The second week of the 2026 Wimbledon tournament will be put together by the end of play on Saturday and once again there are some decent matches heading out onto the courts.
However, it has also been noted by those paying the big entry prices for Centre Court that there is an element of disappointment with the matches scheduled and there will always be frustration when you consider the pricing structure at this Grand Slam event.
Despite those criticisms, it should be a good day of action as the Third Round is concluded.
Alex De Minaur - 6.5 games v Zachary Svajda: Seven times Alex De Minaur has played in a Grand Slam Quarter Final and he is yet to breakthrough and reach a maiden Semi Final, but he may not have a better chance than at Wimbledon in 2026.
Like many players out of Australia, Alex De Minaur is comfortable on the grass courts and his Quarter of the 2026 draw has already lost the one and only player Ranked higher than himself. Of course that does increase the pressure on a player, especially one that has been desperate to make that breakthrough at Grand Slam level, but Alex De Minaur has strolled through the opening two matches at the tournament and will be earning plenty of support from those in the crowd who will be aware of his connections with British player Katie Boulter.
The first set of the tournament was a tough one, but the scheduling may be to blame after Alex De Minaur entered the court moments after Boulter had been beaten.
However, he has not looked back since that moment and all six sets that have been played in this Grand Slam have been won, while the last five of those have been in largely controlled manner.
Next up is the World Number 66 in Zachary Svajda who reached a career best World Ranking mark after the French Open was completed, but who is still learning his trade on the grass. The American had played five grass court matches in warm up tournaments before Wimbledon begun, but Zachary Svajda had lost three of those in straight sets and there would have not been a huge amount of expectation on his shoulders.
That being said, credit has to be given to Zachary Svajda who upset Kamil Majchrzak in the Second Round having rallied from 2-1 behind in sets to win. It will certainly help that the Second Round win did not hit three hours on the clock so there is no concern about the fitness levels after playing all five sets in this format, but this is another step up in level and that is the bigger test for the lower Ranked player.
Zachary Svajda did win the ATP title in Newport, which is played on the grass in the week after Wimbledon, and he had success at Challenger level last year on this surface, but he did not beat anyone Ranked higher than Number 96 in 2025.
His wins in this tournament are more impressive, but it should be noted that Zachary Svajda has struggled in the step up and that could be the case against a confident grass court player in Alex De Minaur.
The form ahead of this Grand Slam was strong enough to retain confidence in the World Number 6 and Alex De Minaur may be able to extend enough rallies to wear down Zachary Svajda over the course of a couple of hours, which should lead to a cover of this Handicap mark set.
Grigor Dimitrov-Matteo Berrettini over 41.5 games: Two veterans of the Tour are looking for one more big run at Wimbledon and time is perhaps running out for both Grigor Dimitrov and Matteo Berrettini.
Injuries have been a big factor in closing the window, but both are prying it open in 2026 and these two are a former Semi Finalist (Dimitrov) and former Finalist (Berrettini) at Wimbledon and that has to be respected. Grass remains one of the outliers in terms of surface compared with the hard courts and clay courts and this is a Grand Slam that always feels like a limited number of potential winners when the tournament begins.
Both Grigor Dimitrov and Matteo Berrettini will believe they are potential winners, even if there are a few names that will be higher on the list. They have both eliminated top 20 Seeds in the Second Round to open up this section and there is no doubt that Grigor Dimitrov and Matteo Berrettini have the confident serving that could take them very deep into this event, especially from the open looking bottom half of the draw.
Serving well is key to the outcome of this good looking Third Round match.
Neither player is the most convincing returner on the Tour, but that does place extra pressure on making sure the serving deliveries are up to full standard and it was the key when Matteo Berrettini last played, and beat, Grigor Dimitrov on the Tour on the hard courts of Vienna back in 2019.
Plenty has changed for both players since then, but the serve remains a key element to the tennis being played and that is expected to be the case on Saturday.
Grigor Dimitrov has only dropped one set in the tournament, while Matteo Berrettini has needed four sets in both the First and Second Round wins.
The expectation here is that we will need tie-breakers to separate them in at least two of the sets that will be needed to be played, while the two players are operating at a level where they will believe they can edge past the other. If there was a gun to the head to pick a winner, the lean would have to be with Matteo Berrettini and that serve, but Grigor Dimitrov is more than capable of rolling through the service games too and any four set match would likely give them enough room to surpass this total games line, while a fifth set should see the total fly past the number that has been set.
Alexander Zverev - 6.5 games v Marcos Giron: After battling through the First Round, Alexander Zverev made much more comfortable work of the Second Round victory over Valentin Royer and the confidence is clearly soaring. Winning his first Grand Slam title will have done Alexander Zverev the world of good and he stated that there is a possibility for him to win Wimbledon, which should not be a surprise for the Number 2 Seed and a player on the other side of the draw to main rivals Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic.
Overlooking any opponent and thinking about the Final would be a mistake, but Alexander Zverev is going to be pretty happy with this Third Round match.
His opponent is 32 year old American Marcos Giron who was once the World Number 37, but who has dropped down to World Number 92 right now. The two wins in this draw will have just reversed that trend, but there is no doubt that Marcos Giron may have seen that his best tennis behind him, while he has lost all four previous matches against Alexander Zverev, including a big loss in Halle on the grass courts just thirteen months ago.
These two have also met at Wimbledon two years ago in the Second Round and Alexander Zverev won very convincingly in that one too and so he will be feeling pretty confident about his chances of progressing.
Marcos Giron had a 3-5 record on the grass courts before Wimbledon began, but he has placed two solid victories on the board and that has to be respected. He also held 84% of service games played in those warm up tournaments, but there is a pressure on the 32 year old to not only serve well, but find a way to threaten the Alexander Zverev serve which has been operating at a high level in recent weeks.
In Halle last month, Alexander Zverev was winning 76% of his service points played, although he is another player that has not always gotten to grips with the return of serve on this surface. That was evident in the win over Alexander Blockx in the First Round, but the Number 2 Seed looked much more comfortable in the Second Round and the head to head with Marcos Giron simply cannot be ignored.
Not only has Alexander Zverev broken in 38% of return games against Marcos Giron overall, but that number is stunningly up at 50% in the two grass court matches, which underlines the one sided nature of the final scoreboard.
While it is unlikely to be as easy as that again, Alexander Zverev does have all of the qualities needed to make sure he makes serene progress into the second week at this Grand Slam and he can cover this Handicap that has been set for the Third Round match.
MY PICKS: Alex De Minaur - 6.5 Games @ 1.95 Bet Victor (2 Units)
Grigor Dimitrov-Matteo Berrettini Over 41.5 Games @ 1.87 Bet Victor (2 Units)
Alexander Zverev - 6.5 Games @ 2.00 Bet Victor (2 Units)
Zizou Bergs-Arthur Fery Over 39.5 Games @ 2.00 William Hill (2 Units)
Emma Navarro @ 2.10 William Hill (2 Units)
Elena Rybakina - 4.5 Games @ 1.83 Bet Victor (2 Units)
Wimbledon Update: 26-23, - 5.58 Units (96 Units Staked, - 5.81% Yield)
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