Each day of the tournament, we'll preview and predict three must-see matches at Wimbledon.
Andy Murray [1] vs. Dustin Brown
This will be Wednesday’s buzziest second-rounder. On one side, you have the proverbial hopes of a nation in Murray. On the other, you have the sport’s premier trick-shot artist in Brown, who reached peak trickery here two years ago when he upset Rafael Nadal in the second round. No one at Wimbledon will forget that display, but what they probably don’t know is that Brown is just 5-6 for his career here, and he lost his only match against Murray in straight sets at the U.S. Open seven years ago. The one concern for Murray fans is how his hip will respond if he’s pushed hard; if Brown is fully engaged, he could make Murray work, and force him to chase down some shots he never thought he’d be chasing down.
Winner: Murray
Madison Keys [17] vs. Camila Giorgi
“Obviously, it’s going to be quick rallies and pretty much who gets a good first strike,” Keys said when she was asked to describe her matchup with the Italian. “Sometimes she’ll hit a winner and sometimes she won’t.” That sums the Giorgi game up well, and is only a slight exaggeration of how Keys herself plays—this is going to be grip-and-rip tennis, careening from the spectacular to the head-scratching from one point to the next. Both of these women like grass, and they’ve split their two matches as pros. But Keys has the better serve, and should have the better of this match.
Winner: Keys
Elena Vesnina [15] vs. Victoria Azarenka
These two have established a pattern in their matches over the years: In all seven of their meetings, Azarenka has won in straight sets; Vesnina has never even pushed her to a tiebreaker. But all is not necessarily lost for Vesnina. All of her losses to Vika came before she reached the semis at Wimbledon last year, and won the biggest title of her career this spring in Indian Wells; during that time, Azarenka has mostly been absent from the tour, and is only now beginning to make her way back after the birth of her first child. And while Vesnina has lost to Vika on clay and hard courts, this will be the first meeting on grass.
Winner: Azarenka
