Wimbledon, Day 4: Five Matches To Watch

Other than the obviously huge Isner-Mahut resumption (which we will be following here), here are the big five matches to watch for Day 4 at Wimbledon 2010

1. Jarkko Nieminen (FIN) vs No. 4 Andy Murray (GBR) (8 AM EST on ESPN2) -- Playing in front of Queen Elizabeth during her first visit to Wimbledon in 33 years, Andy Murray will take on tricky Finnish veteran Jarkko Nieminen in a dangerous second round match. Murray is already the last British player remaining in either singles draw, and that combined with playing in front of royalty could make him justifiably jittery. It will be interesting to see how he manages his nerves (and his brattiness).

2. No. 1 Serena Williams (USA) vs Anna Chakvetadze (RUS) (~10 AM EST on ESPNU) -- Serena Williams, who has been asked about practicing her curtsy in preparation for potentially playing in front of The Queen, cannot be at all happy with being relegated to Court 2 for this match, with placement on Centre Court being given to No. 3 Caroline Wozniacki. What's especially surprising about that decision is that Serena's opponent, Anna Chakvetadze, is also way more well known than Wozniacki's (Kai-Chen Chang). Chakvetadze is a former top-five player who made the semifinals of the 2007 US Open, but totally fell off the map after she was brutally attacked during a home in vasion in Moscow that winter.

3. Robin Haase (NED) vs No. 2 Rafael Nadal (ESP) (~1 PM EST on ESPN2) -- Rafael Nadal was extremely impressive in his first match against Kei Nishikori, and will face a similar challenge from big-hitting Dutchman Robin Haase in the second round. Haase should be able to hold serve more easily than Nishikori was, so expect some close sets.

4. No. 13 Mikhail Youzhny (RUS) vs Paul-Henri Mathieu (FRA) (~1 PM EST, Likely Untelevised) -- These two have played some great matches previously in their career, hence the scheduling committee's somewhat surprising move to put these two relatively obscure guys on the second-biggest stage at the tournament. Mathieu is more of a natural fast court player, but Youzhny is playing better now than he has at any point since he smashed that racquet into his head repeatedly.

5. Anastasia Rodionova (AUS) vs No. 19 Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS) (~1 PM EST, Likely Untelevised) -- Svetlana Kuznetsova nearly lost to Akgul Amanmuradova in the first round, a far inferior player to Rodionova. Based on current form alone, it could probably be said that Rodionova should win this match, an astounding notion given the fact that Kuznetsova won the 2009 French Open and spent most of the last year or so in the top five.