Unheralded Dusan Lajovic has a chance to surprise Federer

Starts 11.30am Monday Centre Court 1pm
BBC & Amazon Prime

It's day one of Wimbledon and all eyes will be on defending champion Roger Federer as the top seed opens Centre Court proceedings with a clash against unheralded Dusan Lajovic.

While Federer did little wrong in winning on grass in Stuttgart and reaching the final in Halle, it's just possible that the Swiss veteran, who is chasing a ninth All England Club crown, will prove less effective in the longer best-of-five-set clashes this season.

Queen's Club champion Marin Cilic, ATP Finals hero Grigor Dimitrov, US Open finalist Kevin Anderson and Miami Masters winner John Isner are also in action on day one, but a punt on the Federer match could provide the best value on the opening day in south-west London.

Federer v Lajovic
Lajovic has not done much of note in his career, but he has the type of profile that could cause Federer problems in their Wimbledon opener.

What Lajovic does, he does unremarkably but well. He has faced Federer only once before, in the second round of the London Grand Slam 12 months ago.

The first set went to tiebreak, which Federer won 7-0, but after that the sport's greatest player imposed himself better and coasted to a 7-6 6-3 6-2 triumph.

Lajovic has improved since – like Federer, the Serb seems to avoid injury well – but the idea behind opposing the Swiss star is more to do with Federer himself.

In the spring double in March, after a fairly comfortable run to the Indian Wells final he came up short against Juan Martin del Potro. Federer was obviously pleased for his Argentinian friend taking the first Masters Series crown of the year, but he was also annoyed with his own failure to triumph in the desert.

Later that month Federer was found wanting in the opening round of the Miami Masters against Thanasi Kokkinakis.

Such defeats do not mean Federer has lost much clout on hard courts – after all, he beat Cilic in the Australian Open final in January. But they could mean he is slightly more vulnerable than he once was on grass, one of the fastest surfaces in tennis.

One year on, Lajovic could be harder to sweep aside in their second meeting and backers can definitely risk opposing Federer.

The outsider looks value with a start of 8.5 games because at least two sets could be close this time. A couple of bookmakers have cut Lajovic from 9-2 to 11-4 to win at least a set and that still looks decent at the shorter price.

And if the world number 57 does forge a lead, he may prove difficult to reel in so he can be chanced to post a huge upset.

Recommendations
D Lajovic +8.5 games
2pts Evs Betfair, Paddy Power
D Lajovic to win at least a set
1pt 11-4 Betfair, Paddy Power
D Lajovic
0.5pt 22-1 bet365

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Other matches
Milos Raonic could see off Liam Broady in straight sets, but the Stockport battler is still only 24 and may make more of a nuisance of himself against the Canadian than some layers think.

Ivo Karlovic has been struggling for form and oddsmakers are finding it difficult to find a favourite in the Croat's clash with fellow veteran Mikhail Youzhny. But Karlovic is a master at winning important matches so you oppose him at your peril.

India's Yuki Bhambri has posted some decent results this year, but still looks to have it tough against Thomas Fabbiano.

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