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By Chris Oddo | Sunday, July 5, 2015

 
Vasek Pospisil

Vasek Pospsil is one of many players who will bid for a first career quarterfinal at Wimbledon on Monday at SW19.

Photo Source: Ian Walton/Getty

Wimbledon’s Manic Monday, known to some as the greatest day in tennis, features many to-die-for matchups and intriguing first-time battles. We run down a few numbers and high points of all 16 in our all-encompassing preview, here:

SEE THE COMPLETE MANIC MONDAY SCHEDULE HERE

1. Serena Williams vs. Venus Williams, 1st Match Centre Court

Key Number

5: Number of Wimbledon singles titles that each sister possesses.
14-11: Serena’s record vs. Venus, lifetime. Serena holds a 3-2 edge at Wimbledon and a 3-1 record in Wimbledon finals.

Venus Williams hadn’t reached the round of 16 since 2011, and many have been counting her out of the Slam equation since she announced to the world later that summer that she was suffering from Sjogren’s Syndrome. But here she is at 35, a picture of resilience and dedication to the sport, considered by many to have a realistic chance of ending her sister’s 24-match winning streak at majors.

Meanwhile, Serena may have gotten the worst of her nerves out of her system in her third-round pressure cooker with Heather Watson, in which she rallied from a double-break down in the third set to win. If that’s the truth, there’s a chance that Serena could run away from her sister in their first Wimbledon meeting since 2009, and only their third meeting in the last six years.



2. Andy Murray vs. Ivo Karlovic, 2nd Match Centre Court

Key Number

5-0: Murray has won all five of his battles with Karlovic, but they’ve played 7 tiebreakers in those matches, with Murray winning four of seven.
8: Murray is bidding for his 8th consecutive Wimbledon quarterfinal. SW19 is not the place where Murray hiccups happen.



Watching Andy Murray find ways to break down a big server is like an eclectic side dish at restaurant. It might not appeal to all taste buds, but for the nuanced fan it’s like a Uni, or an endive salad with toasted walnuts wrapped in bacon: a hidden, surprisingly tasty gem. It won’t be easy for Murray against Karlovic—the Croat has banged down more than 40 aces in all of his Wimbledon matches, but Murray will likely find a way to get enough balls in play so that he can control the court and make his opportunities count with his passing game.

3. Roger Federer vs. Roberto Bautista Agut, 3rd Match Centre Court

Key Number

76-9: Federer’s career record at Wimbledon, which pretty much says it all.
5: Federer has won all sets vs. Bautista Agut and only once did the Spaniard win four games.

Roger Federer’s been in good enough form to look like a serious contender for his 8th Wimbledon title at SW19 this year. Federer, by a longshot, is the ATP’s grass-court win leader and title holder, and it’s hard to imagine the Spaniard’s punchy, linear game troubling him, despite the fact that Bautista Agut has proven to be a solid player on grass in his career (13-5).

4. Maria Sharapova vs. Zarina Diyas, 1st No. 1 Court

Key Number

6-1, 6-1: The score of Sharapova’s beatdown of Diyas at this year’s Australian Open.
2: Number of appearances that Diyas has made at Wimbledon, making the second week each time.

Not having a Wimbledon tune-up hasn’t affected the performance of Maria Sharapova at Wimbledon this year. She has glided through the first three rounds, winning all six sets, despite some scratchy serving at times. Can Diyas trouble the vaunted Sharapova game on grass? Not if Sharapova, in her 13th career appearance at Wimbledon comes out firing and hitting her targets.

5. Stan Wawrinka vs. David Goffin, 2nd Match, No. 2 Court

Key Number

10: Number of Grand Slam matches that Wawrinka has won in succession, a career best.
2-0: Wawrinka’s lifetime record vs. Goffin
6-2: Goffin’s record on grass this season. He was 3-9 on the surface prior.

David Goffin has an 0-8 lifetime record against the Top 5, and Stan Wawrinka’s form has not dropped since he claimed his second Grand Slam title at Roland Garros last month. Will it add up to a blowout for the Stanimal? If he serves well, maybe. But like Wawrinka, Goffin, a streaky player in his own right, has not dropped a set at Wimbledon this year. This could be a sneaky-competitive encounter if Wawrinka isn’t at his beastly best.

