The fifth day of play at Wimbledon will see the first half of the third round in the men’s and ladies’ singles events. It’s the day where seeded players begin to run into each other in the draws, resulting in some more absorbing clashes on the lawns of the All England Club. With the opportunity to advance to the second week of the fortnight, who will step up?
Victoria Azarenka vs. Heather Watson
The Centre Court schedule on Friday will open up with a two-time major champion who just returned to the tour against a British favorite looking for her big breakthrough. Azarenka played very well in taking out Elena Vesnina on Wednesday, a semifinalist from last year. But this is only Vika’s second tournament back from maternity leave, so it’s hard to expect her to be at top form through seven matches over two weeks. Her British opponent had a memorable, thrilling battle with Serena Williams on Centre Court two years ago, showing she’s able to step up on the big stage in her home country under tremendous pressure. Watson is coming off an impressive run last week in Eastbourne, where she advanced to the semifinals with victories over seeded players Dominika Cibulkova and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. The crowd will be really into this one, in what shapes up to be an intriguing match-up.
Marin Cilic vs. Steve Johnson
Meanwhile the action on No.1 Court will commence with the biggest threat for the men’s championship outside the “big four.” CIlic has looked strong in his first two rounds, taking out two German veterans in Philipp Kohlscheriber and Florian Mayer in straight sets. His opponent on Friday will bring a bit more fire power to the court, especially with his forehand. Steve Johnson is also playing with special inspiration at the moment, after his father’s sudden death several weeks ago. We saw just how affected Johnson was by this loss when he crumbled to the court in tears after defeating Borna Coric at the French Open. Cilic will be favored to prevail, but he’ll need to continue to play some of his best tennis against the competitive American.
Rafael Nadal vs. Karen Khachanov
Nadal has quieted some of the doubts (including his own) regarding his grass court chances with two straightforward victories thus far this week. This could be a step up in opposition for Rafa, as Khachanov is a big-hitting young Russian who has already begun to make his impression on the tennis world. He made some noise at Roland Garros by advancing to his first round of 16 at a major, taking out Tomas Berdych and John Isner along the way. He followed that up with a run to the semifinals on the grass of Halle, which included a victory over Kei Nishikori. Is Khachanov ready to take out the 15-time major champion on tennis’s most famous court? It may be a bit premature to expect that of the 21-year-old, but we have seen big hitters like Khackanov go for broke against Nadal on Centre Court with amazing results (see: Lukas Rosol).
Venus Williams vs. Naomi Osaka
Naomi Osaka describes the Williams sisters as her idols who inspired her to become a tennis player. The 19-year-old wasn’t even alive when Venus made her major debut 20 years ago. Osaka is a player on the rise who seems to be just one big victory away from taking her game to the next level. She had an impressive three set win on Wednesday against former Wimbledon Quarterfinalist Barbora Strycova. Naomi has now advanced to the third round at all four majors, but is yet to advance farther. With Czech top contenders Petra Kvitova and Karolina Pliskova both eliminated in the second round, Venus Williams becomes one of the top favorites to win her first major since the 2009 Wimbledon. It’s the first time in a very long time Venus has had such expectations on her. She’s also dealing with the emotions of the fatal car accident she was involved in a few weeks ago, where a police report found she was at fault and the family of the deceased has filed a lawsuit against her. How will the 37-year-old veteran react with all of this going on?
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga vs. Sam Querrey
The final match of the day scheduled for No.2 Court will be a rematch of an epic second round encounter from The Championships in 2014. On that day (or actually over the course of two days), Tsonga prevailed 14-12 in the fifth. Querrey will be looking for revenge on Friday. He’ll also be looking to defend his quarterfinal run from last year, highlighted by his big upset of Novak Djokovic. Tsonga is a two-time Wimbledon semifinalist, but hasn’t advanced that far at SW19 in five years. Expect a lot of aces, hardly any breaks of serve, and at least a few tiebreaks in what should be another tight contest.
