Wimbledon 2017: Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic to take centre court at All England Club today

IANS

London: Five matches to watch at Wimbledon on Tuesday:

-- Roger Federer has his sights set on a record eighth Wimbledon title as the Swiss star starts his 19th All England Club campaign against Alexandr Dolgopolov on Centre Court. Having unexpectedly won the Australian Open in January before taking the clay-court season off to rest, 35-year-old Federer is the bookmakers` favourite to pass Pete Sampras and William Renshaw into sole possession of first place on the list of male Wimbledon singles champions. It would be a seismic shock if the 18-time Grand Slam winner slipped up against the Ukrainian world number 84.

Head-to-head: Federer leads 3-0

Three-time Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic needs to rediscover his world-dominating form if he is to threaten the three men ahead of him in the pecking order. The fourth-ranked Serb starts his bid to regain the All England Club crown with a first-round match against world number 47 Martin Klizan of Slovakia. Defending his title, Djokovic crashed out in the third round at Wimbledon last year and has underperformed in the Grand Slams in 2017, the 12-time major winner losing in the second round in Melbourne and the quarter-finals in Paris.

Head-to-head: Djokovic leads 3-0

-- Angelique Kerber, the 2016 runner-up to Serena Williams, has endured a poor Slam season, losing in the fourth round at the Australian Open and then suffering a first-round loss at Roland Garros to Ekaterina Makarova. It was the first time a top seed had lost in the opening round in Paris. The German has also been plagued recently by a hamstring injury and was beaten by Johanna Konta in the Eastbourne quarter-finals. Opponent Irina Falconi of the US is ranked 247 in the world and has lost all of her four previous first round matches at the All England Club.

Head-to-head: Kerber 1-0

-- Interesting match-up between Argentine 29th seed Juan Martin del Potro, the 2009 US Open champion, and Australia`s Thanasi Kokkinakis. Both men have had injury-blighted careers with del Potro pushed to the brink of retirement through a wrist injury while Kokkinakis has battled a long-standing shoulder problem. The 21-year-old Australian is down at 486 in the rankings and lost on his debut appearance at Wimbledon in 2015.

Head-to-head: First meeting

-- Qualifier Ons Jabeur of Tunisia is making her Wimbledon debut after becoming the first Arab woman to reach the third round of a Slam at Roland Garros in June having also had to qualify. Svetlana Kuznetsova is a two-time Grand Slam champion, lifting the trophy at the 2004 US Open and 2009 French Open. However, the Russian has never made it beyond the quarter-finals at Wimbledon with her most recent last-eight appearance coming 10 years ago.

Head-to-head: First meeting