Wimbledon 2024 Day 2: Men's singles predictions ft. Hubert Hurkacz vs Radu Albot

The 2024 Wimbledon kicked off on Monday, July 1, and there were already a couple of upsets on the first day. Eighteenth seed Sebastian Baez and 19th seed Nicolas Jarry were shown the door in the opening round.

Carlos Alcaraz commenced his title defense with a 7-6 (3), 7-5, 6-2 win over qualifier Mark Lajal. Frances Tiafoe won the tournament's first five-set match as he rallied from two sets down to sneak past Matteo Arnaldi.

Daniil Medvedev, Stan Wawrinka, and Grigor Dimitrov were some of the other winners on Monday. The first round continues on Tuesday, so here's a look at the predictions for a few key matches lined up on Day 2 of Wimbledon:

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#1 - Hubert Hurkacz vs Radu Albot

Hurkacz has a 33-13 record this season and has won one title, which was at the Estoril Open. He made a strong start to his grass swing as he made the final of the Terra Wortmann Open in Halle, where he got outplayed by Jannik Sinner.

Albot's appearances on the main tour have become quite sporadic over the past couple of years. He qualified for the main draw of Wimbledon with wins over Francesco Maestrelli, Yunchaokete Bu, and Daniel Elahi Galan.

Albot hasn't tasted much success at the All England Club in recent years and has lost in the first round since 2019. Hurkacz is a former semifinalist here and made the fourth round last year. Given the vast disparity in their results and record at the venue, the Pole will be expected to make a winning start to his campaign.

Predicted winner: Hubert Hurkacz

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#2 - Alex de Minaur vs James Duckworth

Alex de Minaur is the ninth seed at the 2024 Wimbledon. (Photo: Getty)

De Minaur is in the midst of a career-best season, breaking into the top 10 of the ATP rankings and winning a couple of titles. One of those title-winning runs was on grass at the Libema Open.

Duckworth initially fell in the final round of qualifying but got a second shot as a lucky loser as he replaced Corentin Moutet in the draw. His best result at Wimbledon has been a third-round showing in 2021.

Duckworth has had some decent results on grass in recent weeks, making the last eight in Stuttgart and the second round in Halle. However, he has never beaten a top-10 player in his career, going 0-12 against them so far. In this all-Australian duel, de Minaur will be favored to come out on top given his form this season.

Predicted winner: Alex de Minaur

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#3 - Tomas Martin Etcheverry vs Luca Nardi

Etcheverry has won 18 matches this season and all but two of them have been on clay. He lost in the first round of the Cinch Championships at Queen's Club, his only tournament on grass in the lead-up to Wimbledon.

Nardi made headlines when he stunned World No. 1 Novak Djokovic in the third round of the Indian Wells Masters earlier this year. He has only won a couple of more main draw matches since then, though one of them was on grass at the Libema Open.

Nardi will now make his main draw debut at Wimbledon and will aim to score his maiden victory at the Major level. Despite his form, he will fancy his chances against Etcheverry, whose career record on grass stands at 1-4.

With neither player being too comfortable on the surface, this match could go either way. Etcheverry's experience should give him an edge in this scenario but one cannot rule out the possibility of an upset here.

Predicted winner: Luca Nardi

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#4 - Andrey Rublev vs Francisco Comesana

Andrey Rublev is the sixth seed at the 2024 Wimbledon. (Photo: Getty)

Rublev has won two titles this season, including his second Masters trophy at the Madrid Open. He also reached the quarterfinals of the Australian Open. Aside from his results, he has made headlines for his volatile on-court behavior as well.

The Russian bowed out in the first round of his only prior tournament on grass in Halle. As for Comesana, he is now set to make his Grand Slam debut. He has mainly competed on the Challenger circuit thus far and failed to make it past the opening hurdle in his three matches on the ATP Tour this year.

Comesana's best results on the Challenger tour have also been on clay. He doesn't stand too much of a chance against Rublev, who has made the Wimbledon quarterfinals in the past and has always made it past the first round here.

Predicted winner: Andrey Rublev