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By Chris Oddo | Thursday, July 2, 2015

 
Venus Williams

Venus Williams has played as many Grand Slam finals as Aleksandra Krunic has won tour-level matches, but we still find the matchup compelling.

Photo Source: Shaun Botterill/Getty

On each day of Wimbledon we will provide you with notes on three matches to watch, plus notes and numbers to keep you well-equipped for the day ahead.

SEE THE COMPLETE DAY 5 SCHEDULE HERE

1. Novak Djokovic vs. Bernard Tomic, 2nd Match Centre Court

Djokovic has not lost to an Australian player at the tour-level since 2006, but he did fall to Tomic in straight sets in Hopman Cup in 2013. Can we read much into that result? Probably not. But what we must consider with regard to Friday’s clash is the fact that Bernard Tomic is a very skilled grass-court player.

Tomic is sneaky good on the surface and more than capable of holding his serve on a good day. Still, it’s difficult to imagine him avoiding a straight-sets loss to the world No. 1. Djokovic has responded so properly to his difficult loss in Paris to Stan Wawrinka, it’s almost as if it never happened. He’s confident, he’s fit and he appears ready to defend his title and become the sixth man in the Open Era to reach three major titles. Still this should be an interesting juxtaposition of Tomic's eclectic, side-spinny quirk with Djokovic's relentless defense and tracking abilities. Long rallies in this match--if they happen--promise to be quite pleasing.

2. Venus Williams vs. Aleksandra Krunic, 3rd Match, No. 2 Court

The women’s side is littered with fun matches on Friday. Belinda Bencic vs. Bethanie Mattek-Sands should be an interesting style clash. CoCo Vandeweghe vs. Sam Stosur has the potential to be a great serving battle. Victoria Azarenka vs. Kristina Mladenovic should be a fierce battle between talented athletes who can play with power and variety.

But we’re choosing Krunic-Williams as the match to watch because the Serb such an interesting tennis player. She’s quirky, clever, and surprisingly fast. There’s not another player like her on tour, though she does have a bit of the Radwanska Ninja in her. Add to that the fact that she’s playing one of the greatest Wimbledon champions of all-time, and we have the makings for a dramatic, entertaining battle.

3. Nick Kyrgios vs Milos Raonic, 1st Match No. 2 Court

This ought to be an interesting clash of complete polar opposites in personality. Raonic the cool, calm, meridian tapper vs. Kyrgios the inner monologue-having, fiery showboat. Pick your poison and pop your popcorn, because even though this match shapes up as a serving battle, Kyrgios does not disappoint on the entertainment scale. Love him or loathe him the 20-year-old has box office written all over him.

It will be interesting to watch Raonic, a semifinalist at Wimbledon last year, look to deflect all of Kyrgios’s attitude and energy so that he may remain calm and in a zen-like bomb-serving trance.


By the Numbers

300 Crowd favorite Marcos Baghdatis will be going for his 300th career win when he meets David Goffin on Court No. 3.

23 Length of Serena Williams’ current Grand Slam winning streak. She’ll go for No. 24 against Great Britain’s Heather Watson on Centre Court.

24 The length of Marin Cilic’s current winning streak against American men. Does that say something about Cilic or about American men?

14 No. of Grand Slam finals that Venus Williams has participated in. 14 is also the number of main draw wins that her opponent, Aleksandra Krunic, has achieved in her career.

 

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