Wimbledon 2013 Winners: Scorching-Hot Players Who Will Dominate in 3rd Round

With a handful of favorites exiting the 2013 Wimbledon Championships much earlier than expected, both the men's and women's draws have opened up for some of the lower-ranked players.

Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, who have combined to win nine of the last 10 men's titles at Wimbledon, are both gone with more than a week left to play. Meanwhile, on the women's side, two of the three best players on the planet are out, as Victoria Azarenka was forced to withdraw and Maria Sharapova was upset in the second round.

So, what do those results mean for those still left standing?

Below, we'll take a closer look at a trio of underrated but scorching-hot players set to roll in the third round at the All England Club this weekend.

Kei Nishikori (12)

Men's No. 12 seed Kei Nishikori, who is coming off back-to-back fourth-round appearances at the Australian Open and French Open earlier this year, has yet to drop a set through the first two rounds of Wimbledon.

In Round 3, the top-ranked Japanese player will take on the 23rd-seed, Italian Andreas Seppi. Neither player has ever been past the third round at the All England Club, but Nishikori looks more likely to become the first.

The 23-year-old is playing stellar tennis at the right time this summer. He has 61 total winners to just 34 total unforced errors thus far, and he has been putting a high-percentage of his first serves into the box.

Therefore, look for a confident Nishikori to keep his streak alive and reach the fourth round at a major for the third consecutive time this year on Saturday.

Sabine Lisicki (23)

It's no secret that Sabine Lisicki plays her best tennis at the All England Club. The 23-year-old has reached the quarterfinals in each of her past three trips to the famous venue, and she even earned a semifinal berth in 2011.

The German star has achieved all this despite never reaching the quarterfinals at any other Slam event.

On Saturday, the surging Lisicki will go up against 14th-seeded Samantha Stosur for a spot in the round of 16. And even though the Aussie is seeded higher, Lisicki has been awfully impressive and should cruise into the next round (via The New York Times' Ben Rothenberg):

After all, Stosur has never been past the third round at Wimbledon and hasn't faced Lisicki on grass since 2009. Four years later, Lisicki is no longer a teenager but, instead, one of the world's top grass-court players.

Benoit Paire (25)

Up-and-coming Frenchman Benoit Paire was eyeing a potential clash with Rafael Nadal in the third round of Wimbledon this summer when the draw originally came out. But that was before Steve Darcis' shocking upset win over the two-time champion on Monday.

But after Darcis withdrew with a bum shoulder on Wednesday, Paire will take on unseeded Pole Lukasz Kubot on Friday for a spot in the round of 16. 

Paire has dropped just one set through the first two rounds and has racked up more than 100 winners over that time. The 24-year-old is also winning well over 80 percent of his first-serve points.

Following a career-best third-round finish at the French Open earlier this summer, look for Paire to knock off the 31-year-old Kubot on Friday to advance to the round of 16 at Wimbledon for the first time in his career.

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