Wimbledon second round: Why Andy Murray will prevail over Stefanos Tsitsipas

Stefanos Tsitsipas needed five sets (and a couple of days thanks to rain delays) to defeat Dominic Thiem, but the win was all that mattered to the World No. 5. Tsitsipas, who has struggled to find his footing on the grass thus far in his career.

But things don’t get any easier for the 24-year-old as he now has a quick turnaround for his Round 2 showdown with two-time Wimbledon champion Andy Murray under the lights on Centre Court.

» READ MORE: Wimbledon prediction: Why we’re backing Matteo Berrettini to go on a big run at The Championships

The crowd will be behind Murray on Thursday. But where is the betting value for what should be the headliner of Round 2?

Despite ranking inside the top-5 all season, Tsitsipas was a long shot to win Wimbledon. Not only is the Greek’s history at the All England Club less than inspiring — Tsitsipas has never been past the fourth round and is 6-5 overall at Wimbledon in his career — but he also lost three of the four grass matches he played in 2023 in preparation for the year’s third Grand Slam.

A win for Tsitsipas in Round 1 should help bolster his confidence a bit, but Thiem is battling back from a host of injury problems and is far removed from his days as one of the elite players in the sport. That Tsitsipas, who was -500 to win the match, needed a fifth-set tiebreaker to dispatch the 2020 US Open champion tells you everything you need to know about how much you can trust the Greek on the grass.

» READ MORE: Wimbledon picks: Can Liam Broady upset No. 4 seeded Casper Ruud in second round matchup?

Murray, on the other hand, is a maestro on the lawn. Not only does the Scottish superstar have two Wimbledon titles on his mantle, but he’s got an eye-popping 134-32 record on the grass as a professional.

While Tsitsipas has some terrific offensive weapons that will play on any surface, Murray is one of the game’s best defenders and should be able to keep himself in rallies long enough to force errors out of his opponent, who has a penchant for making them in bunches when things go off-script.

Tsitsipas may be a much better overall player than Murray at this moment in time, but there’s a lot of signals pointing to Murray in this tilt. He’ll be fresher, he’s a much stronger player on grass, and he’ll have the crowd behind him on Centre Court.

The Bet: Andy Murray -150 (bet365)

» READ MORE: Full sports betting coverage from The Philadelphia Inquirer

The Inquirer is not an online gambling operator, or a gambling site. We provide this information about sports betting for entertainment purposes only.