Three to See, Wimbledon Previews: Jannik Sinner vs. Ben Shelton, Coco Gauff vs. Emma Navarro, Madison Keys vs. Jasmine Paolini

“I think that it’s always good to have played somebody before, beaten them, lost against them. You know kind of what it feels like going into a match.”

Shelton will know two other things, one bad and one good: He’ll know he’s going to have his work cut out for him against the top seed; but he’ll also know he has nothing to lose, at least at the start of the match.

Shelton is one of the few players who can match Sinner’s all-around power. The trouble for him is that, on a normal day, he can’t match his consistency. Once a point starts, the advantage swings to the Italian. Which means this match may be a battle between one guy (Shelton) who will try to win as many points outright with his serve, and an opponent who will focus on trying to get as many returns back as possible.

In Sinner’s second-round win over Matteo Berrettini, it was his return that made the difference, and won out in the end. Shelton has had success so far at Wimbledon by mixing his service speeds; he says he doesn’t want to try to bomb his way through a long, best-of-five-set event. Can Sinner solve his service patterns? There isn’t much else he has failed to do this season. Winner: Sinner

Gauff and Navarro have played once, at the start of the year in Auckland, and Gauff won 6-3, 6-1.

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Coco Gauff vs. Emma Navarro

This is a matchup many U.S. tennis fans have been waiting to see. On one side is the country’s top-ranked player; on the other is its most pleasant surprise of 2024.

Gauff and Navarro have played once, at the start of the year in Auckland, and Gauff won 6-3, 6-1. That was at the start of Navarro’s rise, when she was showing how much her improved fitness had helped her game. In the six months since, the 23-year-old South Carolinian has come a lot further, from No. 50 last summer to a career-high No. 17 last month. Earlier this week, she showed a mass audience how good she can be when she whisked Naomi Osaka off Centre Court in under an hour.

Now she’ll try to take another step up against her Olympic teammate. For her part, Gauff says Navarro’s success hasn’t come as a surprise.

“Just growing up with her, I always knew she was very talented and knew her game would translate well on tour,” Gauff said. “I think she has a very all-court game. Playing her is going to be a tough match.”

Together, the two will represent contrasting methods of tennis success. Gauff is the bigger, stronger, better athlete, and will win more points with her serve. Navarro is the smoother ball-striker, and can play a variety of ways. There should be something of a chess match quality to the encounter, as each woman tries to decide how much risk to take, particularly when returning second serves with their backhands.

Navarro is heading higher in the rankings. But I think Gauff will still have the important edges—in athleticism, physicality, and big-stage experience—on Sunday. Winner: Gauff

Keys won her only meeting with Paolini, 6-1, 6-1 in Dubai last year.

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Madison Keys vs. Jasmine Paolini

Physically, the American and the Italian are very different. Keys is 5-foot-10, Paolini 5-foot-4. But what comes off their racquets is surprisingly similar. Each swings big, attacks as much as possible, loves her semi-Western topspin forehand, and smacks the ball with as much pace as she can generate, as often as she can. While Paolini can’t match Keys’ in the m.p.h. department—few people on either tour can—she still creates her own winners from either wing.

Keys got the better of their only meeting, 6-1, 6-1 in Dubai last year. But the American knows that Paolini, who is coming off a runner-up finish at Roland Garros, isn’t the same player she was then, on any surface.

“We practiced in Eastbourne, and she was playing some really good grass tennis,” Keys said on Friday. “So I’m happy that we got to practice, so I at least kind of know what’s coming.”

“I’m full anticipating it being a very difficult match.”

Neither player has dropped a set so far, and both of them would surely love a shot at either Coco Gauff or Emma Navarro for a spot in her first Wimbledon semifinal.

The difference, when they meet early on Sunday on Court 1, may come on the serve. Keys has one of the WTA’s highest kicks, which will give her a chance to take Paolini well out of her strike zone to start a point. If and when Paolini tries the same thing with her serve, it may end up right in Keys’ wheelhouse. Winner: Keys

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