Kyle Edmund vs Jaume Munar Wimbledon Moneyline Picks - 7/1/2019
Kyle Edmund vs Jaume Munar
10:30 am EST, 1st July 2019
Wimbledon, England
Grass courts
Kyle Edmund is coming from a very strong tournament in Eastbourne, which makes us confused about where he's at when it comes to grass court tennis. Why I'm saying that is because his grass court record is only 8-17, which is by far the worst among all the playing surfaces. But in Eastbourne, he put on display some very good tennis, beating very good players like Cameron Norrie and Dan Evans, before losing to eventual champion Taylor Fritz in the semifinals. And even in that match, Fritz was barely hanging on throughout the first set under a barrage of Edmund's powerful groundstrokes. Kyle even had a set point in the tie-break, wrong-footed Fritz with a nice inside-out forehand, which got called out but seemed very close. He decided not to challenge it, which was a mistake, because the hawk-eye showed that the ball clipped the line. After that, everything crumbled for Edmund. Lost 3 points in the row to lose the set and then also the second one, after another series of failed conversions when having a break opportunity. We don't see many British players who don't get along with the grass surface, but there are some. Edmund is only 3-6 in Wimbledon, with his personal best being 3rd round last year when he lost to Djokovic. Why he did so well in Eastbourne might have to do a bit with the speed of the surface. Kyle loves it on a slower side because he likes to have more time to set his feet for the groundstrokes and those slower grass courts last week did offer some of that. I'm not sure how fast the courts are in Wimbledon, but compared to Eastbourne, I'd say they are faster and not that great for Edmund's style of play.
Luckily for him, he shouldn't get tested in the first round. Draw dealt him Jaume Munar. A young Spaniard with very limited experience on grass courts and only one appearance in Wimbledon. Losing in the 1st round of qualifying last year to Andreas Collarini. He played all three weeks since the start of grass court season this year and was unsuccessful in all 3 matches. In Stuttgart, he fell to Marton Fucsovics, in Halle to Borna Coric and in Antalya to Miomir Kecmanovic. According to all the stats, he really looks like a very limited grass court players, but is he really?
Matchup
There are few sneaky things about Jaume Munar's game that can catch you off-guard if you're not careful enough. He does have a bit too much topspin on his forehand, which is not ideal for this surface. But he's a decent server and surprisingly good volleyer. Finding a good approach shot and coming forward is a strategy that should work nicely on this surface and something that might throw off Kyle Edmund just enough to make this match much more exciting than expected.
Related: Get ATP Picks & Predictions for today's matches
Betting odds & prediction
Opening the spread at only -5 shows that the linemakers wasn't sold on Edmund's result in Eastbourne either. It's a trap line, in my opinion, clearly there for attracting money on the favorite. The public is already biting, confident that Edmund should cover based on recent results of both on this surface. I think it's not going to be that easy. There will probably be a very good buyback price on Munar just before the match, with the majority of the money coming in on the Brit at the moment. I'd wait for a possible +6.5 but +6 should do the trick as well.
Guy's Pick: Jaume Munar +6 (-115)
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