Wimbledon Day One Tips: Bolt capable of delivering Ruud awakening

• Ruud a fish out of water

• Australian journeyman lives for grass

• Value pick to oppose Ruud

Casper Ruud is a top 10 stalwart that for the past few months has been one of the form players in men's tennis.

The Norwegian builds his season around the European clay season, where he undoubtedly does his best work.

His recent campaign was a success notching titles in Geneva and Barcelona, whilst contesting the final of Monte Carlo and a semi-final of the French Open.

During that same April to June stretch his first round Wimbledon opponent Alex Bolt did no better than a couple of second round appearances on the Challenger circuit.

Why then do I think the world ranked 234th player has a shot against the world's eighth ranked player?

Grass allergy

For every bit as good as Ruud is on clay, the inverse is true on grass.

Ruud has competed in a grand total of eleven grass court matches in his professional career, with only four wins on his resume. His two most recent victories were secured as a sub 1.21/5 favourite against French journeyman Laurent Lokoli and Spanish clay courter Albert Ramos-Vinolas.

The Norwegian puts so much stock into his clay campaign that he typically treats the grass court season as a time to recoup and recover. He has not taken to court in the build up to Wimbledon in either of the past two seasons.

If you've ever watched a Ruud match you would understand why. His game is built on the principle of bringing his forehand into play, running around the backhand to strike off his favoured wing.

His style is a throwback to a previous generation of the sport where clay court specialists had no idea how to adapt to grass. He is a fish out of water.

There is the added consideration of a return to Roland Garros for players to schedule this season, as the Olympic Games will take place on the famous Parisian courts. Ruud would have a serious chance of claiming a medal at that event and the less time he spends on grass the better.

Last season Ruud was knocked out of Wimbledon by Britain's Liam Broady (himself far from a grass court natural) who snacked repeatedly on sliding his lefty serve into the Norwegian's vulnerable backhand wing.

The bad news is that Bolt is also a left hander and he will be able to rely on that ready made tactic.

"A free swing"

While Ruud avoids grass like the plague the opposite is true for Bolt who has won 18 matches on the surface this season including back to back titles in Mildura and Swan Hill.

Of course the calibre of opposition that Bolt encounters is of a far lower calibre than the week to week competition of Ruud , but he clearly knows how to play on this specialist surface.

Bolt is the lowest ranked player in the Wimbledon draw, only entering qualifying as an alternate due to the withdrawal of others.

He showed decent form for the most part, dropping only a few games in his opening round encounters with Nicolas Kicker and Rudolf Molleker before coming back from two sets down to dispatch Leandro Riedi. So far it has been a cinderella story for the Aussie.

Bolt is playing with house money and gives himself a fighting chance.

Upon drawing Ruud he said, "I back myself against anyone on grass. If I go out there and do what I want to do well then I'm going to be tough for anyone to beat. I've got a free swing because I wasn't even in the qualifying draw and now I'm in the main draw. I can win on these courts, and use that as motivation and confidence that I know how to get the job done here."

I can't see this being easy at all for the grass loathing Ruud against a player who has won more matches on this surface this season than Ruud has even contested in his career.

The price of 9/43.25 on Bolt is interesting. Even if Ruud can survive this I am confident his stay in Wimbledon will be as short as his market price.

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