Today we continue our match previews from the First Round at Wimbledon (SW19), as Dutch world number 38, Robin Haase takes on Next Gen star and American world number 64, Frances Tiafoe.

Previous Meetings:

This is the first meeting between the pair, however Haase has been showing some good form on the grass, already beating Thiem, Ferrer and Mahut over the past month. This is just Tiafoe’s third match on grass this season, and he’s yet to notch up a victory. It is also the American’s first appearance at Wimbledon, so nerves are bound to be aplenty.

Serving Stats:

Haase’s recent grass court mean serving stats look like this; he’s won 63% of his service pointsand held serve 78% of the time.

Tiafoe’s recent grass court mean serving stats look like this; he’s won 61% of his service pointsand held serve 76% of the time.

Both these players have solid first serves which will win them plenty of free points, especially Tiafoe who i fully expect to lead the ace count here. Where they are vulnerable however is on their second serve, the American especially will need to keep his first serve % high today, as he has only won 42% of points on his second serve on grass this year, compared to Haase’s 54%.

Returning Stats:

Haase’s recent grass court mean returning stats this week look like this, he’s won 36% of his return points, 31% of his break points and opponents have held 83% of the time against him.

Tiafoe’s recent grass court mean returning stats this week look like this, he’s won 33% of his return points, 22% of his break points and opponents have held 90% of the time against him.

Both will look to take a fairly aggressive stance off the return of serve, with neither player choosing to just block the ball back regularly. Both will look to go after the others second serve and are capable of hitting flashy forehand winners if the ball is left short or poorly directed. A few breaks of serve wouldn’t surprise me today.

Groundstrokes:

Haase is solid off both wings, with his more attacking groundstrokes coming from his forehand side. His backhand will be a mixture of deep flat strikes and angled slice when on the defensive. Haase will look to be consistent and patient, working an opening for him to get his forehand into play. Tiafoe’s game style is very similar, he hits his forehand very hard and will look to dictate off that wing for a majority of the match. His backhand side, like Haase is his less favoured, and if the Dutchman can look to play on this weakness he may well get a few unforced errors out of Tiafoe today.

Summary:

I think Haase will win this, if he remains consistent off the ground and looks to get his forehand into play as much as possible. Tiafoe’s biggest challenges in this match will be conquering his early nerves, remaining consistent off the ground and keeping his first serve % high, if he manages these, then he can beat anyone on his day, i’m just not sure it will be Haase today.