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Following an impressive week at the All England Club, Andy Murray is through to the second week at the Wimbledon Championships, where all eyes will be on him to determine how far he can advance this season at the prestigious grass court Slam. He will continue his campaign for a second title at this event when he meets towering Croat Ivo Karlovic for a sixth time on the professional tour. Murray holds an impenetrable 5-0 record in the head-to-head series and will look to maintain that undefeated streak en route to the quarter-final.

World No. 3 Andy Murray needed four sets to get past Andreas Seppi on Saturday but it was not an exceptionally difficult encounter. He called on the trainer to help work on his right shoulder and then resumed play to oust the Italian in a quick fourth set. Murray struck 32 winners, including 10 aces. He will now move on to challenge the big serving Croat in the fourth round.

“He served extremely well this tournament,” said Murray about Karlovic. “A couple matches here where he served over 40 aces. In Halle, as well, he served I think the record for three sets with his match with Berdych. Extremely tough match. I’ll need to be very sharp on my returns and try and find a way to get as many of his serves back in play as possible and see what happens. But it’s obviously a very, very tricky match.”

Karlovic has proven to be a serving sensation on the grass courts of SW 19, as he struck more than 40 aces for a third time this week to defeat Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in four sets. He won the match 7-6(3), 4-6, 7-6(2), 7-6(9) on Saturday.

“I know every game is different,” said Karlovic. “I always try to begin good and if it’s a lot of aces like this, then of course it is easier. Each point is a new one, so I don’t feel like nobody can beat me. I just always go on to the next one.”

This marks the sixth time that these two competitors will cross paths on the professional tour, with Muray leading the series with an undefeated 5-0 record. This includes a previous win at the 2012 Wimbledon Championships, so Murray should still be the heavy favourite to come out victorious in their clash on Monday.

A highly intriguing match-up between Stan Wawrinka and David Goffin is scheduled to take place in the fourth round of the Wimbledon Championships on Monday. This will serve as the third meeting between the two competitors, as they crossed paths twice previously – both meetings in Chennai, India. Wawrinka leads the head-to-head series 2-0.

As one of the few players remaining in the draw yet to drop a set, Stan Wawrinka stormed into the second week at Wimbledon following a straight sets win against Fernando Verdasco, a player he held a losing record against (1-2). Wawrinka struck 32 winners to close out the match 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 in one hour and 54 minutes.

“I’m playing better and better,” said Wawrinka. “I’ve been serving really well since the beginning of the tournament, being really aggressive. Starting to feel more comfortable for moving and in defence also. Today was a really solid match. I’m really happy with the match today.

“I think since a few years now, I feel really, really good on the grass. I still think I can play my best game. Last year I played a really good, good tournament, being in the quarters. So far it’s been great. I can see that I’m there in the second week playing good, not playing my best tennis, but playing good and still there. Feeling strong on the court. Hopefully I can play some great match on Monday.”

On Saturday, David Goffin ousted former Australian Open finalist Marcos Baghdatis in straight sets to advance to the fourth round at the All England Club. He won the match 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 to set up the encounter with Wawrinka.

“He is really talented player,” said Wawrinka of Goffin. “He loves the grass. Has amazing backhand, returning well. He’s dangerous because he like to stay on the line, playing really fast. We’ll see how I’ll have to play my game to be aggressive, serving well, mix a lot, making him going back a little bit.”

This will serve as the third meeting between the two competitors, as they crossed paths twice previously – both meetings in Chennai, India. Wawrinak leads the head-to-head series 2-0 and will look to maintain that undefeated streak en route to the quarter-final round.

An intriguing fourth round contest is scheduled to take place between Polish no. 1 Agnieszka Radwanska and Serbia’s Jelena Jankovic at the All England Club on Monday. This marks the eighth time these two competitors will meet on the tour, with Radwanska leading the head-to-head series 5-2. However, Jankovic did win their most recent encounter at last year’s Rome Open on clay. This is the first time they will cross paths on grass.

Following a terrible start to her 2015 season, Radwanska appears to have gotten things under control on grass, as she has been her usual self since moving onto this surface last month. In her most recent match, Radwanska defeated Casey Dellacqua 6-1, 6-4 to advance to the fourth round at Wimbledon – one of her best performances of the year so far.

“Well, I just feel much better than in the beginning of the year, and also I think the surface makes a huge difference. Everything is just easier for me now that I’m back on the grass,” Radwanska said. “Losing first round at a Grand Slam is always disappointing. I wasn’t happy at all. But I had some days off – well, it was actually a lot of time off. And that’s why I took the wildcard into Nottingham, to play some more matches, and especially since the grass season was a little bit longer this year.

