Wednesday’s schedule provides one of the best days of tennis you’ll see all year. And as far as doubles is concerned, the best you’ll likely see until the next Olympic Games. The mixed doubles event begins on Wednesday, featuring many players still alive in other disciplines. Mixed doubles and men’s singles will play their round of 16 matches on Wednesday, while women’s singles, men’s doubles, and women’s doubles will play their quarterfinals. With all remaining players in all five draws competing, the 28th of July boasts 28 critical matchups throughout the day, just 48 hours before medals will begin to be rewarded.
Each day, this preview will analyze the most intriguing men’s and women’s matchup, while highlighting other notable matches on the schedule. Wednesday’s play gets underway at 11:00am local time.
Daniil Medvedev (2) [ROC] vs. Fabio Fognini (15) [ITL] – 11:00am on Centre Court
Despite their lopsided Australian Open final earlier this year, Medvedev may be the player most likely to prevent Djokovic from winning the gold medal in men’s singles. But they would not meet in the draw until the gold or bronze medal match. And Medvedev first needs to deal with Fognini, who has plenty of experience upsetting top players. As per Tennis Abstract, Fabio owns 15 top 10 victories in his career, with four of them notably over Rafael Nadal. However, he’s now lost 12 of his last 13 matches against the top 10, dating back to over two years ago. And unlike clay and grass, Medvedev is fully comfortable on a hard court. Since November of last year, Daniil is a formidable 27-3 on this surface. And he is yet to drop a set through two rounds. All four of their prior meetings occurred on hard courts. The Italian took their first encounter, four years ago in Cincinnati. However, the Russian has claimed their last three, though two of them went to a deciding set. Representing one’s country can often yield unexpected results, as we’ve already seen in this event. But on a hard court, Medvedev is a solid favorite to reach the quarterfinals.
Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova (1) [CZE] vs. Ash Barty and Storm Sanders – 1:00pm on Court 6
This is a women’s doubles quarterfinal featuring the last two women’s singles Major champions. Krejcikova and Siniakova are also three-time Slam champs in doubles, most recently winning Roland Garros. Barty has actually reached six Major finals in doubles, though she’s only prevailed in one: the 2018 US Open, with partner CoCo Vandeweghe. In the semifinals of that event, Barty and Vandewedge dismissed Krejickova and Siniakova in straight sets. That was one of three victories in 2018 for Ash and CoCo over the Czech team. A year later, the team of Barty and Victoria Azarenka went 2-1 against them. In singles, Ash and Barbora just met a few weeks ago in the round of 16 at Wimbledon, with the Australian prevailing in straight sets. Before Tuesday, that was Krejcikova’s only singles loss since the second week of May. Barty and Sanders are good friends, but they are not an established team, as they regularly play with other partners. The experience edge is decidedly with Krejcikova and Siniakova, who are 27-6 this year alone, with three titles. As motivated as Barty is to win a medal for Australia, especially after her loss in singles, the top seeds in women’s doubles remain the favorites. Regardless, Barty still has another chance for a medal, as she’s also in the mixed doubles draw with John Peers.
Other Notable Matches on Wednesday:
Belinda Bencic (9) [SUI] vs. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (13) [ROC] – It was Bencic who took out Krejcikova in singles on Tuesday. Now she faces this year’s other French Open finalist, who has only allowed opponents seven games through six sets thus far. Bencic leads their head-to-head 4-2, but they’re 2-2 on hard courts, with Pavlyuchenkova prevailing most recently, a year ago in Dubai.
Novak Djokovic (1) [SRB] vs. Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (16) [ESP] – Djokovic is now 36-3 on the year, and 11-0 on hard courts. The 22-year-old Spaniard reached the quarterfinals of Roland Garros last month, but when he played Djokovic a month earlier in Rome, earned only three games. Djokovic will also play mixed doubles later in the day, with partner Nina Stojanovic.
Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic (1) [CRO] vs. Ben McLachlan and Kei Nishikori [JPN] – Mektic and Pavic are now an absurd 50-5 this season, with eight titles. McLachlan and Nishikori lost their only previous match this year as a team, though they didn’t drop a set in their first two rounds. Kei will also play Ilya Ivashka of Belarus in singles earlier in the day.
Stefanos Tsitsipas (3) [GRE] vs. Ugo Humbert (14) [FRA] – Last year at the Paris Masters, their match was decided by three tiebreaks, with the final and decisive one going to the Frenchman. Humbert has now won three titles over the past 18 months, though all on faster surfaces than this. Also on Wednesday, Tsitsipas will team with Maria Sakkari against Gabriela Dabrowski and Felix Auger-Aliassime.
Garbine Muguruza (7) [ESP] vs. Elena Rybakina (15) [KAZ] – This will be a slugfest between two of the WTA’s hardest hitters. Last month on the grass of Berlin, Muguruza defeated Rybakina in straight sets.
Diego Schwartzman (8) [ARG] vs. Karen Khachanov (12) [ROC] – This could be one of the most competitive and compelling matches on the day. Schwartzman has nabbed two of their three prior matches, all on hard courts.
Paula Badosa [ESP] vs. Marketa Vondrousova [CZE] – Both players upset favorites to win this event: Badosa took out Iga Swiatek, while Vondrousova ousted Naomi Osaka. Swiatek will get a rematch with Badosa in mixed doubles, as she teams with Lukasz Kubot against Badosa and Pablo Carreno Busta.
Marin Cilic and Ivan Dodig [CRO] vs. Andy Murray and Joe Salisbury [GBR] – The Brits have played excellently, winning four straight sets over four accomplished doubles players. Dodig is a five-time Major champion between men’s and mixed doubles. He and Filip Polasek defeated Salisbury and Rajeev Ram to win February’s Australian Open.
Wednesday’s full Order of Play is here.
