Wimbledon Semi Final Preview – Friday, July 12th 2019 at 1.00 pm
Novak Djokovic produced a powerful performance in his quarter-final match against David Goffin. He blitzed his Belgian opponent in straight sets to step into the semi-finals. Spain’s Bautista Agut is a surprise semi-finalist, particularly as we were supposed to be on his bachelor party, but the small matter of the final four at SW19 has gotten in the way of that.
Novak Djokovic v Roberto Bautista-Agut Odds*
Novak Djokovic 1/14
Roberto Bautista-Agut 8/1
* (Betting odds taken from Bet365 on July 11th, 2019 at 5:11 am)
Will Djokovic beat Bautista-Agut and return to Wimbledon Final?
Djokovic was unplayable in his quarter-final match against David Goffin. Djokovic soared through the match dropping just the six games in a 6-4 6-9 6-2 easy victory. He is the reigning Wimbledon Champion and he is on the hunt for a fifth title at SW19. With Roger Federer taking on Rafa Nadal in the other semi-final, Djokovic knows that there is going to be a tough battle ahead if he gets through this.
He should and the bookmakers have him overwhelming favourite to do so. Djokovic 3-0 in set betting is odds-on at 4/7* (Betting odds taken from Bet365 on July 11th, 2019 at 4:41 am). There has only been one set dropped by Djokovic in this year’s Championships and that was back in the third round when he was struggling early on against Hubert Hukacz. Djokovic already holds the Australian Open title this year along with the Wimbledon and US Open slam titles from 2018. He lost in the semi-finals of this year’s French Open.
Head to head
Djokovic leads the head to head 7-3 against Bautista Agut. They have met twice this year though and it is the Spaniard who won both of those meetings in Doha and then at the ATP Masters 1000 Miami. So that was an upset. All three of the wins that Bautista Agut has taken over Djokovic have been in their last five meetings. Djokovic has won the three previous Grand Slam meetings between the pair, but this will be their first meeting at Wimbledon.
Can Bautista Agut defeat Djokovic?
Number 23 seed Bautista Agut faces a tough challenge here. Most pundits seem to agree that he is going to have to play the game of his life to pull off a win here. However, he should have tremendous self-belief having won the two meetings against Djokovic this year. This is the first-ever Grand Slam semi final for the Spaniard and instead of playing a quarter-final against Guido Pella on Wednesday, he was supposed to be out in Ibiza with friends for his bachelor party. Bautista Agut beat Pella in four sets.
That was the only set that he has dropped this season at Wimbledon. The 29-year-old had never been past the fourth round of Wimbledon before this season. So he wasn’t expecting to have an extended stay at the championships, but here he is. He has the one title to his name this season, the victory in Doha back at the start of the year when he completed the dream run to the title after upsetting Djokovic in the semis.
Predictions
The Slams are a whole different level and it is when Djokovic becomes even more difficult to beat than he normally is. Bautista, despite beating the Serbian twice in 2019, may struggle in this one over an extended match. It is hard to see an upset happening here and the Djokovic 3-0 looks a pretty solid option at 4/7 odds* (Betting odds taken from Bet365 on July 11th, 2019 at 4:41 am).
