Wimbledon R3 previews and predictions: Fritz vs. Tabilo, Mpetshi Perricard vs. Ruusuvuori

The final spots in the Wimbledon second week will be up for grabs on Saturday, when an all-seeded showdown features Taylor Fritz and Alejandro Tabilo. Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard and Emil Ruusuvuori are also taking the court.

(13) Taylor Fritz vs. (24) Alejandro Tabilo

It will be a battle between two red-hot players when Fritz and Tabilo square off for the third time in their careers in round three at Wimbledon on Saturday afternoon. Both of their previous encounters have gone Fritz’s way; 6-1, 6-4 on the red clay of Houston in 2022 and 7-6(2), 6-2 earlier this season at the Indian Wells Masters.

Fritz is sporting an awesome 33-12 record in 2024 that has him at No. 12 in the world. The American’s grass-court swing features a third Eastbourne title and so far at the All-England Club he has advanced with routine victories over Christopher O’Connell and Arthur Rinderknech. Tabilo was the other ATP champion the week before Wimbledon, lifting the trophy in Mallorca. The 19th-ranked Chilean also captured the first title of his career earlier this year in Auckland and his breakthrough 2024 campaign has continued with Wimbledon defeats of Dan Evans (straight sets) and Flavio Cobolli (five). As well as Tabilo is playing on all surfaces, Fritz has dominated this matchup in the past and grass–despite the left-hander’s exploits in Mallorca–gives the No. 13 seed his biggest advantage.

Pick: Fritz in 3

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(LL) Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard vs. Emil Ruusuvuori

Mpetshi Perricard was out of the tournament. Ruusuvuori was one point away from being out of the tournament. Fast forward a few days and both players now find themselves in the Wimbledon third round and one will earn a spot in the prestigious second week. Such is the fickle nature of tennis. Mpetshi Perricard lost to Maxime Janvier in the final round of qualifying before getting a lucky-loser spot in the main draw when Alejandro Davidovich Fokina withdrew. In the first round Ruusuvuori was double-match point down against Mackenzie McDonald during their fourth-set tiebreaker before coming back to win in five.

The rest is history. Mpetshi Perricard has made the most of his second life in London with a five-set upset of Sebastian Korda followed by a straight-set victory over Yoshihito Nishioka. Ruusuvuori followed up his heroics against McDonald by taking out Stefanos Tsitsipas 7-6(6), 7-6(10), 3-6, 6-3 on Thursday. This figures to be one of the day’s most competitive matches, but on grass a slight edge goes to Mpetshi Perricard. The 20-year-old Frenchman is averaging almost 10 aces per set through two rounds after sending 51 past Korda and striking 27 against Nishioka. In his last 10 sets dating back to qualifying he has been broken a grand total of one time.

Pick: Mpetshi Perricard in 5

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