“More matches gives me more confidence. I’ve been feeling good from the beginning of the grass season. That’s why I just kept going in Eastbourne – I had good matches against top players there.”

In a surprising turn of events, No. 28 seed Jelena Jankovic managed to flip the script on Petra Kvitova, as she worked her way back from a set and a break down to oust the defending champion from the tournament. The Serb was down 6-3, 3-1 before she turned things around to close out the match in three sets.

This marks the eighth time these two will meet on the WTA tour, with Radwanska leading the series 5-2. Apart from a loss in their most recent meeting, the Pole won five of their last six consecutive matches dating back to 2011. She is certainly the favourite to win their Monday encounter and reach the quarter-finals at the Wimbledon Championships.

Once a heated rivalry that dated back to their first encounter in 1998, Serena Williams and Venus Williams will meet for just the third time since 2010, yet little has changed about the significance of the two titanic sister’s crossing at the Championships. As two former champions in their own right at the All England Club, the Williams sister will kick off Maniac Monday at Wimbledon as the first match on Centre Court – their 26th overall meeting. Serena leads the head-to-head series 14-11.

While tennis fans will now get to see the latest chapter in one of the great tales of the sport’s history, Serena was just a few points away from suffering a shocking exit in the third round of the tournament. Faced with the task of beating British No. 1 Heather Watson on Centre Court, Williams stood firm in the opening set yet was unable to stop the Brit’s barrage in the second frame to force a decider. There, Williams was within two points of losing the match yet held her nerve and eventually closed out he encounter late in the third set 6-2, 4-6, 7-5. She will next encounter her big sister Venus for a spot in the quarter-final.

“We’re going to do the best that we can. I mean, she’s my sister today. She’s my sister next week. She’s my sister next year. I think that’s a little more important than a match. We’ll leave everything out on the court. When it’s done, you know, we’ll go back to regular life.”

Seeded 16th at this year’s tournament, Venus Williams has looked fantastic through the first three matches on grass at Wimbledon. Her latest win was against Aleksandra Krunic, whom she beat 6-3, 6-2 in one hour and 11 minutes.

“I think it will be a really good match,” said Serena of Venus. “Yeah, I don’t know. She’s playing so well. I’m practicing next to her every day and I’m in awe of how she’s doing. It’s a little frustrating because I know I have to play her. I just don’t know how I’m going to do, to be honest. Worst case scenario, I don’t do well. I’ll just try to keep moving ahead. Did better than last year. So I guess it’s a step in the right discussion.”

This is scheduled to be the 26th career meeting between the Williams sisters. Serena leads the head-to-head series 14-11 but has not looked her best this week at the Championships. Given that they are 1-1 over the past five years, this will be an exceptionally intriguing contest to determine the outcome.

As one of the few players who did not get to step out and play professional matches on grass ahead of Wimbledon, Maria Sharapova is actually doing quite well at this year’s Championships. Yet to drop a set at the All England Club, Sharapova will next meet Zarina Diyas for a spot in the quarter-finals of the tournament. Check out the Sharapova vs Diyas Head to Head.

Fourth seed Maria Sharapova looked as though she would be in a competitive match against Irina-Camelia Begu, as the two went toe-to-toe until the scoreline was 4-4 in the opening set. From there, Sharapova won the next seven consecutive games to go up 5-0 in the second set before eventually closing out the match 6-4, 6-3.

“Considering I didn’t play a tournament before Wimbledon, with each match I’ve had a different type of opponent on different courts, and I’ve been handling it quite well,” Sharapova said. “Today was another match against a big server and a big hitter, and on grass that can be quite dangerous. “I was quite happy that I was able to win the match in a solid two sets.”

The Russian will next come up against rising star Zarina Diyas, who upset Andrea Petkovic to advance to the fourth round of the tournament. She defeated the 14th seeded German 7-5, 6-4 to set up the clash against Sharapova.

“I played Diyas in Australia. I think that was our first meeting,” the Russian said. “This one will be a new match, and a chance to get to the quarterfinals, a place where I lost last year.”

This marks the second time that these two competitors will cross paths on the professional tour. While Diyas is capable of taking a set of Sharapova, she does not have the intensity to match the Russian’s resiliency in the longterm, particularly on grass.

2013 champion Andy Murray has certainly lived up to his comments regarding his form, as he has faced little adversary since arriving at the All England Tennis Club a few days ago. His third opponent at the event will be Andreas Seppi, whom Murray holds a 6-1 head to head record against. He will be looking for his sixth consecutive victory against Seppi when they step on out on the grass courts at SW19.

