Rune vs Arnaldi, Mensik vs. Norrie

Competition at Queen’s Club hits the ground running on Monday, with No. 4 seed Holger Rune in first-day action against Matteo Arnaldi. Jakub Mensik is taking on Great Britain’s own Cameron Norrie.

(4) Holger Rune vs. Matteo Arnaldi

The yearly trek of lawn tennis is upon us and with it one of the more unpredictable months on the tennis calendar. Grass-court tennis heavily rewards big first serves, aggression and quick hands, which means you have to unlearn everything you thought you knew from clay season. There aren’t likely to be any big surprises in this match, though. Italy’s Matteo Arnaldi isn’t some sleeper genius with a history of winning on grass (think Adrian Mannarino, as an example). The world No. 41 has won one match ever on grass; this remains true even after an attempt last week in Stuttgart (lost to Jan-Lennard Struff).

Holger Rune made the round of 16 at last year’s edition of Wimbledon, which was the last time he played on grass. And while he hasn’t won any titles, his game translates well enough that he’s above .500 on this surface. Look for the Dane to make his way into the second round.

Cheryl pick : Rune in 2

Ricky pick: Rune in 2

.apm-choosing > .ays_label_poll > div.ays-poll-answer-image > img.ays-poll-each-image{ height: 150px; } #ays-poll-id-685013b69030a.box-apm .apm-answers .apm-choosing > label.ays-poll-answer-container-label-list > p.ays-poll-answers > span.ays-poll-each-answer-list { padding: unset; word-wrap: break-word; } #ays-poll-id-685013b69030a .ays-poll-btn{ font-size: 17px; line-height: 1; white-space: normal; word-break: break-word; } } @media screen and (max-width: 768px){ #ays-poll-id-685013b69030a{ max-width: 100%; } } #ays-poll-container-2634{ width: 600px; } @media screen and (max-width: 768px){ #ays-poll-container-2634{ width: 100%; max-width: 96%; } #ays-poll-id-685013b69030a.box-apm .apm-choosing .ays-poll-each-image-list{ width: 100%; } } ]]>

(8) Jakub Mensik vs. (WC) Cameron Norrie

This is a much more dangerous matchup for the No. 8 seed than Cameron Norrie’s ranking (and a wild card into the tournament) would suggest. First, the Brit is on a hot streak the came somewhat out of nowhere. Headed into the clay-court season, Norrie’s season was marginal at best. But he made the semis in Geneva and the round of 16 at the French Open and now he’s playing at home already brimming with confidence.

Czechia’s Jakub Mensik has had the exact opposite European clay-court swing. He won the Miami Masters and gradually his clay results got poorer and poorer until he fizzled out of the French Open in the second round to Portugal’s Henrique Rocha–ranked 200th in the world. Keep an eye on this one for a potential upset.

Cheryl pick: Norrie in 3

Ricky pick: Norrie in 3

.apm-choosing > .ays_label_poll > div.ays-poll-answer-image > img.ays-poll-each-image{ height: 150px; } #ays-poll-id-685013b6c1504.box-apm .apm-answers .apm-choosing > label.ays-poll-answer-container-label-list > p.ays-poll-answers > span.ays-poll-each-answer-list { padding: unset; word-wrap: break-word; } #ays-poll-id-685013b6c1504 .ays-poll-btn{ font-size: 17px; line-height: 1; white-space: normal; word-break: break-word; } } @media screen and (max-width: 768px){ #ays-poll-id-685013b6c1504{ max-width: 100%; } } #ays-poll-container-2635{ width: 600px; } @media screen and (max-width: 768px){ #ays-poll-container-2635{ width: 100%; max-width: 96%; } #ays-poll-id-685013b6c1504.box-apm .apm-choosing .ays-poll-each-image-list{ width: 100%; } } ]]>