Kyrian Jacquet, who usually competes mainly on the Challenger circuit, has exceeded expectations during the current grass swing. He has been in superb form in June, reaching the semi-finals in Dublin, where he managed to defeat Grigor Dimitrov 6:3, 7:6. The Frenchman made it into the main draw of the Wimbledon Championships through qualifying, not dropping a set against Diaz, Guerreri and Skatov.
Kyrian Jacquet
In the first round of the Wimbledon Championships, Jacquet convincingly beat another qualifier, Vilius Gaubas, 6:3, 6:4, 7:6. However, he still lacks flat, penetrating groundstrokes to apply sustained pressure on top players, and he makes too many errors – on average four double faults per match at the Wimbledon Championships.
Alexander Bublik
Alexander Bublik has had a streaky season (22-16), but the grass swing is always the period when we see his best tennis. He has already reached the semi-finals at the grass tournament in Stuttgart, and in the first round of the Wimbledon Championships he produced a genuine five-set thriller against Thanasi Kokkinakis, showing remarkable composure in the key moments.
His style is perfectly suited to fast grass courts: he has a powerful first serve reaching around 137 mph, moves forward aggressively and expertly disrupts his opponents’ rhythm with trademark drop shots and sliced shots.
Kyrian Jacquet vs Alexander Bublik Prediction
Despite Bublik’s long opening match against Thanasi Kokkinakis, Jacquet is a much more favourable match-up for him. Jacquet is used to playing a combination game from the baseline, but Bublik will simply not allow him to settle into his usual rhythm. A constant barrage of aces, including 28 against Kokkinakis, and aggressive approaches to the net should keep the Frenchman pinned back in defence.
