Centre Court
Carlos Alcaraz (3) vs Frances Tiafoe (29)
Alcaraz’s transition from the clay of Paris to the grass of SW19 has been seamless. The Spaniard has yet to drop a set in the tournament and is looking in tip-top shape coming into the third-round. He now faces 29th seed Frances Tiafoe. Tiafoe had to come back from two sets down to defeat Matteo Arnaldi in the first-round but had a relatively straightforward win against Borna Coric in the second.
In past years, I would have said that Tiafoe could pose a threat to Alcaraz. The American possesses a killer serve and an unorthodox forehand which is particularly effective on the grass. Tiafoe however has not been in tremendous form this year. I don’t expect him to challenge Alcaraz like he did at the 2022 US Open, when the American narrowly lost in five sets.
Prediction – Alcaraz to win in 3 sets
Maria Sakkari (9) vs Emma Raducanu
Leading up to Wimbledon, Sakkari’s form had been pretty mediocre for a player of her calibre. However, the Greek has won her first two matches in straight sets. Raducanu has looked mighty impressive during this grass-court season. The Brit recorded her first top 10 win when defeated Jessica Pegula at last week’s tournament in Eastbourne. In the second round of these Championships, Raducanu easily dispatched the ever consistent Elise Mertens, losing only 3 games. Raducanu and Sakkari have met once before and it is a match which Raducanu will look back on with fond memories.
The Brit defeated the Greek 6-1 6-4 in the semi-final of the 2021 US Open, before defeating Leylah Fernandez to win a historical major title in only her second ever major appearance. Coming into that match, Sakkari was the 17th seed and the overwhelming favourite while 18-year-old Raducanu was 150th in the world and had come through qualifying just to get into the main draw. I’m not sure how much of that match will be relevant today but I think it will give Raducanu the hope she can win this match. With the home crowd behind her, I think she will come through this tussle.
Prediction – Raducanu to win in 3 sets
Janner Sinner (1) vs Miomir Kecmanovic
Sinner produced a calm and collected performance to navigate past former Wimbledon finalist, Matteo Berrettini in the second-round. The early test against fellow countrymen should do wonders for the Italian, as he looks to lift his first trophy at SW19. Sinner’s third-round opponent, Kecmanovic had come back from 2 sets to 1 down against 27th seed, Tallon Griekspoor. The Serbian possess a very solid all-court game, with big groundstrokes on both wings, very similar to that of the Italian. The only problem for Kecmanovic is that Sinner does everything the Serb does, but just better.
Prediction – Sinner to win in 4 sets
Court 1
Jasmine Paolini (7) vs Bianca Andreescu
Paolini has been playing some tremendous tennis this grass-court season. Straight off the back of making the French Open final, Paolini effortlessly made the transition from the clay to the grass. In her very next tournament, the Italian reached the semi-final of Eastbourne last week, narrowly losing out to eventual champion Daria Kasatkina. Two impressive straight sets wins at this year’s Championships, on a surface which Paolini has previously struggled on, says to me she is in form. She now faces major champion Bianca Andreescu.
Since returning to the tour after a lengthened hiatus, Andreescu has shown glimpses of the tennis which took her to the US Open title in 2019. Andreescu reached the final of last week’s grass-court tournament in ‘s-Hertogenbosch in only her fifth tournament of the year. A pretty remarkable result. Looking ahead to this match, it’s a tough one to predict.
However, their only previous meeting took place a month ago in the third-round of the French Open.On that particular day, Paolini took the win in 3 sets. If that match is anything to go by, we are in for another treat. I’m going to give the edge to Paolini, just based on recent form.
Prediction – Paolini to win in 3 sets
Grigor Dimitrov (10) vs Gael Monfils
10th seed, Grigor Dimitrov had to come back from 2 sets down to defeat 19-year-old, Shang Juncheng. It was certainly far from a vintage performance from the Bulgarin and we will have to step up his game if he is to overcome veteran Gael Monfils. Historically, Monfils has struggled on the grass, having only ever made the second week on Wimbledon once in his 20 year career. However, at the age of 37, he’s had one of his better grass-court seasons. He reached the semi-final of the Mallorca Championships
last week and has strung together two good wins on the surface this week. He backed up his impressive win against Adrian Mannarino with a straight sets victory over Stan Wawrinka. I do expect Dimitrov to win this match. Barring his last-round match, Dimitrov has been playing some very consistent tennis and has the game to excel on the grass. Monfils will make Dimitrov work for it but if the Bulgarian can produce the tennis he’s shown all season, he will prevail.
Prediction – Dimitrov to win in 4 sets
Coco Gauff (2) vs Sonay Kartal
Gauff looks to be a major threat for this year’s title. She has only lost 6 games in two matches and it feels als if it’s going to take a stellar performance to beat the world number 2. As good as Sonay Kartal has been to reach the third-round, she just doesn’t have the game to cause Gauff any sort of problems. A straight sets win for Gauff is the only outcome I can see.
Prediction – Gauff to win in 2 sets
