Wimbledon preview and odds: Tomas Berdych vs Lucas Pouille

Published on: 06/07/2016

Wimbledon preview and odds: Tomas Berdych vs Lucas Pouille

July 06, 2016 - Wimbledon, Quarter-finals

Lucas Pouille has shot up the world rankings table this year and will now play in his first ever Grand Slam quarter-final. There he will face the challenge of World No. 9 and former Wimbledon finalist Tomas Berdych.

Pouille floating under the radar

The early departure of Djokovic and the good form of Murray and Federer may have kept the spotlight away from Lucas Pouille, but the Frenchman is now starting to grab people`s attention.

Having risen from 90th to 29th in the world in the space of just six months, the 22-year-old seems to be finding his stride at the top level. He has already beaten Juan Martin del Potro and Bernard Tomic in this tournament and is certainly the surprise name in the quarter-final line up.

His last game against Tomic went all the way to five sets, with the final set finishing 10-8. That kind of endurance test could be valuable to the youngster as he tries to acclimatise to the Grand Slam format. Prior to this event, he had never previously progressed beyond the second round of a major.

Tomas Berdych is very much at home here having made the final back in 2010 and the quarter-finals in 2007 and 2013. In total, the Czech player has featured in the last eight of 14 Grand Slam events.

He also needed to five sets to see off compatriot Jiri Vesely in the last round and it will be interesting to see how much mental and physical energy that two-day match has taken out of the 30-year-old.

Betting predictions

These two have never met before so it should be an interesting contest. Berdych will be favourite but playing five sets in the fourth round may have benefitted Pouille more than his older opponent. On that basis, the outsider looks like good value.

You can back Pouille to win at 10/3 with Bet365.

By Neil Morris

Published on: 06/07/2016

Any odds displayed within this preview were correct at the time of publishing (06/07/2016 10:05:11) but are subject to change.