With just a few hours left until the Round of 16 begins, what are your predictions for the Round of 16?

I’ll start:

[1] Novak Djokovic vs [17] Christian Garin

Djokovic in 3. Even when playing pretty poorly, Novak has been good enough to not be in any danger. In addition, Garin doesn’t have me convinced on grass just yet—he’s been rather inconsistent. Coming onto Centre Court against one of the GOATs for the first time is also bound to mess with his head. I see Djokovic being way too consistent for him overall.

Martin Fucsovics vs [5] Andrey Rublev

Rublev in 4. I wanted to pick Fucsovics in my heart but my head says otherwise. Fucsovics’s “PTSD” from his previous encounters with Rublev will probably lead to his downfall. I think Fucsovics has the tools to beat Rublev, evidenced by this run, but his mind will let him down.

[25] Karen Khachanov vs Sebastian Korda

Korda in 5. I like Khachanov, but Korda has knocked off De Minaur and Evans both in 4 sets. Though I see Khachanov putting up a little better of a fight than those two, Korda is playing his socks off right now and will not be denied.

[10] Denis Shapovalov vs [8] Roberto Bautista Agut

RBA in 5. Experience wins here. RBA has shown steady improvement at Wimbledon, even making the semifinal in 2019. Shapovalov, on the other hand, has never made it past the 2nd round before this year. I think the lights get a little too bright for Shapo, but his talent ensure that this will be a close match regardless.

[7] Matteo Berrettini vs Ilya Ivashka

Berrettini in 3. Ivashka has done quite well so far, but Berrettini is quietly becoming a force to be reckoned with. He’s been quietly avoiding his weak backhand by using a slice backhand a lot, and his serve and forehand are on fire. Last match against Bedene, he hit 89% of his big first serves in, with 20 aces and 0 double faults. He also hasn’t been broken since the second set of the entire tournament. Berrettini was my pre-tournament pick to make the final from the bottom half, and he’s shaping up to be exactly what I hoped for. If he continues his form, Ivashka won’t have a chance.

[16] Felix Auger-Aliassime vs [4] Alexander Zverev

Zverev in 4. Zverev has been shaky at times, but I think FAA has been even shakier. He dropped a set to Ymer and was possibly on his way to another dropped set before Ymer got injured. Then he dropped a set to Kyrgios and looked far worse before Kyrgios also got injured. That is to say, I think FAA has been really lucky with his run and I think Zverev will take it to him, for the most part. But they are both inconsistent and so I don’t think it’ll be a clean 3-set sweep.

[6] Roger Federer vs [23] Lorenzo Sonego

Federer in 4. I know that Federer has been pretty good so far, but I don’t think he’s been tested well. Norrie was the only one that tested him remotely and he was way too inconsistent in the first two sets. Given that this match will 100% be on Centre Court, though, I expect the nerves to hit Sonego as well. Consequently, I think Sonego plays inconsistently as well and Federer thus takes this.

[14] Hurbert Hurkacz vs [2] Daniil Medvedev

Hurkacz in 5. If I checked it correctly, Hurkacz hasn’t even been broken yet this entire tournament. Medvedev just got pushed to a 5-setter against Cilic, who did play well. Though Medvedev is undoubtedly a titan in himself, Hurkacz’s relative freshness makes me think that he’ll be able to outlast Medvedev in the end. I do wonder how Hurkacz will feel mentally if he gets broken early though.