Wimbledon picks: Ben Shelton vs. Alex Bolt odds, picks, prediction

Ben Shelton’s game is big.It’s aggressive.

And it is built for the bright lights at Grand Slams.The American has played in 11 majors in his career, and he’s already been to a pair of semifinals and three quarterfinals.This is Shelton’s third trip to Wimbledon, a place where he’s yet to make it out of the fourth round in two times of asking.That’s nothing to be ashamed of, but it does pale in comparison to his work on the hard courts in Australia and in Flushing.You’d think Shelton’s game should translate well to the grass at the All England Club, but the surface has tripped him up in his career.The former Florida Gator is 8-11 in his career on the lawn, which is his worst winning percentage of the three surfaces on the ATP Tour.Shelton would have hoped for a more straightforward draw in Round 1 of Wimbledon this year, but he drew grass-court specialist Alex Bolt instead.Oddsmakers are still siding with Shelton, making him a -345 favorite over the Aussie, but this is a trickier matchup than it looks.Bolt, 32, is one of a few players in the sport who specializes in grass-court tennis.

The native of South Australia has played 134 professional matches on the lawn, which is more than just about any other player in this field outside of Novak Djokovic and Dan Evans.In terms of talent, there is no question that Shelton is the A-side of this matchup, but Bolt’s vast experience on this surface should close the gap considerably.Shelton will try to serve right through Bolt, but if he’s not able to do that, this match could turn into a roller coaster, and that favors the Australian.Shelton, who cracked the top 10 in the world rankings for the first time in his career right before Wimbledon, likely has too much talent for Bolt, but this could turn into a marathon.If Bolt is able to drag Shelton into the deep end of the pool, all bets are off.The Play: Over 4.5 sets (+275), Bolt to win in five sets (+850) Michael Leboff is a long-suffering Islanders fan, bu...