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The teenagers look to move on another round, as Joao Fonseca takes on veteran Roman Safiullin and Rafael Jodar comes back for a third straight day of play — this time against former Wimbledon junior champion Shintaro Mochizuki.
(24) Joao Fonseca vs. (Q) Roman Safiullin
Joao Fonseca has looked more comfortable on grass than his limited résumé on the surface would suggest. He has cruised through two rounds without dropping a set, including a 6-1, 7-5, 6-4 win over Jesper de Jong in which he put up 38 winners against just 18 unforced errors. He said this week that grass rewards bravery, that you have to commit to the movement or the surface punishes hesitation, and his results back that up. He is 4-1 at Wimbledon now thanks to two wins earlier this week.
Safiullin is the more battle-tested player heading in. He came through three rounds of qualifying and then followed that with a 14-12 fifth-set tiebreaker marathon against fellow Russian Andrey Rublev and a 6-0, 4-6, 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(10-5) survival act against Botic van de Zandschulp. That’s five consecutive wins and a lot of tennis, 19 sets to Fonseca’s six. He is also the guy with 2023 Wimbledon quarterfinal pedigree and has picked up wins over Carlos Alcaraz and Alexander Zverev in his career — so he can be dangerous. But Safiullin has also dealt with injury trouble the past two seasons, so back-to-back five-setters is not ideal. Look for Fonseca’s ball-striking to eventually wear down a tiring opponent.
Cheryl pick: Fonseca in 4
Ricky pick: Fonseca in 3
(23) Rafael Jodar vs. (Q) Shintaro Mochizuki
Rafael Jodar’s rise has been abrupt even by teenage-phenom standards. He was outside the top 900 a year ago, playing college tennis at Virginia, and now he’s a top-30 seed with an ATP title, a Madrid quarterfinal, and a win over Alex de Minaur on his 2026 resume. His path to round three came with some drama attached. Down two sets to one against countryman Pablo Carreno Busta and struggling with his movement, Jodar took a bathroom break right as the match was heading toward a light suspension, timing that some observers called a calculated stall and that had Carreno Busta grumbling to the umpire afterward. The match was suspended for darkness minutes later, and Jodar came back on Thursday fresh enough to pocket the win 3-6, 6-3, 1-6, 6-3, 6-4. Whatever people want to call it, it’s now back-to-back five-set wins over Carreno Busta at back-to-back majors, and it says a lot about how Jodar competes when his back is against the wall.
Shintaro Mochizuki, on the other hand, has grass in his blood. He won the Wimbledon boys’ title back in 2019; he’s good at the All-England Club. But he’s had to survive to reach round three, coming through qualifying and then two rounds, five matches total, with a five-set slog in qualifying against Clement Tabur sandwiched between more comfortable wins. That’s a lot of tennis in a short window for a guy without Jodar’s physical upside, and after two grinding, controversy-tinged days on court, Jodar should have the fresher legs and the bigger weapons to match his grass instincts. This is a first meeting between the two.
Cheryl pick: Jodar in 5
Ricky pick: Mochizuki in 5
