This third-rounder will resume with the 41st-ranked Querrey leading the No. 1 seed 7-6 (6), 6-1. Yes, that scoreline is real, and as stunning as it sounds. Querrey has beaten Djokovic once in nine tries, at the Paris Masters in 2012, but the American owns precious few victories over top-tier opponents. His game is usually solid enough to stay with them, but not spectacular enough to get past them. He also isn’t the hot-and-cold type; Sam I Am knows his level, and that’s where he stays. The American has lost a lot of close matches at Wimbledon over the years, but he was more than enough for a lethargic and irritated Djokovic on Friday. After Djokovic dropped a close tiebreaker in the first set, he virtually handed the second set over.
This isn’t the first time Djokovic has needed to make a great escape on Court 1. In 2014, he was down two sets to one to Marin Cilic there, before winning the last two 6-2, 6-2; last year he dropped the first two sets in tiebreakers to Kevin Anderson, before coming back to win 7-5 in the fifth the following day. Fortunately for Djokovic, he also got a reprieve against Querrey. On Friday night, he couldn’t summon the energy to fight his way out of trouble. Now he gets to start fresh on Saturday, but he needs to thread the needle and win three straight sets. That's hardly guaranteed—I don’t see Querrey suddenly going away—but would you bet against a Nole win even now?
Winner: Djokovic
This is a pretty strong match-up for a second-rounder, with potential ramifications down the line. On Friday the 35th-ranked Makarova led the 10th-ranked Kvitova 7-5 when the evening’s final rains came, but a Kvitova comeback would seem more likely than not. She leads her head-to-head with Makarova 4-3, and, more important, she’s a two-time champion at Wimbledon, while the Russian is a one-time quarterfinalist there. Both players—but especially Kvitova—know they have a good shot to go deep this year. The winner will play Barbora Strycova, and the winner of that will play either Elena Vesnina or Julia Boserup. That’s a draw worth fighting for.
Winner: Kvitova
Neither of these two young bomb-throwers have spent a lot of time inside Centre Court. Two years ago, Raonic lost badly there to Roger Federer, while Sock won the doubles title with Vasek Pospisil. Now the American and the Canadian will face each other last on Centre on Saturday. They certainly know each other well: They’ve played eight times in three years, the last time in Miami in April. Raonic has won seven of those matches, but there have been a few three-setters and a lot of tiebreakers along the way. I’d expect the same in this one, and I’d expect the same result. Sock has looked good at Wimbledon so far, but Raonic seems to have gotten a boost after hiring Sock’s countryman, John McEnroe. Johnny Mac wants Milos to show his “presence” more on court. There’s no better court to do it on than this one.
Winner: Raonic