Day 7 at The Championships sees the beginning of the round of 16 in the gentlemen’s and ladies’ singles draws.  And with further rain in Sunday’s forecast, those players scheduled on Centre Court and No.1 Court must be thankful.

Sunday provides some appetizing round of 16 matchups.  World No.1 Jannik Sinner faces a tough test in mposing young American, Ben Shelton.  Directly thereafter on No.1 Court, in a collision between top 10 seeds, Daniil Medvedev takes on Grigor Dimitrov.  Plus, defending champion Carlos Alcaraz faces France’s Ugo Humbert.

In ladies’ singles action, reigning US Open champion Coco Gauff plays fellow American Emma Navarro.  Another American, Madison Keys, squares off against recent Roland Garros runner-up, Jasmine Paolini of Italy.  And the last British woman standing, Emma Raducanu, plays qualifier Lulu Sun.

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 is scheduled to begin at 11:00am local time.

Jasmine Paolini (7) vs. Madison Keys (12) – 1:00pm on No.1 Court

Paolini is now 27-12 this season, highlighted by a WTA 1000 title in Dubai, and reaching her first Major final in Paris.  She’s actually reached the fourth round or better at every Major this year, and is yet to lose a set this fortnight.  And prior to this year, Jasmine has never won a tour-level match on grass.  Her rise in 2024 has been mightily impressive.

By contrast, Keys has a strong resume on this surface, with three career grass court titles.  However, Wimbledon is surprisingly the only Slam where she is yet to advance to a semifinal, though she is a two-time quarterfinalist, including last year.  Madison also hasn’t lost a set through three rounds, and she has only been broken twice.

Their only previous meeting occurred last year in Dubai on a hard court, where Keys easily prevailed 6-1, 6-1.  But Paolini is a completely different player in 2024, and I expect a much tighter affair on Sunday.  However, I still expect the same result, as this surface definitively favors Madison.

Jannik Sinner (1) vs. Ben Shelton (14) – Second on No.1 Court

Sinner is an absurd 41-3 on the year, with four titles, which of course includes his first Major in Melbourne.  He was quite ill ahead of the French Open, so it was not a shock to see him lose in the semifinals to eventual champion Carlos Alcaraz.  But he appears fully healthy after coming off his first grass court title in Halle two weeks ago, and Jannik already overcame another big-serving threat during the first week, in fellow Italian Matteo Berrettini.

Prior to this tournament, Shelton was a mere 3-6 lifetime on grass, as he was yet to find his footing on this surface.  However, Ben has fought his way through three consecutive five-setters to reach the fourth round of a Major for the third time out of eight appearances.  The issue is Shelton had to play all six days of this event due to rain delays, and he was even playing men’s doubles late on Saturday evening.  So despite his young age and eye-popping fitness, Ben must be exhausted.

Sinner and Shelton have played three times within the past nine months, with the Italian taking two of those three matchups.  Last October, Ben won an extremely close three-setter in Shanghai, with Jannik avenging that loss just a few weeks later in Vienna.  And this past March in Indian Wells, Sinner won for a second consecutive time in straight sets.  On Sunday, Jannik is again a considerable favorite over a depleted Ben.

Grigor Dimitrov (10) vs. Daniil Medvedev (5) – Third on No.1 Court

These players have met 10 times since 2017, with Medvedev leading 7-3.  And while their only grass court encounter went to Dimitrov, that came over seven years ago in their first meeting, before Medvedev had become a top player.  Daniil has taken four of their last five, though last November in Bercy, Grigor won a dramatic contest that lasted nearly three hours, and was decided in a third-set tiebreak.

Grass is far from Medvedev’s favorite surface, but he’s played well to this stage, losing only two sets.  And Daniil was a semifinalist here a year ago.  Dimitrov’s semifinal appearance here occurred 10 years ago, and a few days ago in the second round, he had to erase a two-set deficit against Juncheng Shang.  Yet since last fall, Grigor has played some of the best tennis of his career.

On this surface, I like Dimitrov’s chances of beating Medvedev on Sunday.  Grigor’s variety is rewarded by the lawns of The All-England Club, especially when he plays more aggressively, as he has of late.

Emma Navarro (19) vs. Coco Gauff (2) – Third on Centre Court

Gauff has simply crushed the competition thus far, dropping only 10 games across six sets.  She is now 35-10 in 2024, as she looks to advance to her fourth consecutive Major semifinal since winning the US Open last summer.  This is her third time in the round of 16 at The Championships, since first doing so in a thrilling run as a 15-year-old, though she’s 0-2 in this round.

