Wimbledon Day 6 preview: Swiatek and Collins ready for another chapter

WIMBLEDON -- With a Grand Slam main draw of 128 players, the 32 who are seeded, by design, are expected to meet in the third round.

But at the end of play Thursday, when the third-round matchups were finalized at the All England Club, there was a palpable sense of vertigo, a disconnect of epic proportions. Some 17 of those 32 seeded players -- including five of the Top 10 -- were missing in action. 

Get this: Only four of the 16 third-round matches feature two seeded players.

For several days now, reporters have been digging with a forensic frenzy for answers.

“I’m not sure really,” Emma Navarro said. “This time of year it’s getting towards the second half of the season, and for a lot of players it’s a lot of tournaments in a row, and it’s a pretty long stint in Europe. So maybe that has something to do with it.

“I feel like the level is really high, and there’s a lot of very small margins between the very best and people that are ranked a little bit lower. On any given day, anything can happen. You know, yeah, I think it’s just tennis.”

Who will take advantage of this opportunity?

Here’s a look at Saturday’s marquee third-round matches:

No. 7 Mirra Andreeva vs. Hailey Baptiste

Head-to-head: 0-0.

Andreeva displayed some resourcefulness, defeating Lucia Bronzetti 6-1, 7-6 (4). It’s been a learning curve for the 18-year-old.

“On grass I can play more aggressive, and I think that the player that plays a little bit more aggressive the surface is benefiting that player,” Andreeva said. “Now I’m trying to learn and improve how to finish the point at the net to be more aggressive, so I felt like it’s working so far.

“Definitely, my level of tennis confidence is raising a little bit with winning more matches on grass.”

Baptiste was a 7-6 (6), 6-3 winner over lucky loser Victoria Mboko.

“I played against her doubles in Paris, which is completely different playing doubles on clay court and playing single on grass court,” Andreeva said. “Yeah, I hope that [coach] Conchita [Martinez] will give me nice advice how to play against her.”

No. 8 Iga Swiatek vs. Danielle Collins

Head-to-head: 7-2, Swiatek, but Collins won the most recent match, in the third round of this year’s event in Rome, 6-1, 7-5.

This should be a treat, because both players are in go-for-it mode.

Like her idol Rafael Nadal, Swiatek is gradually learning to break out of the clay mold and willing to up the risk-reward percentages on grass. She’s more aggressive (and more uncomfortable), but so far it’s paying off.

Swiatek was a come-from-behind 5-7, 6-2, 6-1 winner over Caty McNally in 2 hours and 25 minutes. Her bottom-line numbers looked like this: 44 winners, 36 unforced errors, while saving 13 of 15 break points against her.

“It’s about being more proactive, I would say and sometimes making braver decisions and for sure the intensity with the footwork,” Swiatek said.

Collins, a 6-4, 6-1 winner over qualifier Veronika Erjavec, always tries to take the ball early.

“Flat hitter, baseline player,” Swiatek noted. “Solid serve. Likes to be proactive, be aggressive.”

No. 10 Emma Navarro vs. No. 17 Barbora Krejcikova

Head-to-head: 0-0.

Krejcikova, the defending champion, was a 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 winner over Caroline Dolehide. After outlasting the unseeded American, Krejcikova was informed she would be playing Navarro.

“Interesting -- I didn’t know,” Krejcikova said, smiling. “Obviously, yeah, I don’t really have much to say. I kind of have to look at how she’s doing.”

Pretty darn well, as it turns out. Navarro defeated Veronika Kudermetova 6-1, 6-2. Afterward, Navarro said she was impressed with Krejcikova’s performance here last year.

“I think winning a Grand Slam, any Grand Slam, is a huge accomplishment,” she said. “To be able to win seven matches in a row, every one against great players, is incredibly impressive. Yeah, I think it shows that she has the ability to play really well in this surface especially.

“I think it would be a huge challenge, for sure. But from my end I feel like I have a lot of tools and the ability to sort of combat that.”

Fitness could be one of those tools. This was the second straight match Krejcikova went to three sets -- and she came in with only six matches played this year following injuries. Navarro, by consensus, is one of the fittest players on Hologic WTA Tour. A quarterfinalist here last year, she’s now won six of eight matches at Wimbledon.

No. 11 Elena Rybakina vs. No. 23 Clara Tauson

Head-to-head: 2-0, Rybakina, a 2019 straight-sets win in Bastad and a three-set victory last year in Miami.

When Rybakina defeated Maria Sakkari 6-3, 6-1, her career record at Wimbledon climbed to an extraordinary 21-3 (.876). The 2022 champion here has dropped seven games in four sets.

“Really happy with the win,” Rybakina said afterward. “Just looking forward for my next match.”

As well she should. Rybakina, who has been challenged by injury and illness, looks fit and grass suits her hard-serving, flat-hitting game.

Tauson, the 22-year-old from Denmark, has now won five of seven matches on grass this year after defeating Anna Kalinskaya in a 6-3, 7-6 (10) barnburner. Tauson converted her sixth match point and, after going 0-3 at Wimbledon, is now on firmer footing with two wins.