Second round singles action commences on Wednesday.
The first round of singles action was quite simply a bloodbath. On the men’s side, 13 seeds have already crashed out, breaking the record at Wimbledon, and tying the record for any Major. On the women’s side, we’ve already lost three of the top five seeds (Coco Gauff, Jessica Pegula, Qinwen Zheng), marking the first time two of the top three women’s seeds have lost in the first round of a Major in the Open Era. Will the upsets continue as the second round gets underway?
Day 3 provides a battle between Major semifinalists, as two-time US Open semifinalist Frances Tiafoe takes on Wimbledon semifinalist Cameron Norrie. We also have a battle between Major champions, as Wimbledon champ Marketa Vondrousova faces US Open champ Emma Raducanu. And two of the sport’s most promising young talents will collide, as Joao Fonseca plays Jenson Brooksby.
Plus, reigning Major champions Carlos Alcaraz and Aryna Sabalenka will contest their second round matches.
Throughout the tournament, this preview will analyze the day’s four most prominent matches, while highlighting the other notable matches on the schedule. Wednesday’s play begins at 11:00am local time.
Joao Fonseca vs. Jenson Brooksby – 11:00am on Court 12
Fonseca earned a solid victory over Jacob Fearnley in his Wimbledon on Monday, prevailing in straight sets. That was only his 10th-ever match on grass at all levels, and only his fourth win. However, the 18-year-old’s game is nicely suited for this surface, so I fully expect Joao to achieve significant success at The Championships, and not in the distant future.
Brooksby just returned this year after missing two years of competition. After undergoing wrist surgery, he was then suspended for 18 months due to missing three anti-doping tests. But the 24-year-old has rather quickly reasserted himself on tour, with a title run three months ago in Houston, and a run to the final just last week in Eastbourne. Jenson then upset 31st-seeded Tallon Griekspoor in straights on Monday, bringing his Wimbledon record to 3-1 lifetime.
Their first of likely many career meetings is a tough one to call. Fonseca is certainly the player with more upside, but he’s also far less experienced on grass. And Brooksby’s flat groundstrokes, with some unorthodox variety mixed in, are rewarded nicely by this surface. So I slightly lean towards Jenson to advance.
Cameron Norrie vs. Frances Tiafoe (12) – 1:00pm on No.1 Court
Tiafoe went into a considerable slump after losing in the US Open semifinals for the second time this past September, but he rediscovered some confidence in Paris, with a strong run to the quarterfinals. He remains a modest 18-14 on the year, and is now 13-7 at SW19, following a straight-set victory in the first round over Elmer Moller.
Norrie is also coming off a nice performance in Paris, where he upset Daniil Medvedev on his way to the round of 16. That was a thankful boost to his ranking, after a drop in form and an injury that forced him off the court last season. Cam owns an almost identical Wimbledon record to that of Frances (12-7), after outlasting Roberto Bautista Agut on Monday in four.
Tiafoe leads their head-to-head 2-1, with all three matches having occurred on hard courts. And while the mostly-British crowd on No.1 Court will certainly propel the hopes of Norrie, he went 0-2 in grass court warmup events in his home country. Thus, I favor Frances in what will likely be a tight, extended affair.
Emma Raducanu vs. Marketa Vondrousova – Last on Centre Court
Injuries continued to plague the career of Vondrousova following her title run here two years ago, yet she’s finally back to playing her best tennis ever since. Marketa is on a six-match win streak, after winning the title two weeks in Berlin, her first title since she claimed this one. And in her opening round on Monday, she easily dispatched of recent Nottingham champion McCartney Kessler in straights.
Emma knows all too well how injuries can derail upward mobility following a Major title. However, she recently returned to the top 40 for the first time in nearly three years, mostly thanks to a quarterfinal run a few months ago in Miami, where she upset both Emma Navarro and Amanda Anisimova. Raducanu is now 17-3 this season, and 8-3 at Wimbledon, having advanced to the fourth round in two of her previous three appearances.
Four years ago at this tournament, when Raducanu was ranked 338th in the world and making her Major debut, she upset Vondrousova in the second round. But Marketa has claimed their last two meetings, which includes a 6-3, 6-4 victory earlier this year in Abu Dhabi. A healthy and confident Vondrousova is a serious threat on the grass of The All-England Club. She possesses a bigger game than Raducanu, making the 2023 champion the favorite to advance.
Taylor Fritz (5) vs. Gabriel Diallo – Last on No.1 Court
This will be the third day in a row that Fritz takes to No.1 Court, and the third day in a row he faces a young, tall, big server. After splitting four sets with Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard on Monday, they completed the match on Tuesday, with Taylor winning the fifth 6-4, breaking the Frenchman in the last game at love with some excellent returning. That brought the American’s grass court record this season to 9-1, as he’s already collected two titles on this surface within the last few weeks (Stuttgart, Eastbourne).
Now Fritz faces a 23-year-old Canadian in Diallo, who doesn’t serve quite as fast as Mpetshi Perricard, but hits a big ball and has a more well-rounded game. Gabriel recently debuted inside the top 40, after winning his first ATP title on the grass of s’Hertogenbosch. His straight-set victory on Monday over Daniel Altmaier was his 20th main draw win of the season, in his main draw debut at Wimbledon. And as per Tennis Abstract, Diallo has now taken three of his last four matches against top 20 players.
So this is a second consecutive dangerous round for Fritz, who can’t be 100% fresh after playing each of the last six days, coming off his title run just last week. But I still give Taylor the slight edge, as he showed on Tuesday how good he is at gritting out tough wins on this court. And in an extremely open quarter of the draw, where nearly every other seed lost in the first round, Fritz could make a deep run if he can advance beyond Diallo.
Other Notable Matches on Wednesday:
Aryna Sabalenka (1) vs. Marie Bouzkova – Sabalenka is looking to reach the third round for the 17th consecutive time at a Major. She is 2-1 against Bouzkova, who was a quarterfinalist here back in 2022.
Oliver Tarvet (Q) vs. Carlos Alcaraz (2) – Alcaraz advanced in five sets over Fabio Fognini on Monday, despite some very erratic play. Tarvet is quite a story: he’s a 21-year-old British qualifier ranked 733rd in the world, who required a wild card to even get into qualifying. His opening round win was not only Oilver’s first main draw win at a Major, but his first at any ATP event.
Naomi Osaka vs. Katerina Siniakova – Osaka has only advanced to the third round in one of her last eight Slam appearances, and has only twice done so in her career at Wimbledon. Siniakova upset Qinwen Zheng in an opening round match that was postponed until Tuesday. These players split two previous meetings, back in 2018 and 2019.
Jasmine Paolini (4) vs. Kamilla Rakhimova – Paolini needed to come from a set down on Monday against Anastasija Sevastova. Rakhimova is a 23-year-old ranked at No.80, who is vying to equal her best Major result to date.
Wednesday’s full Order of Play is here.
