Today is the best tennis day of the year. Day 7 at Wimbledon features all 16 round of 16 matches in the men’s and ladies’ singles draws. These 32 players combine for 64 major singles titles. “Manic Monday” is an exciting occasion with big names in big matches taking place at the same time. If you’re watching from home, it’s a good day to have as many screens available as possible. With so many great matches spread across the grounds of the All England Club, it’s the last day to catch elite players in singles action on the outer courts. Let’s take a look at six of the most fascinating matches on what will be an extremely busy day at the Championships.
Angelique Kerber vs. Garbine Muguruza
The biggest matchup to start off the day is this battle of major champions on No.2 Court. In 2016 these women accounted for three of the four major crowns, but neither has won a title of any kind since reaching those heights. Kerber may barely still be the world number one, but she’ll lose that top spot unless she returns to the Wimbledon final this weekend. Kerber is only 15th in the year-to-date rankings, while Muguruza is just 10th. The German was close to exiting The Championships on Saturday, but rebounded after being six points from defeat against 70th-ranked Shelby Rogers. Muguruza has looked like the better player at SW19 this year, having not dropped a set through three rounds. To the dismay of many, Muguruza expressed relief after unsuccessfully defending her French Open crown, citing the amount of pressure she had felt since winning her first major title. But perhaps Muguruza is feeling refreshed without those expectations on her, and she’ll surely be under less pressure than Kerber in this match. The Spaniard has a slight 4-3 edge in their head-to-head, and Muguruza has won the last four meetings. That includes a third round encounter at Wimbledon two years ago. Easily the more aggressive and powerful player of the two, this match will be on Muguruza’s racquet.
Venus Williams vs. Ana Konjuh
On paper, the opening match of Monday’s Centre Court schedule appears pretty one-sided. Venus Williams is a five-time Wimbledon champion, coming off a return to the semifinals last year and a run to the final of this year’s Australian Open. Her opponent is a relatively inexperienced 19-year-old who is in the second week of a major for only the second time. But Konjuh is not afraid of the big stage, and likes to play on the grass. This is evidenced by her run to last year’s U.S. Open quarterfinal, as well as her tight three-set victory on Friday over eighth seed Dominika Cibulkova. It feels as if Konjuh is primed for another major breakthrough sooner than later, and I would not be at all surprised to see her prevail over the future Hall of Famer.
Simona Halep vs. Victoria Azarenka
The next match on No.2 Court is a rematch of what was a tremendous 2015 U.S. Open quarterfinal, where Halep outlasted Azarenka 6-4 in the third. Halep has recovered nicely from her extremely disappointing and emotional loss to Jelena Ostapenko in the French Open final. Less than a month later, the Romanian is yet to drop a set on the lawns of Wimbledon this year. Azarenka has regained a high level of play very quickly in only her second tournament back after being out for a year while giving birth to her son. The edge in this one has to go to Halep due to Azarenka’s lack of match play, but let’s hope we get another great battle between these two tough competitors.
Rafael Nadal vs. Gilles Muller
Muller is having the best season of his career. 2017 has seen the 34-year-old finally win his first two titles ever, including a win on the grass of s-Hertogenbosch just a few weeks ago. He’s currently at a career-high ranking of number 26, and is ranked number 16 at these Championships due to his strong grass court results. Surprisingly, this is Muller’s first appearance in the Wimbledon fourth round. Even more surprisingly, Muller owns a victory over Nadal at the All England Club. But that was 12 years ago, and Muller hasn’t beaten Nadal since. This is actually only the second time Nadal has advanced to the fourth round at Wimbledon in the past six years, but the 15-time major winner has looked more impressive on the grass during the first week of this fortnight than he has in many years. Nadal also usually does very well against fellow left-handed players. Still, considering current form, Muller is a dangerous opponent. If Muller serves well, Nadal will need to be at the peak of his abilities in this No.1 Court matchup.
Milos Raonic vs. Alexander Zverev
No.2 Court may have the best lineup of any court on this crowded day of action, with the two women’s matches discussed earlier and this highly anticipated men’s fourth round encounter. 2016 was a breakthrough year for Raonic, reaching his first major final at last year’s Wimbledon and ending the year at a career-high ranking of number three. 2017 has seen quite a decline for Raonic, as he’s battled injury and struggled to regain the form of last year. Milos is only ranked 16th in the Race to London, and the Canadian actually hasn’t won a title since eighteen months ago in Brisbane. Meanwhile Zverev has continued to quickly ascend in the rankings this year, winning his first Masters 1,000 title and currently sitting in fifth place in the Race to London. But strong results at other tournaments have not yet translated to the majors, as this is actually the 20-year-old’s first time to a major fourth round. The only previous meeting between these two was just recently at the Rome Masters, which Zverev won in straight sets on his way to the title. This should be a tight, big-serving affair that could easily go either way.
Roger Federer vs. Grigor Dimitrov
They say the imitation is never as good as the original. Dimitrov obviously modeled his strokes after the eighteen-time major champion, but has not been able to replicate his success. Dimitrov got off to a great start in 2017, highlighted by his epic semifinal clash against Rafael Nadal at the Australian Open. He also won titles in both Brisbane and Sofia. But since those three tournaments, Grigor was only 10-10 coming into these Championships. Grigor has seemed to regain some confidence on the grass, as he advanced to the semifinals at Queen’s Club. Dimitrov also looked very sharp in his first three rounds at SW19, not dropping a set. The Bulgarian knows how to defeat top players on Centre Court, as he eliminated Andy Murray from The Championships in 2014. But Dimitrov is 0-5 lifetime against Federer. Federer also did not drop a set through three rounds, but has had a case of the sniffles and admitted to not feeling 100% in recent days. While another Federer victory seems likely, this is a good opportunity for Dimitrov to step up and seize the moment in the final match of the day on Centre Court.
