Wimbledon Day 2 Preview: Iga Swiatek vs. Sofia Kenin headline; Novak Djokovic, Sebastian Korda in action

Sebastian Korda vs. Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard

Court 16 opens with a potentially intriguing first meeting between a young American who has dark-horse aspirations at this event, and a younger Frenchman who has Slam-breakthrough aspirations.

Korda, 23, likes grass, has been to the fourth round at Wimbledon, and has had a strong warm-up season on the surface over the past three weeks. He is a smooth ball-striker who has yet to fulfill the sky-potential that most saw in him three years ago.

Perricard, 20, is still in the sky-high potential phase. He’s 6-foot-8, he has a suitably huge serve and forehand, and he uses a one-handed backhand—for better or worse. Like many a talented Frenchman, he has a flair for grass; two weeks ago, he come out of qualifying to beat Ben Shelton in the first round at Queens. He currently sits as a career-high No. 58.

Korda probably has too much polish and experience for the still-raw rookie over five sets. But the hypersonic shot-making they’ll produce along the way should be a nice, bracing way to start the day. Winner: Korda

Iga Swiatek vs. Sofia Kenin

With defending champion Marketa Vondrousova kicking play off in Centre Court, and Andy Murray scheduled to close it out, the top-seeded Swiatek has been exiled, relatively speaking, to Court 1. She and Kenin, who was her opponent in the 2020 final at Roland Garros, will play the late match there.

Swiatek won that meeting in Paris four years ago, 6-4, 6-1, and she beat Kenin in their other encounter, 7-6 (2), 6-2, at the Australian Open earlier this year. Now she’s on a 19-match win streak, while Kenin has been muddling along just inside the Top 50. Swiatek is clearly a prohibitive favorite here.

There are two reasons to believe it could get interesting: Iga still hasn’t proven she’s at home on grass, and Kenin showed up big time in the first round here last year, when she drove Coco Gauff out of the tournament and forced her to reassess her entire career. Swiatek probably doesn’t have to worry about that on Tuesday, but she is playing a former Grand Slam champion. Winner: Swiatek

Novak Djokovic vs. Vit Kopriva

Is it Djokovic vs. Kopriva, or Djokovic vs. his still-healing knee? Probably more of the latter than the former. Korpiva, from the Czech Republic, is 27, has never cracked the Top 100, and spends most of his time playing Challengers. He has never won a main-draw match at a major. Djokovic has won 370.

Djokovic has come into Slams nursing injuries before. But he’s taking it to the next level this time. At Roland Garros, he tore the meniscus in his right knee, and underwent surgery. Initially, it looked like he would miss Wimbledon, and possibly the Olympic Games as well. Now he says he’s ready to test it, while still acknowledging that playing is a “risk.”

We should know pretty early in this match how much of a risk it’s going to be. It also may turn out to be a weapon. If Djokovic can play at his normal level, his knee issue might end up helping him psychologically through the rest of the event. Having an ailment that everyone knows about means he won’t have to be as nervous about losing. Winner: Djokovic