Line Calls, presented by FanDuel Sportsbook: Ryan Peniston vs. Francisco Cerundolo, London Queen's Club

The Australian is in the midst of a great grass-court season, and he'll now look to keep things rolling against an opponent lacking success on the surface.

ByZachary Cohen

Published Jun 20, 2022

Advertising

On Tuesday, Nick Kyrgios will face Laslo Djere in a grass-court battle at the Mallorca Championships. Kyrgios, who is still prone to the occasional on-court fit, has really dialed in and put together an impressive 2022 season to get himself back inside the Top 50.

The 27-year-old is 15-6 since the start of the year, and that includes a 6-2 record on grass. The Australian has made it very clear over the last few weeks that this is his favorite surface to play on, and he also claimed that he’s a “top five or top 10” player in the world when it comes to grass.

Kyrgios, who lost a tight three-set match against world No. 10 Hubert Hurkacz in the Halle semifinals, will now look to make yet another deep run as he gets ready for what could be a special fortnight at Wimbledon. And he has to feel pretty good about his first opponent in Spain. Djere is 1-1 on grass in 2022, and the victory involved Halle wild-card entry Henri Squire retiring seven games into their opening set. The Serbian then followed it up with a 6-7 (4), 4-6 loss to world No. 22 Karen Khachanov.

Djere and Kyrgios are facing off for the first time.

Advertising

Djere also happens to be just 3-7 in tour-level matches on grass in his career. Djere is very much a clay-court specialist, and it’s just hard to see where he’s going to find an edge against Kyrgios. Djere doesn’t have the power from the baseline to really put points away early, and that’s going to ultimately hurt him in the end. Djere also isn’t a great server and that means that Kyrgios will have his chances to break. The same can’t be said for Djere as a returner, as his opponent has one of the best serves on tour.

Overall, it’s a little hard to find favorable odds in a lopsided match like this, but alternate lines give you the chance to take the Under of 20.5 at plus-money. Considering how much better Kyrgios is on this surface, that’s a pretty good option. It wouldn’t be all that surprising if this ends up being something like 6-4, 6-4, in favor of the Australian.

Line Call: Under 20.5 Games – Alternatives (+110)

Advertising