Three to See, Day 5: Venus, Rafa, Murray look for spots in round four

Each day of the tournament, we'll preview and predict three must-see matches at Wimbledon.

Venus Williams [10] vs. Naomi Osaka

Venus’ age is a good deal higher (37 to 19) than Osaka’s, but her ranking number is a good deal better (11 to 59). So far in her young career, Osaka has been a bigger threat in the interview room than she has been on the tennis court, but that could be changing; she’s coming off one of her best wins, in three sets, over Barbora Strycova. The teen could push Venus around with her forehand, but despite the off-court stress she has had to endure, Williams has been as wily as ever at Wimbledon so far.

Winner: Williams

Rafael Nadal [4] vs. Karen Khachanov [30]

When the draw was made, this was what many of us identified as Nadal’s danger match. The 30th-seeded Khachanov has all the attributes of a player who can challenge Rafa: He’s tall (6’6”), he has a two-handed backhand, he has a bullet serve, and he can take the ball on the rise and hit it past his opponents from the baseline. But while he has had a strong grass-court season, Khachanov hasn’t exactly been blowing away his competition at Wimbledon so far. He needed five sets to get past Andrey Kuznetsov, and four close ones to take care of 100th-ranked Thiago Monteiro. Rafa, on the other hand, has been blowing away his competition for a while now.

Winner: Nadal

Andy Murray [1] vs. Fabio Fognini [28]

At first glance, this match might scare the locals. Murray and Fognini are tied at 3-3 in their head to head, and Fognini won their last meeting, just a few weeks ago in Rome. Anyone who watched him beat Nadal at the U.S. Open two years ago has a good idea of what the flaky Fabio can do when he’s engaged in a contest and seeing the ball well. But Murray specializes in this kind of situation. First, instead of Rome, this match will be held at Wimbledon, where Murray plays his best and Fognini has never been past the third round. Second, having just lost to a guy he really shouldn’t lose to, Murray is going to do whatever it takes not to let it happen again.

Winner: Murray

Bonus Match

Jelena Ostapenko (13) vs. Camila Giorgi

The Tennis Channel breaks down the French Open champion's chances against the hard-hitting Giorgi:

—GRAND SLAM WEEK: WatchWimbledon Primetime on Tennis Channel, and catch up on the other 2017 Grand Slams on Tennis Channel Plus

—Watch encores from the 2017 French Open and Australian Open on Tennis Channel Plus, including matches like the AO Final showdown between Serena & Venus Williams**