Monday 23/06/2014, 15:30, ATP Wimbledon, Marin Cilic vs Paul-Henri Mathieu

Marin Cilic vs Paul-Henri Mathieu Betting Preview

Marin Cilic is a player suited for competing on grass and hard surfaces, as he serves with devastating force and is lethal when playing at the net. Surprising enough, he chose to spend most of the time in 2014 competing on clay where he blew hot and cold and never made it past the third stage of any tournament. Paul-Henri Mathieu used to be one of the best French tennis players, but over the last couple of years he dropped points and he now barely makes top 100.

Marin Cilic vs Paul-Henri Mathieu Betting Odds

At Bet365

Marin Cilic 1.16, Paul-Henri Mathieu 5.00

Marin Cilic vs Paul-Henri Mathieu Betting Tips

Marin Cilic ran into Novak Djokovic at Roland Garros and all he could manage was to win one set and a tiebreak. The Serbian player proved to be too good overall and returned his service with great accuracy, which translated into an untimely elimination for the Croat.

At Wimbledon he appears to have a couple of easy games in the opening rounds, with the first contest being against a fading player. This is the eighth time Marin Cilic and Paul-Henri Mathieu meet and the Croat has a slight advantage of one game. The last time they met at Wimbledon, they were closer in the standings and as a result bookmakers gave the Frenchman a slightly better chance to prevail.

Cilic defeated his opponent in four sets after dropping the first one and since then he prevailed on two more occasions, with both games being played on clay. In the only match played on British grass this season, Marin suffered a shocking defeat to Matosevic who only needed two sets to emerge victorious.

Paul-Henri Mathieu played against Murray and Verdasco over the last two weeks and he was eliminated on both occasions, which was hardly a surprise. Much to his credit, he managed to win the opening set against the Spaniard, but he lacked the stamina to maintain the tempo and lost the subsequent sets.

Key Facts

• Marin Cilic won 4/7 head to head games, but the most important thing is that he prevailed in the last four after winning the first three.
• Cilic won twice on grass against the Frenchman and each time he took the opening set while losing a set

Marin Cilic vs Paul-Henri Mathieu Betting Prediction

This time, bookmakers have a certain favorite and they expect the Croat to prevail without breaking a sweat, which explains why the odds are so low. The two players are separated by more than 50 places in the ATP leaderboard, so it is only fair to assume that Cilic will advance to the next round. As far as punters are concerned, the safest bet and also the most lucrative one is to wager on Marin to win the match in three sets.

Bet: Marin Cilic 3-0 @ 1.90 with Bet365