, where his victory over Tommy Paul was particularly surprising. Is this a sign that something is possible at Wimbledon? In any case, he had no problems at all against his compatriot Jay Clarke in the first round.
Evans secured a clear 6-1, 7-5, 6-2 victory, saving important energy for the match against Djokovic. At 1.75 m tall, the 35-year-old is not one of the absolute aces when it comes to serving.
He would love to cap his first Grand Slam victory since the 2024 US Open, but his opponent is, of course, overwhelmingly superior. A third round is his best Wimbledon result to date.
Interesting fact: he last achieved this feat in 2021. In the second round, Evans beat Dusan Lajovic. It may be a bit of a stretch, but like Djokovic, he also comes from Serbia!
My Evans Djokovic tip
He faltered briefly, but in the end, the difficult phase was nothing to write home about. Novak Djokovic confidently advanced to the second round at Wimbledon, racking up strong service stats against Alexandre Müller.
Daniel Evans is no longer used to the feeling of winning a Grand Slam match. The Brit can only win, but of course he knows that a victory would be an absolute sensation. A sensation that I can’t really imagine, so my prediction is:
Djokovic wins easily against Evans!
