Day 6 at The Championships is scheduled to see the completion of third round singles play, and thankfully, the forecast for Saturday looks much better than Friday.
It’s not often a day of play at Wimbledon is headlined by a mixed doubles match, but that will be the case on Saturday, as two-time champion Andy Murray teams with fellow Brit and Major champ Emma Raducanu, in what may be Andy’s last match at The Championships. They will face two accomplished doubles players in Marcelo Arevalo and Shuai Zhang.
Singles play on Day 6 sees the 2022 ladies’ singles finalists each face a formidable mom. 2022 champ Elena Rybakina takes on mother-of-two Caroline Wozniacki, while two-time runner-up Ons Jabeur plays mother-of-one Elina Svitolina. And the only British man remaining in the gentlemen’s singles draw, 2022 semifinalist Cameron Norrie, squares off against two-Major finalist Sascha Zverev.
Other matches on Saturday feature Major champions Novak Djokovic and Iga Swiatek.
Throughout the tournament, this preview will analyze the day’s four most prominent matches, while highlighting the other notable matches on the schedule. Saturday’s play is scheduled to begin at 11:00am local time.
Cameron Norrie vs. Alexander Zverev (4) – 1:30pm on Centre Court
With most pundits hyping Jack Draper as the next big contender in British tennis, Norrie made quite a statement on Thursday, defeating the impressive 22-year-old in straight sets. Cam is just 17-14 in a season where he’s faced multiple injuries, but he looked really sharp against big-serving Jack. Norrie attacked Draper’s second serve relentlessly, winning a superb 70% of second serve return points in the match. As per Tennis Abstract, that was Cam’s first win over a top 25 player in six months.
Zverev has never advanced beyond the round of 16 at Wimbledon, though he’s played well through two rounds, averaging just 2.5 games lost per set. Sascha is now 39-11 this season, and 5-2 on grass, after losing in the semifinals of Halle to Hubert Hurkacz.
Their history has been completely one-sided, as Sascha leads Cam 5-0 at tour level. All five of those matches occurred on hard courts, and the first four were straight-setters. However, six months ago in the fourth round of the Australian Open, they contested an over four-hour five-setter, which Zverev won in a fifth-set tiebreak. Norrie will need another big returning day in this one, but based on the way Sascha has been serving, the German should be favored to advance.
Ons Jabeur (10) vs. Elina Svitolina (21) – Second on Centre Court
Is Jabeur revving up for another deep run at The Championships? A knee injury derailed the first few months of her year, and she arrived at Roland Garros with a record of just 6-9. But Ons made a strong run to the quarterfinals in Paris, and is now 6-2 within the last few weeks on grass, having not lost a set in her first two rounds here.
Svitolina was a surprising semifinalist here a year ago, in only her fifth tournament after maternity leave. She defeated four Major champions during that fortnight (Venus Williams, Sofia Kenin, Victoria Azarenka, Iga Swiatek), losing to eventual champion Marketa Vondrousova. However, Elina hasn’t played as well during the first six months of 2024, with a modest record of 20-12. And she scarcely survived her opening round match against Magda Linette.
Svitolina is 3-1 against Jabeur at all levels, though their only meeting within the last five years went to Ons in straight sets. That took place three years ago on a hard court in Chicago. And with Jabeur rediscovering her confidence on her best surface, she’s the favorite to prevail on Saturday.
Elena Rybakina (4) vs. Caroline Wozniacki (WC) – Third on No.1 Court
Rybakina is an excellent 37-7 on the year, though she arrived at SW19 with questions swirling regarding her condition. She retired from Berlin a few weeks ago due to illness, then pulled out of Eastbourne last week due to a “change in schedule.” In the last round, she was pushed to three sets by Laura Siegemund, who is a much stronger doubles player than singles.
Wozniacki came into Wimbledon only 9-9 this season, yet has played some great tennis to reach this third round contest. She crushed Alycia Parks in the first round 6-2, 6-0, and overcame a stern test from Leylah Fernandez on Thursday, saving match point to win 7-5 in the third. Caroline now looks to reach the fourth round of The Championships for the sixth time in her career.
In their first meeting, Rybakina must be considered a significant favorite, especially on this surface. But if Elena is truly not 100% physically, and Wozniacki can back her off the baseline and make her hit extra balls, an upset would not be a complete shock.
Marcelo Arevalo and Shuai Zhang vs. Andy Murray and Emma Raducanu – Fourth on No.1 Court
As emotional as it was to watch Andy play doubles on Centre Court with his brother Jamie, Andy looked far from his best, and could be seen clutching at his injured back at multiple points both during and following the match. He has admitted to playing through significant pain, but is determined to play as much as he can in his last year at his favorite event. And on Saturday, he teams with an extremely in-form Raducanu, who easily dispatched of Elise Mertens and Maria Sakkari in her last two rounds of singles play.
Arevalo and Shuai were quarterfinalists in mixed doubles a month ago at Roland Garros. And Arevalo won that tournament in men’s doubles, alongside Mate Pavic. Shuai is a two-time Major champion in women’s singles, alongside Sam Stosur.
It will be a joy to watch Andy and Emma team up together for the first time, and how fun would it be to watch them win and play more? But with Andy’s body failing him, and against two strong doubles players, it’s hard to consider the Brits the favorites. But even if the Brits lose, this should serve as a nice sendoff for Sir Andy Murray.
Other Notable Matches on Saturday:
Danielle Collins (11) vs. Beatriz Haddad Maia (20) – Both players are yet to drop a set, though Haddad Maia only needed to play three games in her second round before her opponent retired. While Collins has been the far better player in 2024, Haddad Maia owns two grass court titles, and has been the better player on this surface.
Iga Swiatek (1) vs. Yulia Putintseva – Swiatek is now 47-4 in 2024, and is currently on a 21-match winning streak. Putintseva has already earned two solid wins this week, over Angelique Kerber and Katerina Siniakova. Iga is 2-0 against Yulia, which includes two straight-set victories this season.
Taylor Fritz (13) vs. Alejandro Tabilo (24) – These are the champions of the two ATP grass court events the week before Wimbledon, so both are on six-match win streaks. Fritz is 2-0 against Tabilo, having most recently defeated him in straights this past March in Indian Wells.
Alexei Popyrin vs. Novak Djokovic (2) – Djokovic looked a bit vulnerable on Thursday against British wild card Jaboc Fearnley, requiring four sets to advance in his second match back from knee surgery. Popyrin has already played nine sets through two matches, and is 0-5 in the third round of Majors. In the second round of this year’s Australian Open, Novak beat Alexei in four.
Saturday’s full Order of Play is here.
