Centre Court
Alexander Zverev (4) vs Cameron Norrie
Zverev has looked in tremendous form so far in this tournament. Two straight set wins on a surface which he has previously struggled on gives me signs that the German is ready for another deep run at a major this year. Leading up to this year’s Championships, Norrie has had an inconsistent season on the grass courts, losing in the first of his last two tournaments.
However an unexpected straight sets win against British number 1 Jack Draper in the second-round proves that Norrie can still be a threat. Norrie pushed Zverev all the way at this year’s Australian Open, narrowly losing in a 5th set tie-break, so will certainly take inspiration from that match. However, it will take a lot to break Zverev’s serve which has seemed to be unbreakable this tournament.
Prediction – Zverev to win in 4 sets
Ons Jabeur (10) vs Elina Svitolina (21)
The two-time runner up, Ons Jabeur has been going under the radar at this year’s Championships. Maybe this is a blessing in disguise for the Tunisian. Jabeur has gone into the last two Wimbledon finals as the favourite but has failed to deliver. Could this be the year she finally lifts the Venus Rosewater Dish? She’s going to some of her best tennis to beat last year’s semi-finalist, Elina Svitolina who is also an outsider for this
year’s title. Svitolina’s game is built around consistency and her play works wonders on the grass but this is a bad match-up for the Ukrainian. Jabeur’s variety and ability to change the tempo of play will disrupt Svitolina and if Ons can do this consistently, very few people can beat her.
Prediction – Jabeur to win in 2 sets
Novak Djokovic (2) vs Alexi Popryin
It’s hard to tell how Djokovic has been in this tournament. The level of opponents he’s faced so far have not been good enough to challenge the Serb. Djokovic vs Popryin shold be slightly different, as he is a top 50 player so he will provide Djokovic with his biggest challenge this tournament.
The Australian possesses a big serve and forehand so will have chances to make this a close match. The only problem for Popryin is that his backhand can be a liability and if there is one person on tour who is able to expose a player’s weakness, it is Djokovic. Popryin may take a set, but Djokovic doesn’t need to play his best to win this match.
Prediction – Djokovic to win in 4 sets
Andy Murray / Emma Raducanu vs Marcelo Arevalo / Shuai Zhang
Murray returns to centre court after an emotional farewell appearance with his brother in the doubles. This time Murray teams up with Emma Raducanu for potentially a final outing at Wimbledon. Can the Brits pull off the win? It will be tough, but I think they might just do it.
Prediction – Murray and Raducanu to win in 3 sets
Court 1
Ben Shelton (14) vs Denis Shapavolov
With Shelton’s serve, you’d expect him to do well on the grass. Well, he hasn’t looked great so far. The American’s played back-to-back five setters and only narrowly came through Lloyd Harris in a fifth set, 10-point tie-break to reach the third-round. Coming into this tournament, I didn’t have high expectations for Denis Shapavolov. He’s struggled tremendously over the past two years and is now ranked outside of the world’s top 100. A shame for a player with his talent.
Having said this, the Canadian has strung together two impressive wins on the grass courts this week. He is also a former Wimbledon semi-finalist so knows how to play on the surface. If you’d told me that these two players were going to meet in the third-round last week, I would have put my money on Shelton. Given how uneasy Shelton’s looked on grass and despite Shapovalov’s lack of form, the Canadian has a huge opportunity to remind the tennis world why he is a former top 10 player.
Prediction – Shapavolov to win in 4 sets
Iga Swiatek (1) vs Yulia Putinseva
Swiatek managed to escape the tricky challenge of Petra Martic without too many problems. She has another challenge against Yulia Putinseva The Kazakh has strung together two good wins against Kerber and Siniakova to reach the third-round and reached last month’s final in Birmingham so has grass-court form leading into this match. If Swiatek plays as well as she did in her second-round match, she will prevail. Although competent on the grass, Putinseva does not have the power to trouble Swiatek.
Prediction – Swiatek to win in 2 sets
Elena Rybakina (4) vs Caroline Wozniacki
For someone with Rybakina’s serve, she has not looked like the 2021 Wimbledon Champion so far in this tournament. She will have to change this if she is to beat Wozniacki. In her long career, the Dane has never managed to make it past the fourth-round of Wimbledon which is surprising given her talent.
She produced some great tennis to come through the in-form Leylah Fernandez in the second-round and will take confidence from that particular win heading into this match. Rybakina’s game is built around her serve and if it is not firing, Wozniacki will use her consistency and movement to pressure the Kazakh. I expect Rybakina to turn up for this match and if he can produce the level of tennis which saw her win the tournament two years ago, I think she will just sneak the win.
Prediction – Rybakina to win in 3 sets
