Each day during Wimbledon, we'll preview three must-see matches—and give our predictions.

The world No. 10 vs. the world No. 42 might not seem like much at first glance, but Kerber and Pavluchenkova are 3-3 in their head-to-head meetings, and away from clay, the Russian leads 3-1. They’ve never faced each other on grass, but Kerber, a Wimbledon semifinalist in 2012 and quarterfinalist last year, should have a distinct edge over Pavlyuchenkova, who has never been past the third round at Wimbledon, and who lost her opener there each of the last two years. Kerber won the grass-court tune-up event in Birmingham two weeks ago, and could be heading for bigger things at SW19 next week. Winner: Kerber

If we go by the current rankings, the Canadian (No. 56) is half as good as the Italian (No. 28). Fognini also won their only meeting, three years ago in Cincinnati. Yet despite Pospisil’s mediocre season so far, he remains an intriguing and popular talent. I’m not sure Fognini could be described exactly that way, but he does seem due for an explosion. That would get people's attention. Winner: Fognini

The 102nd-ranked Brown, aka Dreddy Tennis, is one of the very few players who owns a winning record against Nadal. Granted, they’ve played just once, on grass last year in Halle, a few days after Nadal had won his ninth French Open, but Brown ran away with that match in straight sets. Can he do something like that again on the grass inside Centre Court, over three of five sets? Brown is a showman who loves the limelight; if nothing else, he makes you realize just how good Gael Monfils is as a player. As for Rafa, he was OK but not great in his first-round win over Thomaz Bellucci; his forehand still went wonky, and his elbow grew a little heavy at times when he had the lead. But even that should be enough to earn him a win here. Winner: Nadal