Karen Khachanov v Novak Djokovic
Into the fourth round for a second consecutive Grand Slam, the 22-year-old Karen Khachanov will take on three-time Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic for the first time.
The tall, big-hitting Russian is coming off two tough back-to-back five-set wins, against Marcos Baghdatis in the second round and Frances Tiafoe in the third, while Djokovic overcame Kyle Edmund in four sets in his third round.
Khachanov has fired 200 winners (including 84 aces) through his first three matches here, compared with Djokovic’s 91.
Djokovic has dropped serve just twice in 43 service games and is a better returner than any of the opponents Khachanov has faced so far this tournament.
“I think he’s playing well now, he’s playing well on grass, he was always playing well on grass. Anyway Novak is an amazing player and he’s getting his form now higher and higher. He played finals in Queen's and he’s doing well here,” said Khachanov of the Serbian 12-time Grand Slam champion.
Angelique Kerber v Belinda Bencic
A clash between 2016 Wimbledon runner-up Angelique Kerber and 2013 Wimbledon junior champion Belinda Bencic.
Bencic leads their head-to-head 3-0 but they haven’t faced off in over two years. The 21-year-old Swiss broke into the top 10 when she was just 18 but injury woes derailed her career and she is now on her way back up, ranked No.56 in the world. Bencic is in the fourth round of a Grand Slam for the first time since the 2016 Australian Open and started her Wimbledon campaign this Fortnight with an upset win over No.6 seed Caroline Garcia.
Two-time Grand Slam champion Kerber was in fine form in her straight-sets dismissal of Naomi Osaka in the third round, but faces a different kind of player in Bencic, a player whose game has been compared to the cerebral Martina Hingis.
“She's always a fighter. I’ve known her since years. She's coming back always. She had always problems with her body. She's always finding the way to come back and play good tennis from the first point. She has nothing to lose. She's enjoying to playing on grass. She played good matches. She won against tough opponents here. It will be another really hard match for me,” said Kerber of Bencic.
Alison van Uytvanck v Daria Kasatkina
In a grass court rematch of their second round in Eastbourne just 10 days ago, Garbiñe Muguruza’s conqueror Alison van Uytvanck will try to get her revenge on No.14 seed Daria Kasatkina when they square off in the fourth round on Monday.
Both playing in their maiden fourth round at Wimbledon, Kasatkina and Van Uytvanck are looking to reach the quarter-finals at a Grand Slam for the second time in their respective careers.
Expect variety and lots of slicing and dicing from Kasatkina, and some harder-hitting from her Belgian opponent.
The 21-year-old Kasatkina is starting to enjoy the grass more and more, and her tight three-set loss to Venus Williams in the third round here in 2016 gave her further belief she can perform on this surface.
“After I played 10-8 against Venus Williams on the grass I realised if you find the keys, you can play on any surface,” said the young Russian on Saturday.
Van Uytvanck followed up her upset over Muguruza, with a comfortable victory against No.28 seed Anett Kontaveit. She’s looking forward to her rematch with Kasatkina.
“I think we had a close match in Eastbourne. I didn't serve that well over there, so I think that made a little difference. But I'm serving better and better here, so I hope I can keep it up and serve good and just be aggressive and we will see what happens,” said the 24-year-old.