The third seed at this year’s Wimbledon Championships continued his fine form on Thursday when he secured his place in the third round with a straight sets win against Robin Haase. It was a surprisingly lopsided affair, as Murray only lost nine points in the entire first set and hit 25 winners to close out the 87-minute affair 6-1, 6-1, 6-4.

“It’s always difficult to compare. I mean, last year I played some good tennis in the first week. But, yeah, I mean, the first couple of sets were excellent. Then even third set, some of the points were very good. I moved well today, hit the ball a lot cleaner from the back of the court. It was a good match.

“Yeah, I wanted to make sure that I didn’t give him that opportunity. There was a couple of times in that third set where he had maybe Love 30 on my serve, 15 30. Yeah, I managed to stop him from gaining any momentum.”

Faced with a far more gurelling contest in his own right, Andreas Seppi was forced to rally from a set down to defeat Borna Coric in five sets. The No. 25 seed won the match 4-6, 6-4, 6-7(3), 6-1, 6-1 in three hours and 32 minutes.

This marks the eighth time these two competitors will meet on the professional tour, with Murray leading the series 6-1. Seppi’s sole victory came in their first ever meeting back in 2006. The two are 1-1 on grass but Murray’s win was far more recent: 2009 at the Aegon Championships. He should have little trouble closing this contest out in straight sets.

Six years ago, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Ivo Karlovic met in the third round of the 2009 Wimbledon Championships to determine who would advance to the following stage of the event. It was a grueling four-set battle that eventually saw the towering Croat snatch victory with his characteristic tiebreaks. Now, with a 1-0 lead in the head-to-head series, Karlovic will look to recreate the scene once again in the third round of the Championships over half a decade later.

Although not impressed with his own showing on court, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga earned a comfortable straight sets win to advance to the third round at the All England Club. He defeated Spain’s Albert Ramos-Vinolas 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 to secure his place in Saturday’s schedule. It should be noted that the former two-time semi-finalist at Wimbledon has not reached the second week of the tournament in the last two years.

“I will say I did the best part of the job because I won, so that is five points. Then I served pretty good so that is two more points. Seven out of 10, I would say.”

In his scintillating battle against Alexandr Dolgopolov, Ivo Karlovic not only won the match but he also served 53 aces throughout the affair to end up with a total of 95 aces in his first two matches at the Championships. His match-up against Dolgopolov was a grueling affair that ended 5-7, 6-3, 6-4, 6-7(4), 13-11. He became the only player since 1991 to serve 40 aces or more in consecutive matches.

This marks just the second time that these two competitors will meet on the professional tour. While there is a six-year gap between matches, they two have gravitated back to Wimbledon, where their first meeting took place in 2009. While Tsonga would put up a significant fight, it was the towering Croat who eventually edged the Frenchman 7-6(5) 6-7(5) 7-5 7-6(5) to give himself a 1-0 lead in the head-to-head series.

One of the more intriguing third round matches to take place on Saturday will be featured in the ladies draw, as former world No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki and Italian talent Camila Giorgi will meet again to determine who will advance to the fourth round of the Wimbledon Championships. This marks the fourth time that the two competitors will meet on the tour, with Giorgi leading the head-to-head series 2-1.

Follow the match: Wozniacki vs Giorgi Live

All things appeared to be running smoothly for Caroline Woznaicki, all until a late scare from Denisa Allertova, which was eventually snuffed out without need for a deciding set. After storming to a 5-1 lead in the second frame, Wozniacki found herself reeling at 5-5 in the set before she worked her way back to win the tiebreak for a final score of 6-1, 7-6(6).

“I felt comfortable and confident. All of a sudden she started playing better,” Wozniacki said. “She started hitting the lines, as well. You know, small things. All of a sudden it’s 5-6 instead of comfortably in the locker room having won the match. At the end of the day, I won. I kept fighting. You know, that’s tennis sometimes. You need to win the last point. That’s when you know you’ve won. I’m just happy to be through.”

Wozniacki will next encounter Camila Giorgi, who secured her place in the third round following a straight sets win against Lara Arruabarrena. The Italian crusied through the match 6-0, 7-6(5).

“Camila is a player that you don’t really know what to expect. She’s hitting every ball as hard as she can. Either it goes in or doesn’t go in,” Wozniacki said. “For me, it’s just about staying focused. I need to try to keep pressure on her. I need to return well, serve well, try not to let her dictate too much.”

This marks the fourth time that the two competitors will meet on the tour, with Giorgi leading the head-to-head series 2-1. However, Wozniacki’s sole win took place on grass, where they met last season in Eastbourne.

Prediction: Caroline Wozniacki in Three Sets

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