Three to See, Wimbledon Previews: Rybakina vs. Wozniacki, Djokovic vs. Popyrin, Zverev vs. Norrie

Elena Rybakina vs. Caroline Wozniacki

“She’s a fighter,” Rybakina said when she was asked about the prospect of facing Wozniacki.

If there were any doubt that those words are still true, Wozniacki dispelled it later in the day, when she saved two match points and beat Leylah Fernandez, 7-5 in the third set.

Rybakina, Wimbledon champion in 2022, has designs on the title again; she might be the co-favorite with Iga Swiatek at the moment. If she was looking for a test, for an opponent who will (a) make her win points, rather than giving them to her, and (b) will force her to keep her level high until the very end, this is the foe for her. You can’t get casual against Wozniacki, even with a solid lead.

The two have never played, but the numbers all point to a Rybakina victory. Rybakina is 25, Wozniacki 33. Rybakina has a game for grass, Wozniacki doesn’t. Rybakina has won Wimbledon, while Wozniacki has never made it past the fourth round in 13 tries. That’s enough evidence for me to pick Rybakina, but not enough evidence to make me think it will be easy. Winner: Rybakina

Novak Djokovic vs. Alexei Popyrin

WATCH: Novak's most recent press conference ⬆️

After cruising in his first match, Djokovic got a reminder of his current reality in the second round, when little-known Brit Jacob Fearnley took him to four sets and nearly pushed him to a fifth. Afterward, Djokovic admitted that his still-healing right knee slowed him down.

“I do feel that has an impact on my movement a little bit in terms of the speed,” Djokovic said. “It’s not yet there where I want it to be. Kind of late on the balls that I’m normally not late on.”

Now the question is: Does Popyrin, who is ranked a good deal higher than Fearnley at No. 47, have what it takes to take advantage of Djokovic’s vulnerabilities? Like a lot of players, the 6'5", 24-year-old Aussie has never beaten the Serb (he’s 0-2), but he did take a set from him in the second round at the Australian Open this year. That match was essentially decided by a third-set tiebreaker, and decided, as usual, in Djokovic’s favor.

Popyrin, whose specialties are the serve and forehand, has the weapons to push Djokovic and test his speed. But while you might think he would like grass, you might want to think again. Before this year, he had won just won match at Wimbledon in four tries. This tells me that, while Popyrin may have success moving Djokovic, Djokovic may have even more success doing the same to him. Winner: Djokovic

Alexander Zverev vs. Cam Norrie

“Is Norrie winning Wimbledon?”

That’s the question Nick Kyrgios asked in the BBC booth, not entirely unseriously, during the Brit’s one-sided win over countryman Jack Draper on Thursday.

Norrie didn’t seem to mind the speculation.

“I love that from Nick,” he said with a laugh. “Hopefully he saw that I was playing well today.”

It wasn’t hard to notice that Norrie was moving and hitting with a ton of confidence against Draper—his performance in the first-set tiebreaker, in particular, was flawless. Norrie’s underdog status, he noted afterward, allowed him to play with freedom.

Can that status help him against Zverev as well? Norrie will be much more of an underdog versus the German. He’s lost all five of their matches, the first four of which weren’t close. Zverev’s bigger serve and heavier ground strokes make him something of a mountain to climb for the smaller Norrie.

“He’s in form,” Norrie says of Zverev. “He’s serving well. He likes the grass. Yeah, it’s a completely different matchup to the first few rounds [I’ve had].”

Yet Norrie won’t go in thinking this mountain is impossible to scale. At the Australian Open this year, he pushed Zverev to a fifth-set tiebreaker.

The crowd will help, and the courts might as well. Norrie has been to a Wimbledon semi, while Zverev has yet to get out of the fourth round. Norrie may not be winning Wimbledon, but he has a chance of making the second week. Winner: Norrie