As much as Saturday played out according to seeding and without much fanfare, Sunday delivered the goods with a handful of outstanding matches.
World #1 Iga Swiatek looked more than vulnerable early in her second set tiebreaker already down a set against Belinda Bencic but rallied to win that tiebreaker and the third set to advance to the quarterfinals. Her opponent is Elina Svitolina who also rallied in her match. The Ukranian upended 19th-seeded Victoria Azarenka 11-9 in a third set tiebreak. It is Swiatek’s first trip to the quarterfinals at Wimbledon while Svitolina is a former semifinalist at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club.
Andrey Rublev nearly blew a two-set advantage but steadied the ship and defeated Alexander Bublick 6-4 in the fifth. (Drew Dinsick’s ticket cashes as a result – see below.) 26th-seeded Denis Shapovalov took the first set before dropping the next three to Roman Safiullin. Play was halted with defending champion Novak Djokovic winning tiebreakers in each of the first two sets in his match against Hubert Hurkacz.
A mixed day for the Americans as 10th-seeded Frances Tiafoe fell in straight sets to Grigor Dimitrov but 4th-seeded Jessica Pegula dominated Lesia Tsurenko to reach the quarterfinals.
In addition to the conclusion of the Djokovic/Hurkacz match, Monday’s slate features fourth round matchups on the men’s side including Carlos Alcaraz (-245) vs. Matteo Berrettini (+198) and Grigor Dimitrov (-160) vs. Holger Rune (+134).
Women’s matches scheduled for Monday include the aforementioned Swiatek (-800)/Svitolina (+540) clash along with Jessica Pegula (-150) vs. Marketa Vondrousova (+125) and American Madison Keys (-235) taking on 16-year-old phenom Mirra Andreeva (+190).
As we get set for Monday, Bet the EDGE hosts Jay Croucher (@croucherJD) and Drew Dinsick (@whale_capper) have a couple plays they especially like. Know they are talking tennis and offering their thoughts on the tournament on every episode of Bet the EDGE. You will find a synopsis of each of their plays right here at nbcsports.com.
Play for July 10th:
Jiri Lehecka +4.5 games (+110) vs. Daniil Medvedev
Dinsick: “Jiri Lehecka is far from a household name but his tennis this fortnight has been superlative and can be objectively graded as better than his opponent Daniil Medvedev to this point of the tournament. Past success at the Grand Slam level is the only factor that really separates the US Open champ Medvedev but that is not enough to warrant the degree of favorite status in this match where the underdog has every chance to advance to the quarterfinals. Lehecka +4.5 games is the preferred angle of attack in what should be a very entertaining match.”
Enjoy Wimbledon.
Enjoy the sweat.
Enjoy Wake ‘n Cash.
Previous Plays this Fortnight:
July 9th
Andrey Rublev ML (-118) vs. Alexander Bublik WIN
Belinda Bencic ML (+500) vs. Iga Swiatek LOSS
July 8th
Alejandro Davidovich Fokina +4.5 games (-106) vs. Holger Rune WIN
Matteo Berrettini (+110) ML vs. Alexander Zverev WIN
July 7th
Donna Vekic ML (+105) vs. Marketa Vondrousova LOSS
Andrey Rublev 3-0 (+150) vs. David Goffin LOSS
July 6th
Anett Kontaveit ML (+160) vs. Marie Bouzkova LOSS
Alejandro Davidovich Fokina -1.5 sets (+115) vs. Arthur Fils WIN
July 5th
Liam Broady +5.5 games (+105) vs. Casper Ruud WIN
Belinda Bencic to win Quarter 1 (+1600) Still Sweating It
July 4th
Maxime Cressy -1.5 sets (+140) over Laslo Djere LOSS
Shelby Rogers ML (+610) over Elena Rybakina LOSS
July 3rd
Quentin Halys ML (+105) vs. Dan Evans WIN