6. Novak Djokovic vs. Kevin Anderson, 3rd Match, No. 1 Court

Key Number

9: No. of sets Djokovic has won consecutively from Anderson, after falling to him in their first encounter in 2008.
0-6: Anderson’s record at round of 16 matches at majors.

Red-hot Novak Djokovic has done remarkably well at putting the heartbreak of a Roland Garros loss to Stan Wawrinka behind him. He’s gotten right back on the Grand Slam horse and is now one match from reaching his 25th consecutive Grand Slam quarterfinal. That’s commendable stuff from the Serb. Anderson has been excellent this season on grass, and his breakthrough is most certainly coming, but Djokovic will likely prove to have too many tricks up his sleeve for Anderson, much in the same way that Murray did to the South African at Queen’s a few weeks ago.



7. Richard Gasquet vs. Nick Kyrgios, 1st Match No. 2 Court (11:30)

Key Number

9: Number of match points that the Aussie saved whilst defeating Gasquet in five sets in the second round at last year’s Wimbledon, which equaled the record for most match points saved en route to victory at a major in the Open Era.

Kyrgios, despite sacking his coach and creating a non-stop flow of controversial actions and quotes, has kept his eyes on the prize all Wimbledon long. It’s almost as if he creates these challenges to extract negative press just so he can play with a chip on his shoulder and prove everybody wrong.

Kyrgios will undoubtedly have the bigger on-court personality when he meets Gasquet on Monday, but he’ll have to match strokes with a highly refined grass-court player in the Frenchman. Gasquet, a former Wimbledon semifinalist, owns a 51-23 career record on grass. In addition to his nuanced game and brilliant backhand, Gasquet will have to bring the fight to Kyrgios. Though the Aussie may be a loose cannon on court, he’s a proven fighter and big-match performer.

8. Caroline Wozniacki vs. Garbine Muguruza, 2nd Match No. 2 Court

Key Number

0: Neither player has ever reached a Wimbledon quarterfinal.

Surprisingly, 21-year-old Garbine Muguruza is on the cusp of a second consecutive Grand Slam quarterfinal after taking down Angelique Kerber in the third round. Could Muguruza’s biggest major breakthrough take place on grass, a surface that nobody really expected much from her on?

Speaking of low expectations on grass, the same applies to Caroline Wozniacki. She’s never reached the round of 16 on grass, despite having reached the second week three times and owning a 38-15 lifetime record on grass.

This one is tough to call. Muguruza has the potential to power past Wozniacki with her giant serve and lethal groundies, but Wozniacki has the potential to disrupt the Spaniard’s rhythm and get into her head with great defense, counterpunching and variety.

9. Tomas Berdych vs. Gilles Simon, 3rd Match, Court No. 2

Key Number

6-4: The Frenchman has had success against Berdych, winning six of ten including four of the last six, all on hard courts.

Berdych is a former Wimbledon finalist and he possesses a much better lifetime record on grass than Simon, but the Frenchman has had a great year on the surface, winning eight of ten and reaching the semis at Queen’s.

10. CoCo Vandeweghe vs. Lucie Safarova, 1st Match, No. 3 Court (11:30)

Key Number

4: No. of American women into the round of 16 at Wimbledon (most since 2004).

Vandeweghe, a powerful American with a beautiful service motion and tons of pop, is into the round of 16 at a major for the first time. But she’ll have to get by the red-hot and super-tricky southpaw Lucie Safarova if she is to progress any further. Not only is Safarova fresh off her first career Grand Slam final in Paris, she also was a Wimbledon semifinalist last season, and she’s won two consecutive doubles titles at majors with Bethanie Mattek-Sands.

11. Agnieszka Radwanska vs. Jelena Jankovic, 2nd Match, No. 3 Court

Key Number

5-0: Radwanska leads Jankovic on hard courts, with Jankovic’s two career wins against Radwanska coming on clay. What will this mean on grass?
28: No. of aces that Jankovic has hit at Roland Garros, third among all women.

