By Tony Fairbairn at Wimbledon
- Novak Djokovic [2] v Stan Wawrinka
- Daria Kasatkina [11] v Victoria Azarenka [19]
- Carlos Alcaraz [1] v Alexandre Muller
LONDON, ENGLAND – Novak Djokovic and Stan Wawrinka renew their rivalry as a place in the second week is up for grabs on day five of Wimbledon.
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Novak Djokovic [2] v Stan Wawrinka H2H & Match Fundamentals
| Novak Djokovic [2] v Stan Wawrinka | H2H: Djokovic leads 20-6 |
| Wimbledon 2023 | London, England |
| Grass (O) | Prize Money: £131,000 |
| Third on Centre Court (17:30 BST) | BBC Sport |
Novak Djokovic’s returning skills were put to the ultimate test against Jordan Thompson as the seven-time champion moved through in straight sets. The Serb continues to get better with each match as he has history in his sights as he looks to tie Roger Federer’s record of eight Wimbledon titles. The Serb will have a challenging next couple of matches as he looks to continue his quest for a sixth consecutive Wimbledon title and show why he is the best player in the world right now.
The first of those challenging matches is against old rival Stan Wawrinka who has beaten the Serb in two Grand Slam finals. Wawrinka is slowly getting back to consistent form and his win over Tomas Martin Etcheverry was proof that the consistency as well as firepower from the baseline is starting to return to its full potential. On his day Wawrinka can beat any player in the world but now the question is can the Swiss last the full distance with the best player of all time on Djokovic’s favourite surface?
Djokovic will look to maintain his consistency on serve as he looks to target the Wawrinka forehand and rush the Swiss’ baseline power. Meanwhile Wawrinka will look to be smart with his patterns of play as he looks to lure Djokovic into creating short balls for Wawrinka to crush into the open space in the court. This will be a good match for Djokovic to have before the second week but the Serb’s consistency and energy should prove too much for Wawrinka.
Prediction: Djokovic in four sets.
Daria Kasatkina [11] v Victoria Azarenka [19] H2H & Match Fundamentals
| Daria Kasatkina [11] v Victoria Azarenka [19] | H2H: Azarenka leads 3-0 |
| Wimbledon 2023 | London, England |
| Grass (O) | Prize Money: £131,000 |
| Third on Court 12 (15:00 BST) | BBC Sport |
Daria Kasatkina continued her recent run of form by thrashing Jodie Burrage in her second round match. Kasatkina’s run to the Eastbourne final seems to have sparked more confidence into the 11th seed’s game as she looks to repeat her quarter-final run at Wimbledon from 2018. Kasatkina’s transition from turning defence into attack has caused so many players trouble and now she looks to repeat the trick with a place in the second week at stake.
Next for Kasatkina is a rejuvenated Victoria Azarenka who returns to Wimbledon on a mission. Azarenka was unable to play last year due to the ban on Belarusian players but has returned, playing some really good tennis and the tight opening round win against Yue Yuan has given her confidence to elevate her game. The former Australian Champion has a big serve and game for grass and will now look to translate that into consistent results.
Kasatkina will look to mix up her serving patterns and use depth to create shorter balls for the Eastbourne finalist to attack and be aggressive. Meanwhile Azarenka will look to be dominant on return and use the angles to take away Kasatkina’s attacking options away. Even though the head-to-head record doesn’t suit Kasatkina, her confidence is sky-high right now and she will use her variety to extract the unforced errors from Azarenka’s game.
Prediction: Kasatkina in three sets.
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Carlos Alcaraz [1] v Alexandre Muller H2H & Match Fundamentals
| Carlos Alcaraz [1] v Alexandre Muller | H2H: First Meeting |
| Wimbledon 2023 | London, England |
| Grass (O) | Prize Money: £85,000 |
| First on Centre Court (13:30 BST) | BBC Sport |
World number one Carlos Alcaraz is in confident form having won Queen’s Club and started his Wimbledon campaign with a ruthless win over Jeremy Chardy. Alcaraz has conquered all surfaces and opponents that have come before him and early signs suggest that the Spaniard will conquer grass with his powerful serve and accurate forehand doing the damage.
Alcaraz will hope that continues to be the case when he takes on Alexandre Muller. The Frenchman has good net skills and a powerful all-round baseline game. Even though Muller has lacked form over the most part of this season and the pressure will be off Muller as he will look to play with freedom and cause a big upset. Muller has the game to do it, but does he have the composure?
Alcaraz will look to continue to serve with accuracy and efficiency as he will need to be patient and wait for the perfect opportunity to strike. Meanwhile Muller will look to use depth to put the Spaniard in uncomfortable positions on the court. This will be a tough test for Alcaraz but one he should get through in straight sets.
Prediction: Alcaraz in straight sets.
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