There will be no easing into Wimbledon as Samuel has been handed a tricky draw in the form of Jakub Mensik<\/a>. The 15th seed at this year\u2019s Championships is full of confidence after reaching a first Grand Slam semi-final at Roland Garros, defeating some big names along the way. Mensik has had mixed results on grass and a first round defeat at Queen\u2019s Club would have been a reality check to Mensik that grass won\u2019t be an easy surface to conquer. However, Mensik has a big serve and good net skills as he will look to make the right decisions on his way to a deep run at SW19.<\/p>\n Samuel will aim to be consistent on serve and will use the forehand to force Mensik to play from deeper in the court. Meanwhile, Mensik will serve aggressively and will use the backhand to open up the space on the court. This will be a good experience for Samuel and is expected to find some success given his recent form and confidence. However, Mensik should have too much consistent quality on serve and will battle his way into the second round.<\/p>\n Prediction: Mensik in four sets. \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Billy Harris [Q] v Karen Khachanov [19] H2H & Match FundamentalsBilly Harris [Q] v Karen Khachanov [19] \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0H2H: First Meeting\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Wimbledon 2026\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0London, England\u00a0\u00a0Grass (O)\u00a0Prize Money: \u00a380,000Second on Court 18 (12:30 BST)BBC One, BBC Two and BBC IPlayer<\/p>\n After a turbulent last 12 months, Billy Harris <\/a>had to earn his way into the main draw at Wimbledon. Although there were some testing moments, Harris produced three good wins to earn his place into the main draw at Wimbledon. After winning his first match at Wimbledon last year, Harris is hoping he can use last year\u2019s experience to his advantage and produce some better performances and a platform to build on for the rest of the season. The question is can Harris find some consistency on serve against the better players?<\/p>\n We are about to find out the answer to that question as he takes on 19th seed Karen Khachanov <\/a>in the opening round. It hasn\u2019t been the best last few weeks for Khachanov who has struggled to pick up wins and missed out on a golden opportunity for a deep run at Roland Garros, losing to Jesper De Jong <\/a>in Paris. However, Khachanov did reach the quarter-finals at Wimbledon last year and will be hoping that his dangerous forehand can produce a similar result this year.<\/p>\n Harris will need to serve well and will use the backhand to try and force Khachanov in being over-aggressive which will result in errors coming from the 19th seed\u2019s game. Meanwhile, Khachanov will use the forehand to expose Harris\u2019 defensive game and will look to pounce on the second serve return. This will be a good test for Harris but last year\u2019s quarter-finalist is expected to be too strong for the qualifier.<\/p>\n Prediction: Khachanov in four sets.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Jacob Fearnley [WC] v Alex Michelsen H2H & Match FundamentalsJacob Fearnley [WC] v Alex MichelsenH2H: First Meeting\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Wimbledon 2026\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0London, England\u00a0\u00a0Grass (O)\u00a0Prize Money: \u00a380,000Second on Court 15 (12:30 BST) \u00a0BBC One, BBC Two and BBC IPlayer<\/p>\n It was this time last year where Jacob Fearnley<\/a> was inside the world\u2019s top 100 and entered Wimbledon having reached his first ATP tour quarter-final at Queen\u2019s Club. The Brit was enjoying the experience of playing world-class opponents every week. Then Fearnley crumbled under the pressure against Joao Fonseca <\/a>and it has been a downhill ride ever since then. Fearnley has lacked confidence and needed a wildcard to enter Wimbledon this year. The Brit will be hoping the lack of pressure does him some good as he will look for an improved performance at SW19 this year.<\/p>\n In his bid to overcome a lack of form, Fearnley now takes on Alex Michelsen <\/a>in his Wimbledon opener. After a promising US hard court swing, Michelsen\u2019s form has dipped since then but back-to-back wins in Geneva and Roland Garros have given him reason to feel confident again. Despite Michelsen having a big serve and a big baseline game, Michelsen has lost both of his matches at Wimbledon so far and will aim to put an end to that horrific record at this year\u2019s tournament.<\/p>\n Fearnley will need to be consistent on serve and will use the forehand to punch past Michelsen\u2019s defensive game. Meanwhile, Michelsen will aim to be aggressive on the first serve and will come to the net to finish off the points. This will be a battle between two players who need a win here. Michelsen\u2019s more confident game should secure a win that could go the distance.