PREVIEW
Reaching the second week at Wimbledon for the second time in his career meant this was the best Slam for Benoit Paire. He also made it to the Fourth Round at the French Open a few weeks ago and the Frenchman will increase his current World Rankings while also pursuing his first Quarter Final at the Grand Slam.
What was blocking his way was Roberto Bautista Agut, who had a very impressive win over Karen Khachanov in the Third Round. The Spaniard hasn't dropped a set at Wimbledon and will play in the Fourth Round here for the third time. Roberto Bautista Agut made it to the Quarter Final at the Australian Open in January, his first appearance at the Quarter Final Grand Slam, and I think both players will feel a little nervous about the draw open before them.
You have to believe the dominant head to head in supporting Bautista Agut will play a role in the way the match vibrates. One previous match at Wimbledon made Bautista Agut rise from behind 2-0 to win in five sets, but it was part of the eight consecutive wins that Bautista Agut had over Paire.
The last match between the two was in January 2017, but Bautista Agut had a big advantage in terms of holding service in the previous match. While he has held 86% of his service games, Benoit Paire is at 63% and I think this will play a part in this match.
Over the past twelve months Bautista Agut has held 93% of its service games played on the grass before this tournament and it has
broken 24% of the returning games. At SW19, Bautista Agut has won at least 73% service points played in each of his three matches and even more impressive is the fact that he has been broken once and has not faced a break point in one of the last two rounds.
Benoit Paire is someone who can get a lot of services on the grass so it must be respected. But he hasn't been able to get as much as possible from the return of service as he wants and I think a player like Bautista Agut will have an edge on the side of the game that finally made a difference that day
The Frenchman has held 83% of his service games on the grass for the last twelve months before Wimbledon. He remained strong on the side of the game in this tournament, but Paire only broke service at 17% of the match again and he has struggled to break in the last few Rounds. I think Paire will be successful against Bautista Agut's service, but the latter has enjoyed this match and has excellence in previous matches with a considerable margin in terms of protecting service.
Although this is a big number to discuss in the Fourth Grand Slam Round, I think Bautista Agut can be supported to do that.
Prediction and head to head Roberto Bautista Agut vs Benoit Paire
This will be the 8th time Roberto Bautista Agut and Benoit Paire fight with each other. Head to head is 7-0 to Bautista-Agut (see full match statistics), 1-0 on grass.
The last time they fought with each other, Bautista-Agut won 6-3 6-3 in the semifinals in Chennai in 2017.
Forecast
Favorite for Tennis Tonic is Roberto Bautista Agut who must win in 3 sets.
Betting odds
Roberto Bautista Agut -> 1.22
Benoit Paire -> 4.33
