Fourth round singles action is scheduled to be completed on Monday, with many fascinating contests.
The two most highly-anticipated matchups on Day 8 both feature a Major champion against a Wimbledon finalist. Two-time Wimbledon champ Petra Kvitova takes on last year’s runner-up Ons Jabeur, while 2022 US Open champ Carlos Alcaraz faces 2021 runner-up Matteo Berrettini.
Plus defending ladies’ singles champion Elena Rybakina plays recent Roland Garros semifinalist Beatriz Haddad Maia. And after saving two match points on Saturday, Holger Rune squares off against 2014 semifinalist Grigor Dimitrov.
Other action features Daniil Medvedev, Aryna Sabalenka, Stefanos Tsitsipas, and Madison Keys, all of whom face dangerous opposition. There are no clear favorite across all eight singles matches set to begin on Day 8, which should make for another scintillating day of tennis.
And on top of all that, Novak Djokovic and Hubert Hurkacz will resumetheir match from Sunday evening, which Djokovic leads two-sets-to-love.
Throughout the tournament, this preview will analyze the day’s four most prominent matches, while highlighting the other notable matches on the schedule. Monday’s play begins at 11:00am local time.
Beatriz Haddad Maia (13) vs. Elena Rybakina (3) – 1:30pm on Centre Court
Rybakina is now on a 10-match win streak at The Championships, and is 36-8 on the year. After being admittedly nervous to start off her title defense, and dropping her first set to Shelby Rogers, Elena has settled in and taken her last six. She is 3-1 in the round of 16 of Majors.
Prior to Roland Garros a month ago, all of Haddad Maia’s singles success had come outside the Majors. But she made a huge breakthrough in Paris, winning four consecutive three-setters. And grass just may be her best surface, as she won back-to-back grass court titles in 2022, and took two more three-setters during the first week of this fortnight.
Beatriz is 2-0 against Elena, with both matches occurring earlier this year. On a hard court in Abu Dhabi, she prevailed in three. And just a few weeks ago on grass in Stuttgart, she prevailed after Rybakina retired down 6-1, 3-1. Haddad Maia has plenty of aggression in her game that can easily threaten Rybakina, yet at this stage of a Slam, the defending champ should still be considered a slight favorite to advance.
Ons Jabeur (6) vs. Petra Kvitova (9) – Second on Centre Court
Jabeur is looking to reach the quarterfinals or better of The Championships for the third straight year. But she narrowly escaped defeat on Saturday against a reinvigorated Bianca Andreescu. After multiple injuries derailed much of her 2023, Ons is now back to playing her best tennis, on what is arguably her best surface.
Kvitova is having her best season in quite some time, with a record of 25-7, and two titles (Miami, Berlin). Last month in Berlin on grass, she earned impressive wins over Karolina Pliskova, Caroline Garcia, Ekaterina Alexandrova, and Donna Vekic. This is only Petra’s second time in the second week of The Championships since her second title in 2014.
Kvitova is 4-1 against Jabeur, with four of those matches taking place on hard courts. Their first meeting was their only one on grass, which happened here four years ago, and saw Petra win 6-4, 6-2. And based on their history, as well as their form this season, I like Kvitova’s chances of winning again on Monday.
Grigor Dimitrov (21) vs. Holger Rune (6) – Third on No.1 Court
Rune has participated in a plethora of long, dramatic matches this year. After a net cord winner decided a fifth-set tiebreak between him and Andrey Rublev in Australia, which by the way did not go Holger’s way, a preposterous underhanded serve-and-volley by Alejandro Davidovich Fokina at 8-8 in the fifth-set tiebreak helped propel Rune to victory on Saturday afternoon. The 20-year-old is now 36-12 this season, as he plays for his third Major quarterfinal.
Dimitrov just dismantled Frances Tiafoe in the last round, dropping only seven games. Grigor has been excellent through Week 1, comfortably winning all nine sets he’s played. He’s now 25-12 in 2023, and 7-1 on grass, as he looks for his first Slam quarterfinal since the 2021 Australian Open, and his first at Wimbledon in nine years.
Their first career meeting is a tough one to call. Rune has clearly been the better player over the past year, and may play freely knowing how close he was to defeat in the last round. But Dimitrov played at an extremely high level against Tiafoe, and his style of play is rewarded on this surface when he’s confident and aggressive. Considering Holger has only played 10 matches on grass in his young career, Grigor’s vast edge in experience may be the pivotal factor.
Carlos Alcaraz (1) vs. Matteo Berrettini – Third on Centre Court
After a brutal first six months of the year, filled with tough losses and injuries, Matteo Berrettini is back. In his post-match interview on Saturday night, he described spending many days crying in his room due to his inability to compete, certainly after pulling out of last year’s Wimbledon due to testing positive for COVID-19. Despite playing only one match in nearly three months ahead of this tournament, Matteo played his best tennis in taking out both Alex de Minaur and Sascha Zverev in straight sets to reach this blockbuster round of 16 matchup.
Alcaraz overcame a stern test from Nicolas Jarry on Saturday, prevailing 7-5 in the fourth. That brought his record this season to an outstanding 43-4 overall, and 8-0 on grass. This equals his best result at The All England Club, as a year ago in this same round, he lost a tight four-setter to Jannik Sinner.
Carlitos leads their head-to-head 2-1, though their only meeting at a Major went to Matteo. And it was an epic one, with Berrettini claiming a fifth-set tiebreak last year in Melbourne. On this surface, and based on the Italian’s superb level from the last two rounds, I’m picking Matteo to pull off the upset. Alcaraz looked a bit shaky against Jarry on Saturday, and he’s still not as comfortable on grass as Berrettini.
Other Notable Matches on Monday:
Madison Keys (25) vs. Mirra Andreeva (Q) – Keys is 24-8 this season, and is currently on an eight-match win streak on grass, after winning a leadup tournament in Eastbourne. Madison has not lost a set during this run. Andreeva is a 16-year-old who is quickly becoming the breakout star of 2023. She’s now 14-2 at tour level this year (including qualifying), and has upset consecutive seeds at SW19 (Krejcikova, Potapova).
Christopher Eubanks vs. Stefanos Tsitsipas (5) – Speaking of breakout stars, Eubanks is another one. The 27-year-old had never been inside the top 100, but will now debut inside the top 40 thanks to a run to the quarterfinals in Miami, his first ATP title in Eastbourne, and now achieving his first round of 16 at a Major. Tsitsipas survived back-to-back five setters against Slam champs (Thiem, Murray) to reach this stage, which equals his best result at The Championships.
Daniil Medvedev (3) vs. Jiri Lehecka – This also equals the farthest Medvedev has ever been at Wimbledon, and he’s dropped only one set through three rounds. 21-year-old Lehecka, who is being coached by former Wimbledon runner-up Tomas Berdych, outlasted Tommy Paul in five sets on Saturday. Jiri is vying for his second Major quarterfinal of the year, after first doing so in Australia.
Ekaterina Alexandrova (21) vs. Aryna Sabalenka (2) – Sabalenka is 38-7 this year, though she’s 2-3 against Alexandrova, which includes a grass court matchup last season. And Ekaterina won a grass court title just a few weeks ago, the second year in a row she’s done so, though this is her best Slam result to date.
Monday’s full Order of Play is here.