Day 8 at The Championships is scheduled to see the conclusion of fourth round singles play, though more rain is in the forecast for Monday.
Holger Rune is a rare player who from a young age has possessed the necessary level of skill and moxie to challenge Novak Djokovic since their very first meeting. All five of their matches have been tight affairs, with Rune winning two of them, including the championship match at a Masters 1000 event. Can Holger threaten Novak again on Monday?
Another Wimbledon champion, Elena Rybakina, is in stellar form, but also faces significant fourth round opposition in Anna Kalinskaya. Plus, Roland Garros champ Barbora Krejcikova takes on Australian Open finalist Danielle Collins. And two of the ATP’s best servers, Alexander Zverev and Taylor Fritz, will face each other on Day 8.
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 is scheduled to begin at 11:00am local time.
Elena Rybakina on Saturday (twitter.com/wimbledon)
Elena Rybakina (4) vs. Anna Kalinskaya (17) – 1:30pm on Centre Court
Rybakina has withdrawn from many tournaments this season due to various illnesses and injuries, but when she’s been healthy, she’s been almost completely dominant. The 2022 champion is 38-7 in 2024, having advanced to five finals, and winning three of them (Brisbane, Abu Dhabi, Stuttgart). And on Saturday evening, she thumped Caroline Wozniacki by a score of 6-0, 6-1.
Kalinskaya is 24-12 on the year, and has seen her ranking improve from No.80 in January to a recent career-high of No.17. Anna was the runner-up at a WTA 1000 tournament in Dubai, as well as just a few weeks ago in Berlin on grass. She is yet to drop a set this fortnight, which includes a strong victory over recent ‘s-Hertogenbosch champion Liudmila Samsonova.
They played three times during 2023, with Rybakina taking two of three, though one ended with Kalinskaya retiring after just seven games. The other two matches, in Miami and Madrid, both went three sets. While Anna has an assertive game, it’s not quite as imposing as that of Elena’s. I like Rybakina’s chances of advancing to the quarterfinals for the third consecutive year at The Championships.
Taylor Fritz (13) vs. Alexander Zverev (4) – Second on Centre Court
Zverev leads their head-to-head 5-3, most recently defeating Fritz in straight sets this past May in Rome on clay. And Sascha has also twice defeated Taylor at The All-England Club. In 2018, he came from two-sets-to-one down to comfortably win in five, losing just three games across the last two sets. In 2021, he won in four.
It’s been a strong season for Zverev, who on Saturday picked up his 40th win of 2024, over Britain’s Cam Norrie. Sascha has claimed all nine sets he’s contested to this stage. Fritz has taken nine of 10 sets, and is currently on a seven-match grass court winning streak, coming off a title run in Eastbourne, the third time he has won that event. Taylor now has 34 wins on the year.
Zverev is seemingly the slight favorite on paper, but I would not be surprised to watch Fritz pull off the upset. Taylor was a quarterfinalist here two years ago, while Sascha has never advanced beyond this round at The Championships. And I could just as easily see Zverev emboldened by his run to the Roland Garros final, as I could see him emotionally drained and tormented by it, again being just one set away from winning a Major. Regardless, the margins should be rather slim in this one, between two superb servers.
Danielle Collins (11) vs. Barbora Krejcikova (31) – Third on No.1 Court
Collins is making the most of her last season before retirement. She is 39-11 this year, with back-to-back titles in Miami and Charleston. After losing in the second round of Roland Garros, she took a month off from competition, skipping all grass court lead-up events. Yet Danielle won her first three matches of this tournament in straight sets, including a stirring contest in the last round against Beatriz Haddad Maia.
Krejcikova’s career has unfortunately been derailed by injuries since her French Open title over three years ago. She arrived at SW19 just 7-10 in 2024, and at one point this season went on a five-match losing streak. But she’s pulled out a few tight matches this past week to match her best singles result at this event.
They’ve only played once before, last summer on a hard court in San Diego, where Krejcikova prevailed in three sets. But based on the way Collins has been playing this season, I’m backing the Danimal to achieve her fourth Major quarterfinal, and her first at Wimbledon. She is just striking the ball with such confidence and ferocity, and Collins is one of the WTA’s toughest outs when she’s playing her best.
Holger Rune (15) vs. Novak Djokovic (2) – Third on Centre Court
Despite having a procedure done on his knee the day after withdrawing from Roland Garros last month, Djokovic has advanced to the fourth round of this tournament for the 16th time, with the loss of two sets. And he has won his last 14 matches this round of The Championships. Novak now vies to reach his record-extending 60th Major quarterfinal.
Rune is a solid if unspectacular 25-13 this year, and he is yet to advance to a Major quarterfinal in 2024. While he has competed excellently against Novak in the past, Holger remains an unproven commodity on grass. He is just 10-6 lifetime on this surface, though he did make the quarters here a year ago, thanks to a fourth round victory over Grigor Dimitrov.
Rune’s two wins over Djokovic both came at Masters 1000 events: in the final of Bercy on an indoor hard court, and the quarterfinals of Rome an on outdoor clay court. Novak has taken their last two meetings, both on indoor hard courts at the end of last season, though both were quite close. But on this surface, and especially on Centre Court, the seven-time Wimbledon champion must be favored, despite his knee still not being fully recovered.
Other Notable Matches on Monday:
Lorenzo Musetti (25) vs. Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard (LL) – This is a fourth round Major debut for Mpetshi Perricard in just his third appearance at this level, and it comes on his 21st birthday. As per Greg Sharko, the young Frenchman leads Wimbledon with 105 aces through three rounds, and has saved 13 of 14 break points. Musetti is 0-2 at this stage of Majors to date, but he’s in the midst of a strong grass court season, with a record of 10-2. Just a few weeks ago on grass in Stuttgart, Lorenzo defeated Giovanni in two tight sets, both decided by prolonged tiebreaks.
Arthur Fils vs. Alex de Minaur (9) – De Minaur won his first two matches in straight sets, then received a walkover in the third round from an injured Lucas Pouille, so he hasn’t played since Thursday. Fils is another young Frenchman make his first appearance in the round of 16 at a Slam, after coming from behind to beat Roman Safiullin in five on Saturday. Earlier this season on clay in Barcelona, Arthur prevailed over Alex in straight sets.
Elina Svitolina (21) vs. Xinyu Wang – Svitolina earned an excellent victory in the last round over two-time finalist Ons Jabeur. 22-year-old Xinyu of China upset Jessica Pegula in the second round, and backed that up by taking out Great Britain’s Harriet Dart in three, to reach the fourth round of a Major for the second time.
Yulia Putintseva vs. Jelena Ostapenko (13) – Putintseva upset Iga Swiatek in the last round, while Ostapenko has been steamrolling the competition, dropping just 10 games through six sets. They have split four prior encounters, all on hard courts, one of which ended with this infamously frosty hand shake.
Monday’s full Order of Play is here.
