By Matthew Marolf
An astounding 80 Major singles titles are represented by the players who advanced to the second week of the ladies’ and gentlemen’s singles draws. In a unique day on the tennis calendar, Serena, Roger, Rafa, Novak, Petra, Simona, and Ash will all take to the courts of The All England Club on Day 7. With so much action taking place all over the grounds at SW19, this preview will take you through the best matches to focus on as the day progresses.
Elina Svitolina (8) vs. Petra Martic (24)
Out of the four women’s singles matches that start off the day at 11:00am local time, this may be the closest and most exciting contest. Svitolina is into the fourth round of Wimbledon for the second time in three years, but is yet to advance farther. The eighth seed missed all of April due to a knee injury, and went just 2-3 in May on the clay. She also lost in the opening round of both her grass court tune-up events. But the 24-year-old Ukranian appears to be healthy again, and competed well through the first week of this tournament. Her 28-year-old opponent is currently at a career-high ranking of 24th in the world, coming off her first Major quarterfinal last month in Paris.
Just like Svitolina, this is Martic’s second time into the round of 16 here. And Petra has truly battled her way to this stage, requiring three sets in each of her first three matches. Svitolina leads their head-to-head 3-1, though they’ve never met outside of a clay court. Elina’s movement and consistency should be enough to overcome the tricky style of Petra. However, Martic is fully capable of throwing enough different speeds and slices at Svitolina to make this compelling, and Svitolina can often make a straightforward match quite complicated for herself.
Roberto Bautista Agut (23) vs. Benoit Paire (28)
Rafa and Serena will play on the main stadiums at 1:00pm, but they’ll both be very heavy favourites. This match out on Court 18 will likely be a much more competitive encounter. Both these men are prone to dramatic battles at Grand Slam events. Bautista Agut reached his first Slam quarterfinal earlier this year in Australia, but needed to survive three five-setters to get there. He reached his third Wimbledon round of 16 in much different fashion: without dropping a set.
Roberto impressively took out the tenth seed, Karen Khachanov, in straight sets on Friday. Meanwhile Paire is now into his fourth round of 16 at a Major, but is yet to forge farther ahead. Like Roberto, he also struggles to advance easily at Majors. At Roland Garros, none of his four matches were straight sets, and two went the distance. But the 30-year-old Frenchman is having a great season, with 29 match wins and two clay court titles. However, Bautista Agut has never lost to Paire, with eight victories counting challenger events and qualifying rounds. Paire has plenty of flair and variety which the grass can reward, but Roberto must be considered the favourite considering their head-to-head.
Petra Kvitova (6) vs. Johanna Konta (19)
This will be the second match of the day on Centre Court, and it could be a classic grass court serving affair between two of the WTA’s best servers. Both women have played excellent such matches here in past years. Kvitova’s 2014 match with Venus Williams comes to mind, which Petra claimed 7-5 in the third after just the second break of the entire match. And two years ago against Donna Vekic, Konta survived an outstanding service clash to prevail 10-8 in the third.
Kvitova arrived in London unsure if she could even compete due to a left arm injury, but she’s looked sharp through three rounds. Konta has also played well, and fought back from a set down against a game Sloane Stephens on Saturday. Kvitova is 3-1 against Konta, though they’ve split their two grass court meetings. As well-liked as the two-time Wimbledon champion is, the British crowd will still be loudly behind their female No.1. And Johanna is playing with a lot of confidence, having accumulated 15 clay court wins on historically her worst surface. This should be an electric occasion, with a three-setter seeming likely. I give Konta the slight edge: she’s the healthier player, and currently has more momentum. And it’s been five years since Kvitova has reached the quarterfinals at Wimbledon, having struggled here since her last title.
Simona Halep (7) vs. Coco Gauff (Q)
At the same time Kvitova/Konta play on Centre, this match will occur on No.1 Court. Is this where the fairytale story of the 15-year-old qualifier comes to an end? To this dismay of many fans who have been enthralled by Coco’s shocking and thrilling run, a Halep victory appears the most likely outcome. Including qualifying, Gauff has already played six matches over the last two weeks. Competing that much at this level is completely new for the American upstart.
And Halep played some excellent tennis on Friday, allowing two-time Major champion Victoria Azarenka just four games. Simona just has too much experience, too much defence, and too much consistency for Gauff. While it was an American teenager that took out Halep at the French Open, in 17-year-old Amanda Anisimova, I just don’t see that happening again here. But even if Coco’s tournament comes to an end today, what an amazing ride it’s been.
Roger Federer (2) vs. Matteo Berrettini (17)
This will be the final match of the day on Centre Court. When the draws were finalized, this was the opponent that I felt could best challenge Federer ahead of the semi=finals. The 23-year-old Italian has come into his own in 2019, with 34 match wins at all levels, and two tour-level titles. Last month on the grass of Stuttgart, the 6’5” Berrettini grabbed the trophy after not being broken all week. Matteo has a great game for the grass, with a big serve and penetrating groundstrokes.
But what will he have left after a four-hour, nineteen minute epic against Diego Schwartzman on Saturday in which he saved three match points? Coming back just 48 hours later after all the physical and emotional energy spent in that five-setter to play the eight-time champion on Centre Court is a huge undertaking. While he can still push Federer if he plays his best, Roger is fresh and in great form, and is a solid favourite to reach an absurd 17th quarterfinal at The Championships.
Other notable matches on Day 7:
Seven-time champion Serena Williams (11) vs. Carla Suarez Navarro (30). Serena has completely dominated Carla throughout their careers, with a 6-0 record. Suarez Navarro has never won more than five games in any of their matches.
Two-Time champion Rafael Nadal (3) vs. Joao Sousa, the first Portuguese man to advance this far at Wimbledon. He eliminated the Brit’s last male hope, Dan Evans, in five sets on Saturday evening.
Defending champion Novak Djokovic (1) vs. Ugo Humbert of France. The 21-year-old only possessed one win at a Major prior to this fortnight.
French Open champion Ash Barty (1) vs. Alison Riske, a 29-year-old from the United States who won a grass court event in s-Hertogenbosch last month.
Karolina Pliskova (3), the player many have named the best active woman yet to win a Major, vs. Karolina Muchova, a 22-year-old who is also from the Czech Republic.
