Three to See, Day 6: Emma Raducanu, ranked 338th, and Cameron Norrie—facing Roger Federer—vie for big British upsets at Wimbledon

WATCH: Nick Kyrgios asks a fan where to serve the ball on match point—which he wins.

Roger Federer vs. Cameron Norrie

“Just was a big, big shot to see,” Norrie said when he was asked what it was like facing Federer’s forehand for the first time, at the Hopman Cup in 2019. “If you left any ball with not much on it, he was kind of moving around and hitting the forehand. He gave me absolutely nothing that day from what I remember.”

Can Norrie expect Federer to give him anything to work with when they meet for a second time, on Centre Court? Two and a half years later, they’re probably closer in level. Federer is still finding his game again after knee surgery, while Norrie is coming off a runner-up finish at Queen’s Club. The Brit is a lefty, which should help; we saw the success that Adrian Mannarino had serving wide into Federer’s backhand in the opening round. And Norrie will also benefit from having at least some crowd support, which few others could expect in a match against Federer.

But Federer started to look like his old self in the last round, against Richard Gasquet; this will be a trickier contest, but a semblance of his old self should be enough. Winner: Federer

Nick Kyrgios vs. Felix Auger-Aliassime

Rankings-wise, the match between No. 4 Alex Zverev and No. 40 Taylor Fritz would have been the obvious pick for Court 1 over No. 19 Auger-Aliassime vs. No. 60 Kyrgios. But this one will feature more athleticism and bigger box-office appeal. It could also be highly competitive. Auger-Aliassime won his only meeting with Kyrgios, in three close sets, on grass at Queen’s Club two years ago. And the Canadian has looked good in his first two rounds. But Kyrgios will bring more firepower, and a more difficult-to-break serve. He also seems to be all in for this year’s Wimbledon. If he’s willing to fight through the tough moments that will likely come in this match, he should be rewarded. Winner: Kyrgios

Emma Raducanu vs. Sorana Cirstea

Suddenly, Great Britain has a fresh face in the third round at Wimbledon. Even for a global sport like tennis, Raducanu has an international pedigree: The 18-year-old was born in Canada to Chinese and Romanian parents, and but grew up in London. She’s ranked No. 338, but she has made the most of her wild card, making routine work of Marketa Vondrousova in the second round.

Now Raducanu will take a step up, stage-wise, when she plays first on No. 1 Court against another, much-more-established Romanian, Cirstea. Raducanu will have the crowd, and the element of surprise, but Cirstea, who beat Victoria Azarenka on this court two days ago, is playing some of the best tennis of her career. Winner: Cirstea

UPDATE: Raducano has defeated Cirstea, 6-3, 7-5.