It has been four years since Wawrinka and Del Potro faced off; that's enough time for each of their careers to have taken a drastic turn. The Argentine leads their head-to-head 3-2, but the last time they met, in 2012, he also lead in major-titles won, one to nothing. Now Stan has two. More important, Stan has been healthy for the last two of those years, while Del Potro is still working his way back after multiple wrist surgeries. So far this season, Delpo has been surprisingly successful for a man who is reluctant to take a full cut at a two-handed backhand. While Del Potro may be the better grass-courter, I don’t think he’ll have much success on Friday against Wawrinka, whose heavy crosscourt backhand will put maximum stress on his two-hander.
Winner: Wawrinka
The 36-year-old American and the 19-year-old Russian have played once, in Auckland at the start of 2016. Williams was the No. 1 seed, but Kasatkina upset her in three sets, and since then her career has taken off; she’s up to No. 33 in the world, and looks sure to rise much higher. But will she rise to the occasion on Court 1 on Friday? We know she can handle Venus in Auckland, but that's not the same as handling Venus in her element, on grass at Wimbledon. Kasatkina is a player, but I’m thinking Venus gets through this on reputation alone.
Winner: V. Williams
From an athletic and a personality standpoint, this second-rounder on Court 2 is the day’s showstopper. Each of these guys can run, leap, and create magic with their racquets, and neither is satisfied hitting a shot standing on the ground that he could possibly take in mid-air. Brown is a happy, hair-whipping, crowd-pleasing warrior; Kyrgios is always set to boil. They’ve never played before, but each likes grass and each has upset Rafael Nadal at Wimbledon with a similar guns-blazing style. Kyrgios, who is ranked 18th to Brown’s 85th, is the better marksman.
Winner: Kyrgios