Navarro played sensationally in her Centre Court debut earlier this week, taking out Naomi Osaka 6-4, 6-1.  She followed that up with a three-set victory over recent grass court champion Diana Shnaider.  It’s been a breakthrough season for 23-year-old Emma, who is now 39-15 at all levels.

When Coco and Emma played at the beginning of the year in Auckland, Gauff was victorious 6-3, 6-1, in their only match to date.  And while Navarro was successful against a similarly-powerful opponent in Osaka, Gauff is currently playing at a more elite level, and should be favored to advance.

Other Notable Matches on Sunday:

Paula Badosa vs. Donna Vekic – Badosa upset 14^th-seeded Daria Kasatkina in the last round, to reach the fourth round at a Major for the first time in two years, as injuries have interrupted her career.  Vekic won a three-set slugfest on Friday against Dayana Yastremska, as she now vies for her third Major quarterfinal. 

Tommy Paul (12) vs. Roberto Bautista Agut – Paul is on an eight-match grass court win streak, after claiming the title two weeks ago at Queen’s Club.  Bautista Agut was a semifinalist here in 2019, but he’s currently ranked outside the top 100, and this is the first time he has won three consecutive main draw matches in over a year.  Roberto leads their head-to-head 3-2, though Tommy took their last two encounters.

Carlos Alcaraz (3) vs. Ugo Humbert (16) – Alcaraz survived in five sets over Frances Tiafoe on Friday, and he’s now a ridiculous 12-1 in five-setters.  This is Humbert’s second appearance in the round of 16 at a Slam, after first doing so five years ago at this same event. 

Lulu Sun (Q) vs. Emma Raducanu – Raducanu is yet to drop a set and has looked extremely sharp, though she did pull out of mixed doubles with Andy Murray on Saturday, citing wrist tightness.  Lulu Sun is a 23-year-old qualifier from New Zealand who has won six matches since the beginning of qualifying last week, and upset Australian Open finalist Qinwen Zheng in the first round of the main draw.

Sunday’s full Order of Play is here.

Day 6 at The Championships is scheduled to see the completion of third round singles play, and thankfully, the forecast for Saturday looks much better than Friday.

It’s not often a day of play at Wimbledon is headlined by a mixed doubles match, but that will be the case on Saturday, as two-time champion Andy Murray teams with fellow Brit and Major champ Emma Raducanu, in what may be Andy’s last match at The Championships.  They will face two accomplished doubles players in Marcelo Arevalo and Shuai Zhang.

Singles play on Day 6 sees the 2022 ladies’ singles finalists each face a formidable mom.  2022 champ Elena Rybakina takes on mother-of-two Caroline Wozniacki, while two-time runner-up Ons Jabeur plays mother-of-one Elina Svitolina.  And the only British man remaining in the gentlemen’s singles draw, 2022 semifinalist Cameron Norrie, squares off against two-Major finalist Sascha Zverev.

Other matches on Saturday feature Major champions Novak Djokovic and Iga Swiatek.

Throughout the tournament, this preview will analyze the day’s four most prominent matches, while highlighting the other notable matches on the schedule.  Saturday’s play is scheduled to begin at 11:00am local time.

Cameron Norrie vs. Alexander Zverev (4) – 1:30pm on Centre Court

With most pundits hyping Jack Draper as the next big contender in British tennis, Norrie made quite a statement on Thursday, defeating the impressive 22-year-old in straight sets.  Cam is just 17-14 in a season where he’s faced multiple injuries, but he looked really sharp against big-serving Jack.  Norrie attacked Draper’s second serve relentlessly, winning a superb 70% of second serve return points in the match.  As per Tennis Abstract, that was Cam’s first win over a top 25 player in six months.

Zverev has never advanced beyond the round of 16 at Wimbledon, though he’s played well through two rounds, averaging just 2.5 games lost per set.  Sascha is now 39-11 this season, and 5-2 on grass, after losing in the semifinals of Halle to Hubert Hurkacz. 

Their history has been completely one-sided, as Sascha leads Cam 5-0 at tour level.  All five of those matches occurred on hard courts, and the first four were straight-setters.  However, six months ago in the fourth round of the Australian Open, they contested an over four-hour five-setter, which Zverev won in a fifth-set tiebreak.  Norrie will need another big returning day in this one, but based on the way Sascha has been serving, the German should be favored to advance.

Ons Jabeur (10) vs. Elina Svitolina (21) – Second on Centre Court

Is Jabeur revving up for another deep run at The Championships?  A knee injury derailed the first few months of her year, and she arrived at Roland Garros with a record of just 6-9.  But Ons made a strong run to the quarterfinals in Paris, and is now 6-2 within the last few weeks on grass, having not lost a set in her first two rounds here. 

