Simon Dalton presents his prediction for the ATP Wimbledon match.
Marin Cilic and Flavio Cobolli have both made unexpected runs into the second week at Wimbledon, having knocked out higher-ranked opponents such as Jack Draper and Jakub Mensik along the way. For Marin Cilic, this is another chance to reassert himself on a big stage, while for Flavio Cobolli, this match represents his first real test on grass at this level.
Marin Cilic
Marin Cilic has enjoyed an impressive summer so far, winning two Challenger titles and putting together an eight-match win streak on grass. At Wimbledon, he ousted fourth seed Jack Draper and has saved 74% of the break points he has faced (14 out of 19). Despite being 36 years old, Cilic continues to look composed and effective on grass, where he boasts a career record of 100 wins to 34 losses.
Flavio Cobolli
Flavio Cobolli, by contrast, is more at home on clay and has played only 16 matches on grass throughout his career, splitting them evenly with an 8-8 record. Although he leads the head-to-head against Marin Čilić (2-0), both of those victories came on slow clay surfaces. His game does not translate well to the faster grass courts. At Wimbledon, Cobolli has averaged just 59% on first-serve percentage. His route to the fourth round has included wins over two players ranked outside the top 200 — Beibit Zhukayev and Jack Pinnington — along with Jakub Mensik, whose grass-court record stands at a modest 6-8.
Marin Cilic vs Flavio Cobolli Prediction
Given Marin Cilic's proven ability on grass and Flavio Cobolli's lack of consistency on the surface, Cilic is favoured to progress and begin preparations for the quarter-finals.
