Three to See, Wimbledon Day 8: Badosa vs. Halep; Anisimova vs. Tan; Kyrgios vs. Nakashima

WATCH: Nick Kyrgios upsets No. 4 seed Stefanos Tsitsipas in a contentious third-round battle to set up a meeting with Brandon Nakashima.

Paula Badosa vs. Simona Halep

“I think she likes to play against me,” Badosa says of Halep. “I think my game, she likes to play against players like that.”

Badosa’s evidence is the 6-3, 6-1 drubbing that Halep gave her in Madrid in April.

“I think she played unbelievable in that match,” Badosa said. “I hope she doesn’t play like that [in the] next one against me.”

Badosa’s game is an aggressive one, based on heavy groundstrokes. Her theory seems to be that Halep is a retriever and a counterpuncher who likes to use her opponents’ pace against them. And it’s true, she did exactly that when she beat Serena Williams in 55 minutes in the 2019 Wimbledon final. The questions now are (a) whether Halep is playing at anything like that level now; and (b) whether Badosa is still in the slump that has plagued her for much of 2022.

Halep hasn’t dropped a set in her first three matches, but after an injury-shortened 2021, she’s still keeping expectations low.

“With the work I have done, I feel better,” she says. “I feel that physically I am strong, I’m where I have to be. Tennis will come.”

As for Badosa, she’s hoping that her hard-fought win over Petra Kvitova on Centre Court is a sign that her mentality is finally coming around again.

“My main goal was to try to find that competitive Paula again,” she says. “I think I’m getting into it. Today I think I showed, again, my game, and my fighting spirit.”

If Badosa can match the level she reached against Kvitova, she should win. If she can’t, she won’t. Winner: Badosa

Amanda Anisimova vs. Harmony Tan

Another win or two and this year’s Wimbledon women’s event is going to become the Harmony Tan Show.

The world No. 115 beat Serena Williams in the first round; rather than fold in the follow-up match, the way so many other giant killers do, Tan has only looked better in her last two matches. Her ever-shifting mix of spins and paces has brought a new dimension, or two, to the courts.

But now Tan will run into a hard wall of pace. In contrast to the Frenchwoman, Anisimova does one thing and she does it well: She hits the ball as hard and as cleanly as anyone on tour. These two have faced off once before, three years ago at Roland Garros, and Tan could find no answers to the Anisimova power. But Tan is obviously a better player than she was then; the grass may help her slice stay out of the 5’11” American’s strike zone; and she has already fended off one famously hard-hitting American in Serena.

As for Anisimova, she held her nerve through three tense sets against Coco Gauff on Centre Court on Saturday. On Monday, she says won’t feel the need to do anything new.

“I’ll look at some of her recent matches,” Anisimova says of Tan. “It’s more important how I’m playing. That’s what I try to focus on, what I’m doing, just kind of sticking to my aggressive game style.” Winner: Anisimova

Nick Kyrgios vs. Brandon Nakashima

The Kyrgios show rolls on. Will it roll over Nakashima, as most people expect?

There are good reasons to think so. Nakashima is ranked 56th, and Kyrgios just got through beating a Top 5 player in Stefanos Tsitsipas. Kyrgios also seems highly motivated to get to a semifinal showdown with Rafael Nadal—the Australian pulled out of doubles to give himself a better chance, and he begged for Tsitsipas to be defaulted in the middle of their match. Nakashima is best-known for his backhand, but he doesn’t have a huge amount of forehand firepower, and no signature surprise wins to his name.

Still, there are a few reasons to believe this could be closer than expected: (1) If Kyrgios doesn’t dominate from the start, he could lose his cool, and the match could go anywhere from there; and (2) The Nakashima two-handed backhand. That shot, especially on the return, was what Tsitsipas was missing on Saturday. And (3) Nakashima does have a Top 20 victory at this event, over Denis Shapovalov.

The last question may be: If Kyrgios becomes the ringmaster again, can Nakashima block out the circus? Winner: Kyrgios