Gritty underdogs get ready to battle former world No. 1 Ana Ivanovic and top-10 stalwart Angelique Kerber as the second round of women’s action concludes at Wimbledon.

Ana Ivanovic vs. Jie Zheng

Resurgent may be the word that comes to mind when thinking of Ana Ivanovic.  This season, she has finally started to more consistently play the kind of tennis that took her to the top of the women’s game six years ago.  But for all that she has accomplished in 2014, little alarm bells are probably going off in the back of her mind as she prepares for her second-round match at Wimbledon.  It is there where Ivanovic faces Jie Zheng, a former member of the top 20, who is more than capable of making this an uncomfortable match for the former No. 1.

Ivanovic has certainly done enough to put herself in the right place mentally to make this a straightforward affair.  She is nearly back in the top 10, thanks to a litany of impressive results in 2014, which have included three titles and wins over the likes of Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova.  Perhaps the most important thing for Ivanovic is that that her third title came at Birmingham, so she is thought to be feeling relatively confident on the lawns.

But Zheng is apt to be feeling equally good about her odds as well.  She came into Wimbledon on the heels of a finalist appearance at ‘s-Hertogenbosch, and Wimbledon has been the venue where she generally produces some of her best tennis.  It was here in 2008 that she became the first woman from China to reach the final four of a major.  It was also on the lawns of the All England Lawn Tennis Club that Zheng nearly brought Serena Williams’ 2012 title run to a premature end, pushing the American to 9-7 in the third set.  She has split her meetings with the Serb at two apiece, and it was Zheng who emerged with a straight-set victory in their lone encounter at Wimbledon.

If Ivanovic hopes to turn the tables this time around, she needs to serve well, be sharp on the return, look to control the match with her forehand, and most importantly, be ready to hit the extra ball.  She has a more potent game than Zheng, so she is in the better position to make things happen.  Zheng’s challenge is to avoid allowing Ivanovic to have too much of a free rein in this contest.  She can potentially accomplish that by trying to engage in frequent backhand battles with the Serb, which would pit her best stroke against the weaker wing of Ivanovic.  Additionally, Zheng is the better mover, so if she can extend the rallies, she may press Ivanovic into unforced errors.

In the end, this is a tighter match than the 50-plus place differential in their rankings would suggest.  Ivanovic deserves the nod as the favorite, but Wimbledon is one of the more difficult majors for her, and it would not be shocking if Zheng were to add one more name to the list of upsets at this year’s Championships. 

Angelique Kerber vs. Heather Watson

The 2014 Wimbledon Championships has not yet been rocked by the stunning outcomes fans witnessed last year, although there have been some surprising casualties.  With many players struggling to find their footing on the fresh lawns, the higher-ranked seeds may be most ripe for an upset in the earlier rounds.  Heather Watson will be looking to prove that is the case when she takes to the court against No. 9 seed Angelique Kerber.

On the surface, it may appear that Watson stands little chance of advancing at the German’s expense.  Only once has she ever been beyond the first round of a major.  She has dropped outside of the top 50 thanks in large part to an illness that kept her off tour for a majority of 2013, and she has spent the bulk of this season playing challengers and qualifying.  On the other hand, she has won two title at Challengers, frequently come through the qualifying, and just last week reached the semifinals in Eastbourne.  Perhaps the young upstart is honing in on her game at just the right moment.

Like Watson, Kerber may also have discovered her grass-court skills in the nick of time for Wimbledon.  She went one better in Eastbourne, reaching the final there for the second time in her career, and Kerber has had far more to celebrate overall in 2014.  In addition to reaching two other finals, she booked a passage to the second week of the year’s first two majors.  Furthermore, while Wimbledon may not be her favorite Grand Slams, she knows what it takes to go deep on these lawns after a trip the final four in 2012.

Watson is facing an uphill battle, but she is not without hope.  Having never faced each other, Kerber is not apt to come in feeling comfortable against Watson.  Watson is also bound to have plenty of support from the home crowd, which could get under Kerber’s skin.  The German has a tendency to be a temperamental player, often going on walkabouts when things are not going according to plan.  She can ill afford to do that against the Brit and a biased crowd, or the wheels could come off quickly. 

Kerber must be wary of relying too heavily on defense as well.  She is a deceptively good mover, who has won more than a few matches with her stellar defense.  But Watson can move with the best of them and plays lower to the ground, which could work to her advantage on the grass.  Since Kerber is capable of going bigger than her opponent, she ought to be taking the initiative and reducing her time on court to conserve energy for the later rounds should she advance.

Clearly, most signs point to a victory for Kerber, and odds are she will prevail.  Should Kerber be in an edgy mood and Watson able to keep it close, however, an upset could be in the cards.  An entire nation will hold its collective breath as it hopes for a strong result from the young Brit.