Daria Kasatkina vs. Jodie Burrage
Daria Katatkina could be one of the darkest of dark horses at Wimbledon in 2023. The Russian, who has publicly repudiated Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, may see karma on her side in this year after Russians were banned from playing Wimbledon. She’s got a crafty game with a slice that plays well on the grass, not unlike 1994 Wimbledon champion Conchita Martinez. She’s been ranked as high as No. 8 (seeded No. 11 this event), reached the Wimbledon quarterfinals in 2018 and the semis at Roland Garros in 2022, so she is used to big-time matches. She’s in good form having reached the final at Eastbourne leading into Wimbledon. She will take out British wild card Jodie Burrage in the second round and will probably go deep at this event.
Jannik Sinner vs. Diego Schwartzman
Making predictions is all about being right. Sure you can take a flyer and call a big upset, but isn’t it better to be safe and not lose? That’s why we will go with Jannik Sinner over Diego Schwartzman. Sinner is also a good outside pick to win it all. He has yet to reach a Grand Slam semifinal, having lost in the quarterfinal hurdle at all four. He could do so this year and get to the semifinals against Novak Djokovic. The two played in the quarterfinals last year and Sinner actually led two sets to love in that match before losing, so he would be itching to make amends for that loss.
Alexander Zverev vs. Gijs Brouwer
Picking is about picking a sure-thing winner, right? Alexander Zverev will win this match, unless he has an injury like his famous one against Rafael Nadal at the French Open which kept him off tour for many months last year. Some people may tip to Zverev to win Wimbledon, but there are just too many players to get through for him to go all the way. He could get to the fourth round to face Carlos Alcaraz and he could even win that match, but to get through passed Holger Rune or Daniil Medvedev could be a larger hurdle and then, of course, the final against maybe Djokovic. We are sure, however, that he will be this Dutch player in the first round.
