12th seeded American Frances Tiafoe looked in imperious form in his Wimbledon opener, cruising past Elmer Moller 6-3, 6-4, 6-2. He played some potent grass-court tennis, winning 88% of his first-serve points and hitting 25 winners to just 21 unforced errors.
2025 ATP Tour
Grand Slam Tennis
Wimbledon Tennis Championships
All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, London, England (Outdoor Grass-court)
Selected 2nd Round Matches- 2nd June
Frances Tiafoe (12) 0.56 vs Cameron Norrie 1.38
The 2023 Stuttgart champ has the type of power-based game that can succeed on grass (he has reached the 3rd round or better in each of his last four Wimbledon appearances). He hasn’t had a great season but remains a threat in Grand Slam action (he reached the US Open semis last season and is fresh off an excellent quarterfinal run at Roland Garros). 29-year-old Brit Cameron Norrie saw off Roberto Bautista Agut in a high-quality first-round clash, hitting 60 winners to 46 unforced errors to prevail 6-3, 3-6, 6-4, 7-6. Norrie has endured a tough season but ran into some form towards the end of the clay-court campaign, culminating in a 4th round run at the French Open. But he failed to build on that, suffering back-to-back early defeats at Queen’s and Eastbourne. The industrious lefty has proven to be a solid grass-court player in the past, finishing runner-up at Queen’s in 2021 before reaching the Wimbledon semifinals in 2022.
The Verdict: Norrie to win in four at 5- Tiafoe leads the head-to-head 2-1, winning their most recent meeting in Vienna last year. Norrie’s heavy topspin and endless industry could force the erratic American into plenty of errors. I just think that Tiafoe’s flat-hitting style can become a bit one-dimensional at times.
Nicolas Jarry 0.64 vs Learner Tien 1.22
Chilean qualifier Nicolas Jarry produced a comeback for the ages on Court 3, recovering from two sets down to eliminate 8th seed Holger Rune. Sure, Rune did struggle with a reoccurrence of his knee issues in the 4th set. But the hard-hitting Jarry still had to get the job done, firing 31 aces and hitting 63 winners to 51 unforced errors. Jarry enjoyed a career-best 2024 campaign, reaching his maiden Masters 1000 final in Rome. But he has struggled this campaign, improving to 7-13 following that unforeseen comeback over the prickly Dane. Jarry will look to use that win as a launchpad as he seeks to emulate his 2023 3rd round Wimbledon run. 19-year-old American Learner Tien looked sensational in his opening match, comprehensively beating Nishesh Basavareddy 7-6, 6-3, 6-2. He hit 43 winners to just 24 unforced errors in a commanding display of precision grass-court tennis. Tien enjoyed a sensational start to the season, reaching the 4th round of the Aussie Open before a quarterfinal run in Acapulco. The strategically astute Tien proved that he could hang with the best players in the world, beating Medvedev and Zverev during that spell. He struggled during the clay-court swing but came alive on the grass last week, reaching the quarterfinals in Mallorca.
The Verdict: Tien to win in four at 4.4- This will be their first career meeting. I think that Learner Tien could cause Nicolas Jarry some problems. The crafty baseliner has plenty of versatility and will look to disrupt Jarry’s baseline pugilism with slice and guile. Jarry has little grass-court success to speak of and Tien should be able to create plenty of inventive cross-court angles.
Jordan Thompson 1.2 vs Benjamin Bonzi 0.65
Jordan Thompson is the last Aussie standing after day one of Wimbledon. Four Aussies took to action yesterday and the pugnacious Thompson was the only one who lived to fight another day- but barely. Thompson had to clay his way back from two sets down against Czech Vit Kopriva, ultimately prevailing in three hours and 37 minutes. Thompson- wearing a brace to protect himself from a back injury- was in noticeable pain throughout the match. The two-time Rosmalen finalist will need to recuperate quickly if he wishes to keep the fairytale alive. Enigmatic Frenchman Benjamin Bonzi pulled off the biggest upset of day one, taking down former World No.1 Daniil Medvedev in four sets. The Frenchman served smartly throughout the encounter, winning 78% of his first-serve points. He just played smart, high-percentage tennis, hitting with depth to exploit Medvedev’s tentativeness. Bonzi came to the net often, exposing the Russian’s deep court position. Bonzi enjoyed a remarkable end to his 2024 campaign, winning back-to-back Challenger titles and a maiden ATP Tour title in Moselle.
The Verdict: Bonzi to win in four at 3.2– This will be their first career meeting. Thompson looked shattered after his victory over Kopriva, barely managing to smile during his post-match presser. Bonzi looked remarkably composed against Medvedev and should be more than capable of exploiting Thompson’s current physical limitations.