<\/p>\n Prediction: Michelsen in five sets.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Arthur Fery [WC] v Damir Dzumhur | H2H & Match FundamentalsArthur Fery [WC] v Damir Dzumhur \u00a0H2H: First Meeting\u00a0\u00a0Wimbledon 2026\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0London, England\u00a0\u00a0Grass (O)\u00a0Prize Money: \u00a380,000Second on Court 16 (12:30 BST) \u00a0\u00a0BBC One, BBC Two and BBC IPlayer<\/p>\n It\u2019s been a good grass court season so far for Arthur Fery <\/a>who reached the quarter-finals at Queen\u2019s Club. There have also been some good performances from Fery elsewhere as he showed that he can match anyone on the tour with his resilience, power and variety. The Brit has the perfect game for grass and has used the slice well to outsmart opponents. Having won a match at last year\u2019s Wimbledon, Fery will aim to continue his Wimbledon successes with another big win here at SW19.<\/p>\n The experience of Damir Dzumhur <\/a>awaits Fery in the opening round. The Bosnian has struggled to record back-to-back wins this year and has fallen outside the world\u2019s top 100 as a result. Dzumhur doesn\u2019t exactly have the game for grass either as he lacks a powerful shot to break opponents down. However, Dzumhur does bring a wealth of experience and has played some of the best players in the world. Now, Dzumhur will aim to break British hearts and spoil the Fery party.<\/p>\n Fery will use slice and variety to force errors from Dzumhur but will need to display power as well to avoid being too predictable. Meanwhile Dzumhur will aim to use depth on return and will test Fery\u2019s patience from the baseline. This will be a tough match for Fery but if the Brit can stay patient and keep mixing up the patterns of play then he is expected to edge into the second round.<\/p>\n Prediction: Fery in four sets. \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Harry Wendelken [WC] v Valentin Royer | H2H & Match FundamentalsHarry Wendelken [WC] v Valentin RoyerH2H: First Meeting\u00a0\u00a0Wimbledon 2026\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0London, England\u00a0\u00a0Grass (O)\u00a0Prize Money: \u00a380,000First on Court 14 (11:00 BST)BBC One, BBC Two and BBC IPlayer<\/p>\n It\u2019s a first Wimbledon main draw appearance for Harry Wendelken<\/a>. The Brit earned a wildcard with some deep runs at Challenger events earlier in the year which has resulted in him being on the cusp of the world\u2019s top 200. However, Wendelken has struggled for wins on the grass in the lead up to Wimbledon and will now be looking to enjoy the Wimbledon experience as he aims to continue his development and rise up the rankings.<\/p>\n The first challenge for Wendelken will be the world number 75 Valentin Royer<\/a>. The Frenchman has struggled for consistent results this season but has had shown glimpses of what he can do. One of those moments was at Roland Garros where he tested Novak Djokovic <\/a>in a four set battle with Royer\u2019s serving catching Djokovic off guard. Now, Royer will hope to have some consistency and will hope Wimbledon is the platform he needs to gain some form.<\/p>\n Wendelken will aim to serve aggressively and will use depth to catch Royer by surprise. Meanwhile, Royer will use the backhand to expose Wendelken\u2019s court positioning. This will be a good experience for Wendelken who will look to continue his growth to help him in the future. However, Royer\u2019s power and consistency is expected to prove too strong here.<\/p>\n Prediction: Royer in four sets. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n How to Watch\/Follow Wimbledon 2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Tony Fairbairn, Britwatch Sports at WimbledonToby Samuel [WC] v Jakub Mensik [15] | H2H: First MeetingBilly Harris…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":768148,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[565],"tags":[37974,365561,64,63,209795,282438,257306,75456,96073,43680,85,747,184217,119512,749],"class_list":["post-768147","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tennis","tag-alex-michelsen","tag-artur-fery","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-billy-harris","tag-damir-dzumhur","tag-harry-wendelken","tag-jacob-fearnley","tag-jakub-mensik","tag-karen-khachanov","tag-sports","tag-tennis","tag-toby-samuel","tag-valentin-royer","tag-wimbledon"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/768147","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=768147"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/768147\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/768148"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=768147"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=768147"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=768147"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Connected-Clubs-Graphic.png\"\/)
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