As 19th seeded players crashed out of Wimbledon before the third round in the men’s singles, Friday’s action looks set for more interesting encounters, with certain players poised for dominant performances and others expected to defy the odds or push the remaining seeds to a fifth set at SW19.
Andrey Rublev vs Adrian Mannarino
14th seed Rublev stormed to a faultless first set against Laslo Djere in the opening round before three tie-breaks ensued and the Russian displayed immense endurance to emerge victorious.
He reached the quarter-final in 2023 when he stumbled across tennis titan Novak Djokovic, who used his proficiency in getting through the latter stages of grand slams.
While Frenchman Mannarino drifted outside the top 100 at 37-years-old, he still has valuable, successful experiences to fall back on, like beating Rublev at his home tournament in Moscow in 2021.
The winner of this contest could line up a match with defending champion Carlos Alcaraz in the next round, so going into it buoyed by a solid performance and preferably a swift result could pay dividends.
Jan-Lennard Struff vs Carlos Alcaraz
At Centre Court on Monday, Fabio Fognini rolled back the years on his final Wimbledon appearance against the French Open champion, but ran out of steam in the decider as Alcaraz avoided a major early upset.
British qualifier in the form of Oliver Tarvet was the Spaniard’s next challenger, who he expectedly swept aside in straight-sets.
Though Alcaraz has been gifted with the supposed easier side of the draw, Jan-Lennard Struff of Germany overcame Felix Auger-Aliassime in the second round at the Championships.
Albeit he is another Alcaraz opponent ranked outside the top 100, Stuff boasts a wealth of experience on grass in singles, particularly given his track record at Stuttgart. He could cause more serious headaches in Alcaraz’s quest to defend his crown.
Kamil Majchrzak vs Arthur Rinderknech
The third round is the furthest Majchrzak has ever gotten at Wimbledon, following his triumph over Matteo Berrettini over five sets and a dominant display against Ethan Quinn.
Meanwhile, Rinderknech pulled off the shock of the men’s singles opening round by knocking out 3rd seed Alexander Zverev, in a match spanning two days.
The arduous marathon was the biggest win of his career, which prompted disbelief and elation on Centre Court.
He had only won at Wimbledon once before and even proceeded to fight through another five sets in the second round against Cristian Garin.
The Pole will be looking to capitalise on the potentially fatigued state of Rinderknech and winning points in longer rallies will be significant to achieving that.
Nuno Borges vs Karen Khachanov
The 37th seed Portuguese man Borges has also been competing in the doubles competition at SW19 with Marcos Giron from the US, and they progressed to Saturday’s second round when Borges may have to count on his teammate more so.
The 16th seed Francisco Cerundolo suffered at the hands of Borges together with Ben Harris so far at Wimbledon.
The only time he has faced Khachanov was at the 2022 edition of Roland Garros, when Khachanov prevailed.
He is a semi-finalist in Halle and quarter-finalist at s-Hertogenbosch in the Netherlands, in what turned out to be a promising grass court swing leading up to this grand slam for the Russian 17th seed.
Taylor Fritz vs Alejandro Davidovich Fokina
5th seed Fritz played three days in a row at Wimbledon before earning recovering time on Thursday to prepare for his match against the Spanish 26th seed.
The Eastbourne winner has revelled in grass court action for several years and seeks to surpass his best finish at Wimbledon as a quarter-finalist.
He weathered ten sets in his matches against Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard and Gabriel Diallo, and Davidovich will be primed and ready to confront Fritz and strengthen his head-to-head record against him, which currently sits at three wins from five.
Despite losing to the American in the semi-finals at Eastbourne last month, Davidovich can’t afford his opponent the initiative to impose his preferred style and needs to serve in a similar fashion to Fritz’s previous contenders at Wimbledon.
Exposing the weaknesses of Fritz rather than falling into his trap in crucial rallies on the grass will be significant in decisive moments should they occur frequently.
Luciano Darderi vs Jordan Thompson
23-year-old Italian Darderi was adamant that he should hone his skills on grass in three tournaments before proceedings got underway in London, and it has seemingly presented an advantage so far.
He lost to fellow Italian Lorenzo Musetti, who was tipped as a frontrunner for Wimbledon before he suffered an early exit, over five really tight sets in his first main draw appearance last year.
Darderi collides with Thompson for the first time ever on tour and the Australian beat Benjamin Bonzi on his journey to the third round.
He summoned a spirited effort in just under four hours to send Bonzi out of the competition, a player who defeated 9th seed Daniil Medvedev in stunning fashion to advance to the second round.
Nicolas Jarry vs Joao Fonseca
Jarry from Chile had to battle his way through qualifiers to book a place in the first round, and after dropping the opening two sets to Holger Rune, he remarkably won three successive sets to eliminate Rune from this major.
A 100% win rate on his second serve against Learner Tien in three sets then secured a third round spot.
On Friday, he will have to contend with another rising star. Brazilian prodigy Fonseca became the youngest player to reach the third round since 2011 on his Wimbledon debut and has been setting new standards for tennis youngsters across the tour over several months.
Neutralising his incessant style will pose an obstacle for Jarry as Fonseca pursues greater heights and wants to establish himself even more on all surfaces.
Mattia Bellucci vs Cameron Norrie
After home hope Jack Draper failed to get past the second round once again at SW19, this time at the hands of grand slam winner and veteran Marin Cilic, Norrie arguably has more pressure to deliver.
His compatriot’s departure may disrupt Norrie’s mental composure, yet the 29-year-old has performed better than the current 4th seed Draper at Wimbledon, including a semi-final finish in 2022 when he was stopped in his tracks by Novak Djokovic.
Roberto Bautista Agut, who has strengths on grass and intelligent shot selection that shine a light on his seasoned experience, couldn’t outwit Norrie.
Frances Tiafoe was also subjected to his thrilling ground strokes alongside an influential home support.
Norrie’s third round opponent, Bellucci, beat Eastbourne runner-up Jiri Lehecka in straight-sets in his previous match.
He may have the capacity to prolong the wait for another British singles Wimbledon winner since Andy Murray’s triumph in 2016.
