Coveted berths in the second week of Wimbledon are at stake for the men in action on Friday. We take a look at what last year’s finalists might expect, as well as a clash between two of this season’s brightest rising stars.

Andy Murray v. Roberto Bautista Agut

Murray has breezed through his first two matches with absolutely no difficulties whatsoever. The 2013 champion has won both his matches in straight sets and only dropped two games in his second-round match against 2013 NCAA Singles champion Blaz Rola.

Murray’s journey to defend his title will start to heat up tomorrow as he faces an ascending Spaniard, Roberto Bautista Agut. Bautista Agut has recorded two top-10 wins this season (Tomas Berdych and Juan Martin del Potro) and claimed his maiden title last week in ‘s-Hertogenbosch. Amazingly enough, Murray hasn’t recorded any top-10 wins this year and hasn’t reached the final of a single tournament since winning Wimbledon last year.

It’ll be interesting to see how both players approach this match, since this will be their first meeting. Since both players like to mix it up and possess a lot of variety, there should be a bit of a feeling-out process in the beginning of the match.

Expect Murray to shift the rallies into backhand-to-backhand exchanges and use a lot of underspin when targeting Bautista Agut’s backhand. Bautista Agut will have trouble driving through his extremely flat backhand if Murray is able to regularly knife his slice backhand through the court.

Bautista Agut has proven that he has the talent to hit through the court and use angles to dissect the court. Against Murray, working the angles of the court will be key. Given Murray’s ability to recover balls that most others can’t, it’s unreasonable to expect to beat him by blowing straight through the court.

Murray’s form hasn’t been up to standard this year, but it looks like he’s zoned in and is ready to make another charge at a Wimbledon title.

Prediction: Murray in four sets

Alexandr Dolgopolov v. Grigor Dimitrov

With David Ferrer out, the winner of the third-round match between Alexandr Dolgopolov and Grigor Dimitrov will have a great chance of setting up a quarterfinal matchup with Murray.

After his disappointing loss in the first round of the French Open to Ivo Karlovic, Grigor Dimitrov has recuperated well by winning at Queen’s Club and poses a major threat to the Big Four. In fact, the odds-makers have made Dimitrov the fifth favorite for the title outside of Djokovic, Nadal, Murray, and Federer. Dimitrov and Dolgopolov were supposed to play in the quarterfinals of Queen’s Club before the Ukrainian withdrew due to a thigh injury.

In their most recent completed match, Dimitrov took down Dolgopolov in the second round of Basel last fall in straight sets. Dolgopolov got the best of their first and only other meeting back in Winston-Salem in 2011.

Dolgopolov hit 42 aces in his second-round match against Benjamin Becker. His serve will need to be spot-on again against Dimitrov. The Bulgarian is lethal off the first strike. As a result, if Dolgopolov can use his serve to get ahead or end points quickly, he’ll have an easier time playing the match on his own terms.

Both men have a vast arsenal of tools and an affinity for attempting and pulling off unthinkable shots, which should translate to extremely high-quality shot-making. Forty-two aces isn’t something to expect again for Dolgopolov, but his capacity to take his opponents out of their groove with his uber-intense striking of the ball on the rise and variety of spins and paces may be enough to pull off the upset.

Prediction: Dolgopolov in five sets

Gilles Simon v. Novak Djokovic

The Round of 32 has been Gilles Simon’s kryptonite at majors this year. In Melbourne, Simon was sent packing by his countryman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. In Paris, Simon was taken out 7-5 in the fifth set by big-serving Canadian Milos Raonic.

Simon, who is unseeded in the tournament, will face his toughest third-round match yet as he squares off against Novak Djokovic on Centre Court Friday. Djokovic has won six out of their seven previous meetings and hasn’t lost to Simon since 2008.

Djokovic is accustomed to cruising in the early round of majors but was afforded no such comfort in his second-round match with Radek Stepanek. Stepanek nearly stretched Djokovic to a final set before being ousted in a tightly fought fourth-set tiebreak.

Simon will be pleased to have conserved energy in his first two matches, defeating Konstantin Kravchuk and Robin Haase in straight sets. He’ll need to have his reserves boosted up to full strength in order to compete against Djokovic, who is essentially a machine when it comes to fitness and physicality.

Backboard is the one word that comes to mind when looking to appropriately describe Gilles Simon’s game. Simon is like a sponge, absorbing blow after blow. He loves pace and loves to make his opponents play that one extra shot.

Against Djokovic, all of this needs to go out the door. Simon’s counterpunching simply won’t work. It’s not as if he doesn’t have the necessary weapons to go on the offensive. He does, and he proved this against Rafael Nadal last month in Rome. Simon can generate a ton of racket head speed and pace and thus can play with a substantial amount of aggression.

His backhand down the line will be a crucial shot in this match. Djokovic loves changing the direction of the ball and for the purpose of keeping the Serb off balance, Simon will need to do so as well. Djokovic’s defense is also a bit weaker off his forehand side, which presents yet another advantage of going up the line with his backhand.

If Simon gets on the offensive, this could get interesting, but don’t expect it to get too interesting.

Prediction: Djokovic in four sets