Svitolina was a surprising semifinalist here a year ago, in only her fifth tournament after maternity leave.  She defeated four Major champions during that fortnight (Venus Williams, Sofia Kenin, Victoria Azarenka, Iga Swiatek), losing to eventual champion Marketa Vondrousova.  However, Elina hasn’t played as well during the first six months of 2024, with a modest record of 20-12.  And she scarcely survived her opening round match against Magda Linette. 

Svitolina is 3-1 against Jabeur at all levels, though their only meeting within the last five years went to Ons in straight sets.  That took place three years ago on a hard court in Chicago.  And with Jabeur rediscovering her confidence on her best surface, she’s the favorite to prevail on Saturday.

Elena Rybakina (4) vs. Caroline Wozniacki (WC) – Third on No.1 Court

Rybakina is an excellent 37-7 on the year, though she arrived at SW19 with questions swirling regarding her condition.  She retired from Berlin a few weeks ago due to illness, then pulled out of Eastbourne last week due to a “change in schedule.”  In the last round, she was pushed to three sets by Laura Siegemund, who is a much stronger doubles player than singles.

Wozniacki came into Wimbledon only 9-9 this season, yet has played some great tennis to reach this third round contest.  She crushed Alycia Parks in the first round 6-2, 6-0, and overcame a stern test from Leylah Fernandez on Thursday, saving match point to win 7-5 in the third.  Caroline now looks to reach the fourth round of The Championships for the sixth time in her career.

In their first meeting, Rybakina must be considered a significant favorite, especially on this surface.  But if Elena is truly not 100% physically, and Wozniacki can back her off the baseline and make her hit extra balls, an upset would not be a complete shock.

Marcelo Arevalo and Shuai Zhang vs. Andy Murray and Emma Raducanu – Fourth on No.1 Court

As emotional as it was to watch Andy play doubles on Centre Court with his brother Jamie, Andy looked far from his best, and could be seen clutching at his injured back at multiple points both during and following the match.  He has admitted to playing through significant pain, but is determined to play as much as he can in his last year at his favorite event.  And on Saturday, he teams with an extremely in-form Raducanu, who easily dispatched of Elise Mertens and Maria Sakkari in her last two rounds of singles play.

Arevalo and Shuai were quarterfinalists in mixed doubles a month ago at Roland Garros.  And Arevalo won that tournament in men’s doubles, alongside Mate Pavic.  Shuai is a two-time Major champion in women’s singles, alongside Sam Stosur.

It will be a joy to watch Andy and Emma team up together for the first time, and how fun would it be to watch them win and play more?  But with Andy’s body failing him, and against two strong doubles players, it’s hard to consider the Brits the favorites.  But even if the Brits lose, this should serve as a nice sendoff for Sir Andy Murray.

Other Notable Matches on Saturday:

Danielle Collins (11) vs. Beatriz Haddad Maia (20) – Both players are yet to drop a set, though Haddad Maia only needed to play three games in her second round before her opponent retired.  While Collins has been the far better player in 2024, Haddad Maia owns two grass court titles, and has been the better player on this surface.

Iga Swiatek (1) vs. Yulia Putintseva – Swiatek is now 47-4 in 2024, and is currently on a 21-match winning streak.  Putintseva has already earned two solid wins this week, over Angelique Kerber and Katerina Siniakova.  Iga is 2-0 against Yulia, which includes two straight-set victories this season.

Taylor Fritz (13) vs. Alejandro Tabilo (24) – These are the champions of the two ATP grass court events the week before Wimbledon, so both are on six-match win streaks.  Fritz is 2-0 against Tabilo, having most recently defeated him in straights this past March in Indian Wells.

Alexei Popyrin vs. Novak Djokovic (2) – Djokovic looked a bit vulnerable on Thursday against British wild card Jaboc Fearnley, requiring four sets to advance in his second match back from knee surgery.  Popyrin has already played nine sets through two matches, and is 0-5 in the third round of Majors.  In the second round of this year’s Australian Open, Novak beat Alexei in four.

Saturday’s full Order of Play is here.

On the night that Andy Murray returned to Wimbledon, he received a heartfelt farewell from his home Grand Slam. 

Murray, who won the tournament in 2013 and 2016, paired up with his brother Jamie to play a men’s doubles match for the first time outside of the Davis Cup. Their partnership was shortlived with the Australian duo of John Peers and Rinky Hijikata knocking them out. However, Thursday night at The All England Club was more than tennis. It was about celebrating the career of somebody who has helped inspire some of British tennis’ brightest prospects, such as Emma Raducanu and Jack Draper. 

As part of the presentation, Murray spoke extensively to Sue Barker about his career before answering more questions from journalists in his press conference. A lot was said by the 37-year-old. 

Here is a summary of his key quotes.

