Rafael Nadal and Simona Halep are both currently on 10-match win streaks. Nadal has won his last 10 matches overall, going back to his 22nd Major title run in Paris. Halep has won her last 10 matches at Wimbledon, going back to her title run in 2019. On Monday, both face seeded opposition on Centre Court. Rafa takes on one of the sport’s fastest-rising players of the last 12 months, Botic van de Zandschulp, while Simona faces the No.4 seed Paula Badosa.
Throughout the tournament, this preview will analyze the day’s five most prominent matches, while highlighting the other notable matches on the schedule. Monday’s play begins at 11:00am local time.
Nick Kyrgios vs. Brandon Nakashima – 1:30pm on Centre Court
Kyrgios helped create yet another circus during his four-set win over Stefanos Tsitsipas in the last round, in a match where both players behaved quite terribly. But Nakashima is a player who will not fall for Nick’s theatrics, as he is extremely composed on court. The 20-year-old American was ranked outside the top 100 a year ago, yet is projected to debut inside the top 50 with this result, his deepest run at a Major. Brandon collected 45 match wins at all levels last season, with two Challenger titles and two ATP-level finals. Nakashima is a consistent player, with strong groundstrokes off both sides. But he does not possess the serving prowess of Kyrgios, nor the experience on big stages. And there’s no bigger stage than Centre Court, Wimbledon. Nick has fond memories on this court, as it’s where he made his Major breakthrough eight years ago with an upset over Rafael Nadal. That remains only one of two Slam quarterfinals Kyrgios has achieved. But in his first career meeting against Nakashima, he’s the favorite to reach that stage at a Major for the first time in over seven years.
Alize Cornet vs. Ajla Tomljanovic – Second on No.2 Court
Cornet became the player to end Iga Swiatek’s 37-match win streak, and she did so with a comprehensive straight-set win. This is the Frenchwoman’s 18th season of Grand Slam play, and she finally achieved her first Major quarterfinal six months ago in Australia, where she took out both Garbine Muguruza and Simona Halep. Tomljanovic achieved the same milestone a year ago at this event, when she defeated Emma Raducanu, Jelena Ostapenko, and Cornet. On that day, Ajla prevailed over Alize 6-3 in the third. Overall they have split four previous meetings. Neither player was having a stellar season prior to this tournament, with both owning losing records on the year. But on this surface, and in a highly-important matchup, I give the spunky competitive spirit of Cornet the slight edge.
Paula Badosa (4) vs. Simona Halep (16) – Second on Centre Court
Their only prior encounter occurred earlier this season in Madrid, where Halep was easily victorious by a score of 6-3, 6-1. And while Badosa possesses the better ranking at this time, Halep actually has a better record on the year. And Simona is now 9-1 on grass in 2022, which was the same record she had on grass in 2019, when she last played on this surface. The two-time Major champion missed this event last year, as well Roland Garros and the Tokyo Olympics, due to a calf injury. Neither player has dropped a set this fortnight, with Badosa taking out another two-time Slam champ, Petra Kvitova, in the last round. That was a high-quality affair, with both Paula and Petra effectively applying their aggressive nature on this surface. While Halep is the much more accomplished grass court player, I favor Badosa’s strong baseline game to again be rewarded on Monday, and to even her head-to-head with Halep.
Amanda Anisimova (20) vs. Harmony Tan – Third on No.1 Court
Both of these players already achieved phenomenal wins during the first week. Anisimova came back from a set down to defeat Coco Gauff, while Tan prevailed over Serena Williams after over three hours of play. Tan had never advanced beyond the second round of a Major, but followed up the biggest win of her career with two straight-set victories. Anisimova is vying for her best result at a Slam since her 2019 run to the Roland Garros semifinals. And it was during that run when her only previous matchup with Tan took place, with Amanda prevailing 6-3, 6-1. Anisimova is in the midst of a strong season, with a record of 28-10. Her outstanding backhand should allow her to dictate play and earn another win over Tan, despite Harmony’s diverse game filled with guile, drop shots, and tweeners.
Rafael Nadal (2) vs. Botic van de Zandschulp (21) – Third on Centre Court
This is a rematch from the third round of the last Major, when Nadal won in straight sets at his beloved Roland Garros. Rafa did not look his best during his first two rounds here, but upped his level significantly in a comfortable victory over Lorenzo Sonego on Saturday. Van de Zandschulp’s rise the last 12 months in his mid-20’s has been remarkable. He reached the US Open quarterfinals as a qualifier, and has now advanced to the third round or better at the last four Slams. And just a few weeks ago on grass at Queen’s Club, Botic was a semifinalist. He may provide Nadal with his sternest test of this tournament yet, but defeating the 22-time Major champion, and ending Rafa’s bid for the calendar-year Grand Slam, would be extremely surprising.
Other Notable Matches on Monday:
Alex de Minaur (19) vs. Cristian Garin – De Minaur has only dropped one set to this stage, though he’s yet to face opposition ranked higher than 80th in the world. Garin is into the fourth here for the second straight year, and also has only lost one set. Alex leads their head-to-head 3-0, which includes a grass court contest right before this event in Eastbourne.
Elena Rybakina (17) vs. Petra Martic – Every set Rybakina has played in these Championships has been a tight one, but she’s yet to lose one. Martic has also claimed all her sets thus far, which includes a victory over the eighth seed, Jessica Pegula. Both players are vying for their second Major quarterfinal. Elena is 1-0 against Petra, as she prevailed in two tiebreak sets a couple years ago in Dubai.
Taylor Fritz (11) vs. Jason Kubler (Q) – Fritz is on a seven-matchwin streak, dating back to his title run a week ago in Eastbourne. Across the last two weeks, his serve has only been broken four times. Kubler is a 29-year-old Australian who has been plagued by a heredity knee condition throughout his career. He was 2-6 in the main draws of Slams prior to this fortnight. At the 2018 US Open, Fritz was up two-sets-to-one over Kubler when Jason was forced to retire.
Monday’s full Order of Play is here.
