Hewitt v Wawrinka Tip

It wouldn’t be the first round of Wimbledon without Lleyton Hewitt attempting to roll back the years against a highly-regarded, younger opponent. On the opening day he is set to face 11th seed Stanislas Wawrinka and it could be one of the first marathon matches of the tournament.

The pair enjoyed an epic five-set clash in the Davis Cup in 2011, which the Swiss edged, and I could see this one going to a decider again at best odds of 5/2 with WilliamHill.

Both men have reasons to be hopeful with Hewitt reaching the semi-finals of Queen in preparation for the All-England Club. The 2002 Wimbledon champion upset world number eight Juan Martin del Potro before losing to Marin Cilic in controversial circumstances after the match was moved to a different court midway through to make way for Andy Murray.

Wawrinka is also enjoying a good 2013 which has seen him re-enter the world’s top ten rankings. The Swiss won the Portugal Open in May and, perhaps more pertinently, just reached a final on grass in Netherlands en route to south-west London.

The 28-year-old is another player renowned for long matches. He stretched Djokovic to five sets at the Australian Open before participating in the longest ATP doubles match of all time in February. That one lasted over seven hours!

It probably won’t be that extreme this time but it’s pretty inconceivable that either man will buckle lightly. It could go either way but I think the right play is simply to back longevity.