A day after Brits Dan Evans and Andy Murray went down in defeat on Centre Court, Cameron Norrie will have to overcome the eight-time champion in order to reach the second week. Also on Saturday, US Open champion Marin Cilic challenges US Open runner-up Daniil Medvedev. And Felix Auger-Aliassime looks to join his close friend and fellow Canadian Denis Shapovalov in the round of 16, but the dangerous Nick Kyrgios stands in his way.
On the women’s side, the Roland Garros finalists will both play eclectic opposition. Barbora Krejcikova won both the singles and doubles events in Paris, and has now won 20 straight matches in both disciplines. In the third round, she faces Anastasija Sevastova, who reached the second week of the US Open in three consecutive years. And French Open runner-up Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova takes on fellow top 20 seed Karolina Muchova, who advanced to the semifinals of the Australian Open in February.
Each day of the fortnight, this preview will highlight the five most intriguing matchups, while outlining the other notable matches on the schedule. Saturday’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. With rain forecast through much of the day, outer court action may be severely delayed.
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (16) vs. Karolina Muchova (19) – 11:00am on Court 18
Following the disappointment of losing her first Major final, Pavlyuchenkova lost her only match prior to this fortnight. However, that was to eventual Eastbourne champion Jelena Ostapenko, so it was far from a bad loss. The Russian has easily advanced to this stage, and would certainly enjoy celebrating her 30th birthday on Saturday with her third victory over Muchova. After achieving her first Major semifinal in Melbourne, Karolina didn’t play for over two months due to injury. But she bounced back quickly by defeating Naomi Osaka and Maria Sakkari in Madrid, before falling to Pavlyuchenkova in the quarters. That’s one of two previous meetings between these players, both of which have gone to Anastasia. But on the grass of The All-England Club, where Muchova was a quarterfinalist in her only previous appearance, her all-court makes her a slight favorite to gain her first win over the French Open runner-up.
Barbora Krejcikova (14) vs. Anastasija Sevastova – Second on No.3 Court
Roland Garros champ Krejcikova in on a 14-match win streak in singles. And she knows how to win at The Championships. Inspired by her mentor and former Wimbledon champion Jana Novotna, Barbora won the women’s doubles event here three years ago. The same cannot be said for Sevastova. While she’s reached the second week of every other Major at least once, she was 2-7 lifetime at this event prior to this week. But her unorthodox style, paired with her defiant spirit, has lead to five top 20 wins in her career at Slams. Before this year, Krejcikova had never won a singles match at Wimbledon. However, considering her current confidence level, Barbora is a significant favorite to reach Manic Monday.
Felix Auger-Aliassime (16) vs. Nick Kyrgios – Second on No.1 Court
Their only previous meeting also took place on British grass. It occurred two years ago at Queen’s Club, where Auger-Aliassime prevailed 7-5 in the third. Felix is certainly the player who is more match tough, with 22 wins this season, and an appearance last month in the final of Stuttgart on this surface. By contrast, this is only Nick’s third tournament in the past 16 months, and his first outside Australia since the pandemic began. But Kyrgios claims he doesn’t need match play, and states he could still beat half the draw without any recent competition. He backed up those words by winning a thrilling five-setter over Halle champion Ugo Humbert in the opening round. This will likely be a tight contest decided by a few tiebreaks, between two players with great first serves. However, playing eight matches since February of last year is not a recipe for reaching the second week of Wimbledon for the first time since 2016, or for winning pivotal points at the end of close sets.
Roger Federer (6) vs. Cameron Norrie (29) – Second on Centre Court
25-year-old Norrie is having a fantastic season. The left-hander has accumulated 31 match wins, and appeared in three finals over the last 10 weeks alone. This is now his fourth consecutive third round appearance at a Major. However, he’s never been farther, and is only 1-5 this year against top 10 players. And of course, playing Roger Federer on Centre Court in front of your home country is quite an unnerving task. While Roger has been far from his top level since returning from two knee surgeries, his comfortable victory over Richard Gasquet on Thursday may help him settle into this tournament. And the last lefty not named Nadal to defeat Federer was Albert Ramos Vinolas in 2015. Roger should easily advance to the round of 16 at Wimbledon for an astounding 18th time.
Daniil Medvedev (2) vs. Marin Cilic – Third on No.1 Court
Much as he did on clay, Medvedev appeared quite frustrated during his opening round loss on grass in Halle. But now he’s on a six-match win streak, coming off his title run in Mallorca. It was three years ago at this event when Cilic’s career took an unfortunate turn. The runner-up a year prior, Marin let slip a two-set lead, losing in five to Guido Pella, a player who had never won a match at Wimbledon before that year. Over the next few seasons, Cilic would lose almost as many matches as he won. And it’s been nearly three years since he’s appeared in a Slam quarterfinal. But when Marin returned to grass last month in Stuttgart, he played some of his best tennis in years to earn his first title since 2018. Medvedev grabbed their only other matchup, two years ago in Washington. But if Cilic serves well, he just might be the favorite at an event where he once reached four consecutive quarterfinals, and where Medvedev is yet to proceed beyond this round.
Other Notable Matches on Saturday:
Ash Barty (1) vs. Katerina Siniakova – Barty has not looked her best through two rounds. Siniakova reached the final just last week in Bad Homburg, and could meet her doubles partner Krejcikova in the next round with a win over the world No.1.
Angelique Kerber (25) vs. Aliaksandra Sasnovich – Kerber won that event in Bad Homberg, and survived a grueling, highly-entertaining matchup against Sara Sorribes Tormo on Thursday. Sasnovich reached the fourth round here in 2018, when she upset Petra Kvitova in the first round.
Sascha Zverev (4) vs. Taylor Fritz (31) – It’s amazing Fritz is even playing, much less winning, considering he had knee surgery just a few weeks ago. But Zverev is playing very well, and is yet to drop a set.
Matteo Berrettini (7) vs. Aljaz Bedene – Berrettini is on a seven-match grass-court winning streak, and is the only seed remaining in his eighth of the draw. The Italian is 2-1 against Bedene, which includes a four-set victory at this event two years ago.
Hubert Hurkacz (14) vs. Alexander Bublik – Hurkacz lost six straight matches after winning the Miami Open, but has rebounded by claiming two straight-set victories this week. Bublik upset another top 20 seed, Grigor Dimitrov, in the last round. And last year in Dubai, Bublik defeated Hurkacz in their only previous encounter.
Coco Gauff (20) vs. Kaja Juvan – Gauff is vying to reach the fourth round of The Championships for the second straight time. Juvan is a 20-year-old from Slovenia ranked outside the top 100.
Jelena Ostapenko vs. Alja Tomljanovic – Ostapenko outlasted Daria Kasatkina on Thursday 8-6 in the third. Tomljanovic is playing in her 27th Major main draw, but this is only her second time advancing beyond the second round.
Saturday’s full Order of Play is here.