Surprise, surprise, Jelena Jankovic is suddenly finding her “A” game on grass, while Agnieszka Radwanska is once again playing to her potential. These are two Wimbledon storylines that not many expected, but they are more than welcome as Jankovic and Radwanska both sport large and fiercely loyal fan bases.

As far as which player will make the quarterfinals, it’s a tough call. Radwanska, a former Wimbledon runner-up, is clearly the better grass player, but Jankovic has a way of getting hot and staying hot at the unlikeliest of moments. With Kvitova knocked out of the bottom half, it suddenly doesn’t seem that unlikely that one of these two veterans could reach the final.

12. Marin Cilic vs. Denis Kudla, 3rd Match, No. 3 Court

Key Number

25: Cilic has now won 25 consecutive matches against American men. Insert your comments on Cilic’s greatness or the lameness of American men here. Take your pick, they both could be true.

Denis Kudla, ranked 105 and still quite young at 22, will try to end the madness for his fellow Americans by handing the 2014 U.S. Open champ an upset on Manic Monday. It’s something that John Isner couldn’t do in the third round, but maybe Isner’s fortitude, which made Cilic work hard for the five-set, two-day win, has left Cilic a bit ragged? If so, Kudla could have a shot. He’s not your typical American player. He’s crafty and versatile and moves well. But he’s in uncharted waters, playing his first round of 16 at a major, against a behemoth who is a Slam winner and formidable on grass. It’s a tough ask.

13. Vasek Pospisil vs. Viktor Troicki, 1st Match, Court No. 12 (11:30)

Key Number

26: Number of majors that Viktor Troicki has played without reaching the quarters. Could this be the one for the Serb with the live arm?
3: Pospisil is bidding to become the third Canadian man to reach the Wimbledon quarterfinals. Milos Raonic was the second in 2014.

The pair have never met, so it’s hard to get a read on how this will play out. But it is easy to see who has had the better season. That’s Viktor Troicki, who has gone 29-15 on the season and also 10-3 on grass with a final in Stuttgart and a semi in Queen’s.

14. Victoria Azarenka vs. Belinda Bencic, 2nd Match, Court No. 12

Key Number

14-2: Bencic’s record on grass in 2015
2000: Last time a Swiss woman reached the Wimbledon quarterfinals (Hingis)

Belinda Bencic has been amazing on grass in 2015, notching the Eastbourne title and tallying a 14-2 record on the surface to take her into the second week of Wimbledon for the first time. But the real estate gets more expensive in week two, and waiting for her on Monday will be two-time semifinalist Victoria Azarenka. Azarenka hasn’t had a deep run at a major in a while, but the two-time major champion certainly appears to be getting closer.

This first-time meeting between one of the tour’s most promising rising stars and a player who is seeking a return to form could me one of the most compelling matches of them all on Monday.

15. Madison Keys vs. Olga Govortsova, 1st Match Court No. 18 (11:30)

Key Number

122: The 26-year-old is the only player ranked outside of the top 100 to still be alive in the women’s draw.
1-18: Govortsova’s win over Cornet in the first round was her only career win against a Top 30 player. She lost her first 18.



In a wide open draw, here is a golden opportunity for American Madison Keys to make her first career Wimbledon quarterfinal and second Grand Slam quarterfinal of the season. Keys, who defeated Govortsova in a tight three-setter in their only previous meeting (qualifying, Miami, 2012), is now 16-5 on grass lifetime.

16. Timea Bacsinszky vs. Monica Niculescu, 2nd Match, Court No. 18

Key Number

3-0: Niculescu leads Bacsinszky in main draw matches, but they have not met in over four years.

Bacsinszky has been one of the WTA’s biggest breakout stars of 2015. She reached her first Grand Slam semifinal last month in Paris, and now is back in the second week of a major for the second time in her career. Niculescu, who reached a career-high ranking of 28 in 2012, is an eclectic player who brandishes a wicked squash forehand. She’s one of only two women (also Govortsova) in the round of 16 to own a losing Wimbledon record (6-7).


 

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