1) On those who have supported his career. Murray has been coached by the likes of Leon Smith, Mark Petchey, Brad Gilbert, Miles Maclagen, Ivan Lendl, Amelie Mauresmo, Mark Hilton and Jonny O’Mara. 

“I’ve had incredible support and I think all the players here know that you can’t do this on your own. You need a team of people supporting you. 

“The coaches, strength and conditioning teams, physios. In recent years, surgeons unfortunately as well.

“I’ve had some amazing people working with me over the years. A huge thanks to them for supporting me through this. The last few years have been hard for me but I think hard for them.

“It’s obviously been hard for all of us. The injuries have been tough, and quite significant injuries. We’ve worked extremely hard just to be on the court competing, probably not on the level that any of us wanted but we tried.”

2) On coming back to Wimbledon after retiring this year 

“I’m not never going to come back here! It depends who I’m watching. I hate watching my brother. I find it really difficult to watch my brother play. I love tennis. I watch it all the time.

“I would probably be more comfortable sitting up there in a coaching box rather than somewhere else.”

3) Murray on becoming the first British man to win Wimbledon in 77 years in 2013. 

“When I got off the court, I didn’t remember any of what had happened but I have watched that game back a few times and some of the stuff he (Novak Djokovic) was coming up with on the match points was incredible.

“If I had lost that game, it would have been very hard to go on to win. Amazing last game. 

“With my tennis, it’s always been a bit of a struggle so that last game was always going to be a bit of a struggle.”

“I did find it pretty stressful, to be honest with you. It wasn’t easy but I obviously had an amazing team of people around me, supporting me through all of that. 

“The crowd support obviously made a huge difference. Playing at home is obviously a huge advantage in all sports and I used it that day.

“Novak [Djokovic] had an off day obviously. I just managed to get over the line. I didn’t really actually enjoy it as much as I should’ve done. I just found the whole thing very, very stressful.”

4) His second Wimbledon was triumph 

“2016 was really different. I felt way less pressure and the enjoyment I got out of that win was totally different to 2013. I had an amazing evening that night with my all friends and family, properly went out and enjoyed it with the people closest to me. 

“Of my Slams, 2016 was my favourite one.”

“I don’t remember much of that night. I had a few drinks and I did unfortunately vomit in the cab on the way home.”‘

5) On facing the Big Three. Murray’s head-to-head records are 11-25 against Novak Djokovic, 7-17 against Rafael Nadal and 11-14 against Roger Federer. 

“They were alright weren’t they? 

“They weren’t the easiest guys to get past. I was obviously incredibly fortunate to play in this time and I think all tennis fans have been incredibly lucky to witness what they’ve obviously gone on to achieve.

“It’s been incredible to watch what they’ve done. It’s been incredible to be a part of some of the matches in major championships with them over the years. 

“I was fortunate to manage to get through them a couple of times in big moments but what a time to be on the tour.”

6) On his Olympic success 

“To play in a home Olympic Games at Wimbledon, to beat Roger for once in a big match was nice and then I had a great run in the mixed doubles with Laura Robson as well, it was an amazing week for me.”

7) His loss to Roger Federer in the 2012 Wimbledon final 

“It’s always really difficult to speak after a loss, particularly after a Grand Slam final and being at Wimbledon. 

“That’s the closest I had been and it was obviously difficult. It was quite an important moment in my career. 

“I’m not saying I’m the most outgoing or bubbly personality, but I think people probably saw how much I cared about the sport for the first time maybe. 

“Obviously it was an important match and an important moment in my career.”

8) Why the on-court ceremony in his honour was done on Thursday evening instead of his last-ever match at Wimbledon 

“When I was making the decision around the singles, the club spoke to me and said they would like to do something after one of my matches here.  I’m thankful to them that they did it because it feels like an ending to me. Whether I deserve it or not, I don’t know. But they did a really, really good job.“

9) On his legacy 

“ I find them quite difficult questions for me to answer because I don’t think it’s for me to sort of say, like, how I’d want other people to view me.

There are things in my career that I’m proud of. I certainly didn’t get everything right during my career. I was far from perfect.

I did a really good job of during my career was that, regardless of the highs and lows, whether it was winning tournaments, having difficult losses, an operation, a setback, that I was able to treat, like, the next day, like I always came into work with the same dedication, work ethic, and passion, as I had the day before, regardless of the highs and lows that the sport kind of has thrown at me.”

10) Why it is time to call it a day

“I’m ready to finish playing. I don’t want that to be the case. I would love to play forever. But even though it was a doubles match where physically it’s obviously not as demanding, it’s still really hard for me. My serve speeds and everything are like so far behind where they usually would be. I’m sure that would come back with time once I recover from the injury and everything.”