Wimbledon: day three betting preview, tips & TV details

BBC1/BBC2/BBC red button, from 11am Tuesday

Vesely v Cuevas

Jiri Vesely stormed through Wimbledon qualifying before stepping up his level to beat world number five Alexander Zverev and the Czech fully deserves to be a strong favourite against Pablo Cuevas in their second-round clash.

Vesely dropped just 18 games across three qualifying matches in Roehampton and looked in brilliant form against Zverev regardless of the German’s recent struggles as he defeated his opponent in four sets.

That was not the first time that the 25-year-old has played well at Wimbledon - he reached the fourth round in 2016 and 2018 - and he seems to have taken a liking to the conditions in south-west London.

In Cuevas, Vesely meets an opponent with a comparatively poor grass record. The Uruguayan has won just two matches at the grass Grand Slam and is likely to find Vesely harder to beat than out-of-form first-round opponent Damir Dzumhur.

The Czech is long odds-on but is playing well enough to give up a 4.5-game head start.

Recommendation
J Vesely -4.5 games
2pts 4-5 Betfred

Paire v Kecmanovic

Benoit Paire is a combustible character but the fiery Frenchman has an opportunity to go far from a weak second quarter and can stay in the hunt by beating Miomir Kecmanovic for a place in the third round.

Paire is wildly inconsistent but he can turn on the style when required as he demonstrated when winning the Lyon title on clay, beating some high-calibre opponents in Denis Shapovalov, Taylor Fritz and Felix Auger-Aliassime on the way.

His backers are always at risk of seeing the 30-year-old self-destruct but the Avignon man has played better at Wimbledon than anywhere else in Grand Slam tennis, winning 60 per cent of his matches at the All England Club compared to just a 50 per cent record elsewhere.

He came back from a set down to dismiss Juan Ignacio Londero in his Wimbledon opener and is a worthy favourite against Kecmanovic, for all that the young Serb has shown plenty of promise in his short career.

Recommendation
B Paire
1pt 20-29 RedZone

Gauff v Rybarikova

Cori ‘Coco’ Gauff stole the show by beating her idol Venus Williams in the opening round at the All England Club and the 15-year-old qualifier has every chance of keeping her tournament alive when she takes on Magdalena Rybarikova.

Gauff is the outsider against the 2017 semi-finalist but her talents are obvious despite her tender years and bookmakers are likely to find it hard to get a handle on her at this stage of her career.

The teenager was fearless against the elder Williams sister on Monday, serving well and taking break-point chances, and her responded superbly to being broken at 4-3 in the second set by breaking back immediately.

Rybarikova upset the odds to beat Aryna Sabalenka in her opener, and the Slovak has bundles of grass pedigree, but she has struggled with injuries throughout her career and it takes some faith to back her at odds-on against such a talented performer.

Recommendation
C Gauff
1pt 13-8 Betfair, Paddy Power

Watson v Kontaveit

Heather Watson has plummeted down the rankings but the Brit tends to show her best form on grass and is an underdog worth siding with against Anett Kontaveit.

Watson has reached the third round on three occasions at Wimbledon, including in 2015 when she was two points away from beating Serena Williams, and she looked in good touch when defeating Caty McNally in her first-round match.

Like Gauff, McNally is a promising American teenager and she was priced up at 1-2 against Watson before the Guernsey player made a mockery of the odds in winning 7-6 6-2.

Watson is still only 27 and there is no reason why she cannot return to form. Kontaveit is a tough opponent but the Estonian was brushed aside by Johanna Konta in Birmingham and also lost against lowly-ranked Anna-Lena Friedsam in Eastbourne.

Recommendation
H Watson
1pt 9-4 Sky Bet

Other matches

Defending champion Novak Djokovic is long odds-on to beat Denis Kudla while Kyle Edmund’s meeting with Fernando Verdasco is arguably the pick of the men’s matches on Wednesday.

Kevin Anderson and Stan Wawrinka are among the other big names in action while women’s joint-favourite Karolina Pliskova could be tested by Monica Puig if the Olympic champion brings her seldom-seen best form to the table.

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