A round after Adrian Mannarino had Roger Federer on the brink of defeat before injuring himself and eventually retiring, Thursday sees the 8-time Wimbledon champion play another Frenchman, Richard Gasquet. Two other Major champions, Angelique Kerber and Jelena Ostapenko, are both coming off grass court titles last week, and are contenders to claim another Slam next Saturday. However, both will take on dangerous opposition in the second round.
It was two years ago at The Championships when a 15-year-old Coco Gauff made a name for herself by upsetting Venus Williams in the first round. Now she’s a top 20 seed, and will play a three-time Major champ in doubles, Elena Vesnina. And 2014 semifinalist Grigor Dimitrov faces one of the game’s most-improved and most-entertaining competitors, Kazakhstan’s Alexander Bublik. With many of these matches scheduled at the same time, multiple screens are recommended to keep up with all the action around the grounds.
Each day of the fortnight, this preview will highlight the five most intriguing matchups, while outlining the other notable matches on the schedule. Thursday’s play will begin at 11:00am local time on all outer courts, 1:00pm on No.1 Court, and 1:30pm on Centre Court.
Coco Gauff (20) vs. Elena Vesnina – Second on Centre Court
After her breakout 2019 season, Gauff suffered a bit from the infamous sophomore slump, especially following the pandemic tour shutdown. But Coco has quickly rounded back into form. On clay this season, she was a stellar 16-4, which included a title in Parma, and her first Major quarterfinal in Paris. Vesnina returned to the tour this year after missing two years while becoming a mother. She’s only played five singles matches in her comeback, and her two victories have come over players ranked 98th and 138th in the world. Gauff has great memories from two years ago on Centre Court, and is a strong favorite to earn another victory on this hallowed lawn.
Angelique Kerber (25) vs. Sara Sorribes Tormo – Third on No.2 Court
The 2018 champion went just 7-6 last season, but she’s rediscovered her mojo on the grass. Last week in her home country, she won the Bad Homburg Open, which included a great semifinal victory over Petra Kvitova. Sorribes Tormo also reached the semifinals of that event, which is the latest accomplishment in a strong 2021 for the 24-year-old from Spain. Sara was the champion in Guadalajara, and owns three wins over top 30 players. All of those came at the Miami Open in three sets, a tournament in which Sorribes Tormo displayed tremendous fight and stamina. Her persistence has made her a very tough out, but Kerber should be able to overcome her on this surface.
Daria Kasatkina (31) vs. Jelena Ostapenko – Third on No.3 Court
Ostapenko raised the winner’s trophy last week in Eastbourne, her first title in nearly two years. In the quarterfinals, she defeated Kastakina in three sets. That was their second time meeting in Eastbourne, with both matches going to the 2017 Roland Garros champion. Kasatkina claimed their other two tour-level encounters, though neither were on grass. Following a few subpar seasons, Kasatkina is playing revitalized tennis in 2021, which has earned her two titles and 27 match wins. Both players achieved success at this event in 2018: Daria was a quarterfinalist, while Jelena was a semifinalist. Kasatkina’s diverse style of play is capable of diffusing the power of Ostapenko, who is known for becoming error-prone and visibly irritated on court. But when Ostapenko is playing with confidence, as she is now, she’s hard to subdue.
Grigor Dimitrov (18) vs. Alexander Bublik – Third on Court 12
Dimitrov made a nice run to the quarters of February’s Australian Open, before a back injury hampered his performance against Aslan Karatasev. Since leaving Melbourne, he’s only 6-7, and had to retire at Roland Garros due to another injury. Thankfully, he appeared fully healthy during his first round win over Fernando Verdasco. But in recent months, Bublik has been the better player. Prior to this tournament, he possessed twice as many 2021 wins as Dimitrov, reaching two finals earlier this season. The only previous meeting between these two took place in September of 2019, with Bublik prevailing in a third set tiebreak on a hard court in Chengdu. Also in 2019, Bublik reached the final of Newport on grass. By contrast, Dimitrov is 2-4 on this surface over the last three. So based on recent form, both on and off grass, Bublik feels like a serious threat to upset the 18th seed.
Roger Federer (6) vs. Richard Gasquet – Third on Centre Court
Federer played a few poor sets of tennis on Tuesday, as he continues to search for the level that won him 20 Majors. But this is a matchup that should enable him to build some momentum. Roger leads the head-to-head against Richard 18-2, with both of Gasquet’s wins coming over 10 years ago on clay. On grass, the Frenchman has only managed one of nine sets contested. Overall, Federer has accumulated their last 22 sets. And Gasquet is far from his top form, as he’s 9-7 on the year, and hasn’t advanced beyond the second round of a Major since the 2018 US Open. While the outcome doesn’t feel in question, the comfort with which Roger is able to close out the match may be quite telling of his chances going forward in the draw.
Other Notable Matches on Thursday:
Ash Barty (1) vs. Anna Blinkova – 22-year-old Blinkova had lost eight of her last nine matches prior to this event. Barty hasn’t lost to a player ranked as low as Blinkova (No.89) in nearly two years, and that was a loss to two-time Major champion Svetlana Kuznetsova.
Danill Medvedev (2) vs. Carlos Alcaraz (WC) – The second seed survived a tough first round draw in Jan-Lennard Struff. Alcaraz is an impressive 18-year-old who reached the third round a few weeks ago at Roland Garros, and has claimed four Challenger titles on clay over the past year.
Elina Svitolina (3) vs. Magda Linette – Svitolina is 2-0 against the 29-year-old from Poland. Both matches were decided in straight sets, though both were on clay.
Sascha Zverev (4) vs. Tennys Sandgren – Zverev easily prevailed in his opening round on Tuesday. Sandgren advanced to the round of 16 here two years ago. In 2017, Sascha defeated Tennys 7-5, 7-5 in Washington.
Matteo Berrettini (7) vs. Botic van de Zandschlup (Q) – Queen’s Club champion Berrettini has taken 19 of his last 22 matches. His 25-year-old Dutch opponent has never been beyond the second round of a Slam.
Barbora Krejcikova (14) vs. Andrea Petkovic – French Open champion Krejcikova is on a 13-match win streak, and won the women’s doubles title here three years ago. Petkovic is a former top 10 player who is only 4-9 on the year.
Kei Nishikori vs. Jordan Thompson – Nishikori was a quarterfinalist at Wimbledon in both 2018 and 2019, and on Wednesday defeated another Australian, Alexei Popyrin. Thompson upset Casper Ruud in five sets a round ago.
Thursday’s full Order of Play is here.
