Sunday will be another busy day at The All England Club, with many singles and doubles matches carried over from Saturday due to rain.
The two third round singles matches that are yet to be completed will see Anastasia Potapova take on 16-year-old phenom Mirra Andreeva, in a match that was not yet started, while Frances Tiafoe will look to come back from two-sets-down against Grigor Dimitrov.
Meanwhile, fourth round singles action begins on Sunday, featuring Novak Djokovic and Iga Swiatek. They both will face formiddable opposition, in Hubert Hurkacz and Belinda Bencic, respectively. Plus Andrey Rublev plays Alexander Bublik in a rematch of the Halle final from two weeks ago. And in a battle of mothers, Victoria Azarenka and Elina Svitolina will square off.
Throughout the tournament, this preview will analyze the day’s four most prominent matches, while highlighting the other notable matches on the schedule. Sunday’s play begins at 11:00am local time.
Andrey Rublev (7) vs. Alexander Bublik (23) – 1:30pm on Centre Court
In the Halle final, Bublik defeated Rublev in three sets to win his second ATP title, and the biggest of his career to date. It was the best week of Bublik’s career, which also included victories over Coric, Struff, Sinner, and Zverev. After losing his first eight matches of the year, he’s now 20-21, and this is his first time in the fourth round of a Major.
Rublev has taken their other three career meetings, all on indoor hard courts during 2019 or 2020. Rublev is an impressive 34-13 on the year, as he looks to reach the quarterfinals at the only Slam he’s yet to do so.
Despite Bublik’s recent run on grass, and his seemingly renewed focus and confidence, I favor Rublev in a best-of-five encounter. Andrey is the much more proven commodity at Grand Slam level. The reward for the winner? A likely appointment in the quarterfinals with Novak Djokovic.
Iga Swiatek (1) vs. Belinda Bencic (14) – Second on Centre Court
Swiatek is now 41-6 this season, and 6-0 on grass, having now claimed 12 consecutive sets on what has easily been her weakest surface. She was tested by Petra Martic during the second set of their third round matchup, yet still won that set 7-5. This equals her best result at The Championships.
Bencic is also yet to advance beyond the round of 16 here, with a 14-7 record at SW19. She got off to a strong start in 2023, but injury forced her to miss most of the clay court season, and prevented her from playing a grass court leadup event. She narrowly escaped a second round affair with Danielle Collins in a third-set tiebreak, then easily took out Magda Linette on Friday.
Iga is 2-1 against Belinda, which includes a straight-set win at this year’s United Cup. But their only meeting at a Slam went to Bencic, two years ago at the US Open. Considering Swiatek’s current form, and the shoulder injury Bencic continues to carry, the top seed is a considerable favorite to achieve her first Wimbledon quarterfinal.
Victoria Azarenka (19) vs. Elina Svitolina (WC) – Third on No.1 Court
Azarenka has reached the quarterfinals or better at Wimbledon four times, though not since 2015. She came into this tournament with a modest 2023 record of 14-12, despite a run to the Australian Open semifinals in January. Yet on Friday Vika notched one of the best wins of her season over Daria Kasatkina, by a score of 6-2, 6-4.
This is only Svitolina’s seventh event since returning from child birth, and she didn’t win a match in her first three. But winning a clay court title in Strasbourg provided her with a huge boost in confidence, and helped propel her to the quarterfinals of Roland Garros. Now Elina aims for a second consecutive Major quarterfinal after defeating Venus Williams, Elise Mertens, and Sofia Kenin.
But their history has been completely lopsided. Azarenka is 5-0 against Svitolina, with four of those five matches occurring on hard courts. Their clay court meeting was their closest, four years ago in Rome, yet still went to Vika 7-5 in the third. In their first matchup on grass, Azarenka must be favored based on their head-to-head.
Hubert Hurkacz (17) vs. Novak Djokovic (2) – Third on Centre Court
Djokovic is just four wins away from his record-extending 24th Major singles title, and just 11 wins away from the calendar-year Grand Slam, a feat he was just one match away from in 2021. He is 30-4 on the year, and 17-0 at Slams, where he has only lost three of 54 sets played. Will anyone be able to truly test the four-time defending champion, on the court where he hasn’t lost in a match since 2013?
Hurkacz was a semifinalist here two years ago, and is now 25-14 this season. He also owns a title on grass, after winning Halle last year. Like Djokovic, Hubi has not dropped a set through three rounds, which included an impressive victory over Lorenzo Musetti in the third round.
However, this is another lopsided head-to-head where one player is 5-0 against the other. And of course, the player with all five wins is Djokovic. They played in the third round of this event four years ago, with Novak prevailing in four sets. On Sunday, even if Hubi serves his absolute best, another Novak victory feels inevitable.
Other Notable Matches on Sunday:
Marketa Vondrousova vs. Marie Bouzkova (32) – Vondrousova is yet to drop a set, which includes two victories over seeded players (Kudermetova, Vekic). Bouzkova survived a grueling three-setter against Caroline Garica on Friday evening. Marketa is 2-0 against Marie at tour level, most recently defeating her this past March at Indian Wells by a score of 6-1, 6-1.
Roman Safiullin vs. Denis Shapovalov (26) – Shapovalov had a terrible start to the season, with a record of 10-12 coming into this fortnight. But the 2021 semifinalist seems to be regaining his confidence at SW19, and has been gifted a nice draw, as she’s not yet faced a seeded player. Safiullin is a 25-year-old who has never been ranked inside the top 80, yet upset Roberto Bautista Agut in the first round. Denis has taken both of their previous meetings.
Jessica Pegula (4) vs. Lesia Tsurenko – Pegula is still alive in both women’s singles and doubles, though she notably pulled out of mixed doubles on Saturday, citing a back injury. On Friday, Tsurenko survived the longest women’s tiebreak in Grand Slam history, saving five match points to eventually defeat Ana Bogdan 20-18 in that breaker. When they played four years ago at Indian Wells, Tsurenko won in three.
Jannik Sinner (8) vs. Daniel Elahi Galan – Sinner has comfortably advanced to this stage, with the loss of only one set. Galan won a five-setter in the last round to reach the round of 16 for the first time at a Major. Two years ago in Davis Cup, Sinner beat Galan 7-5, 6-0.
Sunday’s full Order of Play is here.
