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Friday November 22, 2024

Wimbledon Day 4 -- three matches to watch

On Thursday, the Kazakh husband and wife team will look to add more Wimbledon misery on the two-time champion who hasn´t got past the fourth round since he was runner-up to Novak Djokovic in 2011

By AFP
July 05, 2018

LONDON: Three matches to watch at Wimbledon Thursday:

Husband and wife tackle Nadal

-- Mikhail Kukushkin is a rarity on tour in that he is coached by his wife Anastasia. On Thursday, the Kazakh husband and wife team will look to add more Wimbledon misery on the two-time champion who hasn´t got past the fourth round since he was runner-up to Novak Djokovic in 2011. While Nadal, who won an 11th French Open last month, opted out of playing a grass court warm-up, world number 77 Kukushkin made the semi-finals in Eastbourne. Nadal holds a 3-0 career lead over the Kazakh who took the first set off the Spaniard when they met in the third round at Wimbledon in 2014.

Djokovic eyes 60

-- Three-time Wimbledon champion Djokovic will bid for yet another piece of history when he plays Horacio Zeballos. A victory for the Serb would be his 60th at Wimbledon -- making him just the fifth man to claim 60 victories at the All England Club in the Open Era. Zeballos was a top 40 player in 2013 but plays at Wimbledon ranked a lowly 126. The 33-year-old´s first round win over Guido Andreozzi came after falling at the opening hurdle on his five other appearances.

Barty v Bouchard in battle of former junior champs

-- Battle of former Wimbledon junior champions as Barty, having broken her Wimbledon duck in the first round after two opening losses in 2012 and 2017, tackles Bouchard. Barty, who once left tennis to take up a career in professional cricket, is seeded 17. Canada´s Bouchard was once a top 10 player who made the final at Wimbledon in 2014 but whose career has been in crisis in recent years.

Now ranked 188, the 24-year-old had to qualify this year while her win in the first round over British wildcard Gabriella Taylor was just her fourth of the season on the tour.