Wimbledon tips: Novak Djokovic and denying the Russian wave
- James Richardson
- 10 July 2023
Planer sport presents six leads to help you put together a Wimbledon accumulator ahead of the last eight matches in the men's and women's singles.
Wimbledon has whittled down its field to the select few and for these players, the All England Club is hallowed ground this week.
Just a handful of matches stand between these stars of the game and the biggest prize in tennis.
Here we run through a handful of matches from the men's and women's singles to help inform your accumulator.
Wimbledon men's singles:
Andrey Rublev vs Novak Djokovic | Pick: Djokovic
Wimbledon men's singles:
Daniil Medvedev vs Christopher Eubanks | Pick: Eubanks
Wimbledon men's singles:
Jannik Sinner vs Roman Safiullin | Pick: Sinner
Wimbledon women's singles:
Iga Swiatek vs Elina Svitolina | Pick: Swiatek
Wimbledon women's singles:
Jessica Pegula vs Marketa Vondrousova | Pick: Pegula
Wimbledon women's singles:
Madison Keys vs Aryna Sabalenka | Pick: Keys
Wimbledon men's singles: Andrey Rublev vs Novak Djokovic
Andrey Rublev is striking the ball as cleanly as anyone else this week but one doubts that he has the power to turn Novak Djokovic aside from his destiny.
Djokovic can usually find an answer to even the crispest of hitters on Centre Court where he hasn't lost in so long.
Rublev presents a big threat and is a player who only needs Grand Slams and ATP Tour finals titles to have wins at every level of the elite tournament strata.
Djokovic is chasing something much bigger though and it will be some task to knock him off track, especially considering Rublev owns just one win over the Serb, albeit coming in his backyard in Belgrade.
Wimbledon men's singles: Daniil Medvedev vs Christopher Eubanks
Christopher Eubanks is on a fantastic run at Wimbledon and seems to have unlocked his game on grass.
Eubanks is a great pick for a big upset win in the last eight, given that Medvedev also doesn't have the best handle on the surface.
Eubanks is on an incredible career-best winning run and is oozing confidence even if the Russian is also much improved on grass.
Medvedev has beaten the American but their only previous meeting came on his favoured hard court.
Wimbledon men's singles: Jannik Sinner vs Roman Safiullin
Jannik Sinner is a player who looks like a Wimbledon champion even if he grew up on Italian clay and indoor hard courts.
Sinner holds a huge rankings advantage over Safiullin but having faced the Russian recently isn't going to be taking him lightlly.
A first career Grand Slam semi-final awaits the winner of this match and it is Sinner who deserves to reach that milestone.
Sinner has the level to beat Safiullin but his opponent will also take some lessons from the defeat the Italian handed him at the ATP Cup in 2022.
Wimbledon women's singles: Iga Swiatek vs Elina Svitolina
Iga Swiatek puts her newfound form on grass to the test as she faces a player who is a dangerous outside contender for a Major this week.
Svitolina will take some stopping as she has seemingly returned better than ever and looked very comfortable on court at SW19.
Swiatek has had her struggles to get through having coming back from the brink in the last 16.
She isn't quite as dominant as she might be on clay or hard courts but Swiatek still has the quality to claim the championship.
Wimbledon women's singles: Jessica Pegula vs Marketa Vondrousova
Jessica Pegula needs to overcome her Grand Slam last eight block and this match is the perfect occassion to do so.
Pegula has been very consistent at getting to the last eight in the Majors but has struggled to go beyond.
Marketa Vondrousova is just the kind of player who has provided a banana skin for the American in the past.
However, Pegula hasn't dropped a set since her opening round battle with Lauren Davis and could finally break her last eight duck at the sixth time of asking.
Wimbledon women's singles: Madison Keys vs Aryna Sabalenka
Madison Keys emerged as a Wimbledon danger as an afterthought with an Eastbourne triumph that would have been easy to dismiss had she not found another gear at Wimbledon.
Keys looks the most likely woman to pull off an upset win in the quarter-finals.
Sabalenka has been close to an exit on a few occasions already this tournament can cannot afford to offer Keys an opening.
Keys owns a grass court victory over Sabalenka who defeated the American in their other meeting on a hard court but this one looks winnable for the Rothesay International champion.
