Wimbledon 2014: Murray to overcome tricky Bautista-Agut test

Murray is set to take his place in the second week of Wimbledon

Andy Murray is in Centre Court action at Wimbledon on Friday and Sean Calvert expects the Brit to be tested for the first time against Roberto Bautista-Agut...

It was back down to earth on Thursday at Wimbledon, as neither of my wagers found the mark on the first losing day of this year's tournament.

Jack Sock was incredibly disappointing in a straight sets loss to Milos Raonic in which the American only got going in set three, by which time the ship had sailed.

For a player whose serve is his big strength Sock's delivery was woeful and he failed to put any pressure on the Raonic serve other than the odd fleeting moment and in the end he pretty much beat himself. There were reports that Sock was unwell, which may have contributed to his performance.

Then Roger Federer chose to make Thursday his day for actually taking break points, which downed my correct score bet in set one of his match with Gilles Muller.

Even Lleyton Hewitt tried to join the party, as the Aussie lost four straight games from *5-3 against Jerzy Janowicz in their opener and the rain delay came as a relief to me by that stage.

Andy Murray really begins his Wimbledon campaign today after two pretty easy rides, with the second round match against Blaz Rola being an absolute walk in the park, but Roberto Bautista-Agut could cause a problem or two.

The Spaniard, who I tipped to win Rosmalen last week, has a very good game for grass, but he must be starting to feel it after playing 21 sets to Murray's six in the last fortnight.

Murray is predictably short at 1.071/14 and the bet that interests me here is the 3-1 to the defending champion at around 4.216/5. RBA is full of confidence and his flat, un-Spanish hits will cause problems to Murray if Andy's not on his best form, but it's tough to see more than a set being lost in this one.

Much will depend on RBA's reservoir of energy here and if it's run dry after a lot of tennis Murray could win comfortably, but I expect Roberto to give the Brit a decent match today.

Another big name that may be tested today is Tomas Berdych, who faces a potentially tougher match against former Queen's champion Marin Cilic. The Croat has the Wimbledon experience of Goran Ivanisevic to call upon and that will help him against an opponent he's lost to five times in his career so far.

Cilic did win the only one on grass though, which was at Queen's last year and if he's recovered from a neck problem that troubled him during his match with Andreas Haider-Maurer he could well cause problems for the Berdman today.

Since linking up with Ivanisevic there's been a distinct improvement on the Cilic serve and it's far more of a weapon now than it used to be, but he'll need more to beat Tomas.

Berdych doesn't enjoy moving up and down the court and stooping for low balls and Marin will need to ensure that he doesn't keep giving the Czech the same ball to look at. The Croat is capable of doing this, but for how long and how well he serves will be the keys to this match.

If a decent price arrives in the 'most aces' market I'd take Cilic in that, but the other issue is that Berdych definitely had a left wrist problem in the match against Bernard Tomic, which makes it reasonable to side with Marin today.

The 2.727/4 looks worth taking and will be my second wager on Friday.

Recommended Bet

Back Murray to beat Bautista-Agut 3-1 at 4.216/5
Back Cilic to beat Berdych at 2.727/4

Wimbledon 2014 profit and loss

Staked: 140.00
Return: 220.40
Profit: +80.40