Wimbledon 2015: Predictions for Top Stars in Friday's Singles Draw

Friday's Wimbledon slate marks the beginning of Round 3 at All England Club. It also means the sport's biggest stars will have to continue upping the ante to stave off elimination. 

The tournament field has already eliminated big names on both sides of the draw. Rafael Nadal became the latest victim of the upset bug. He was bounced from the tournament by the No. 102-ranked player in the world in Dustin Brown. 

So in a lineup that includes Novak Djokovic, Serena Williams and Stan Wawrinka, is there another scenario where the London crowd is stunned again? 

Here's a look at the premier matchups. The complete order of play can be found at Wimbledon.com.

Matchup	Prediction
Centre Court—8:00 a.m. ET
Grigor Dimitrov (BUL) [11] vs Richard Gasquet (FRA) [21]	Gasquet
Novak Djokovic (SRB) [1] vs Bernard Tomic (AUS) [27]	Djokovic
Serena Williams (USA) [1] vs Heather Watson (GBR)	Williams
No. 1 Court—8:00 a.m. ET
Stan Wawrinka (SUI) [4] vs Fernando Verdasco (ESP	Wawrinka
Maria Sharapova (RUS) [4] vs Irina-Camelia Begu (ROU) [29]	Sharapova
Marin Cilic (CRO) [9] vs John Isner (USA) [17]	Isner

Maria Sharapova vs. Irina-Camelia Begu

Susan Mullane-USA TODAY Sports

It's been 11 years since Maria Sharapova won Wimbledon. The 2004 champion hasn't advanced to the finals since 2011. However, she's looking like a strong bet to end that streak in this year's tournament. 

The 28-year-old Russian has been as dominant as possible through two rounds. Her competition hasn't been all that strong. Neither Johanna Konta nor Richel Hogenkamp are players who pose a serious threat, but she only lost a combined eight games in her two straight-set victories to start the tournament. 

That's a trend that's likely to continue as she sees Begu in the third round. Her opponent comes into the match ranked No. 31 in the world, but she hasn't done much to impress in the tournament thus far. She earned victories over Daria Gavrilova and Lesia Tsurenko and needed three sets to beat Tsurenko in Round 2. 

Sharapova has struggled with her serve. She double-faulted eight times and only put 64 percent of her first serves in play against Tsurenko. Begu isn't the type of threat who can take advantage of that, though. 

Every other aspect of Sharapova's game appears to be on point. That will at least be enough to get her serve figured out while dominating another inferior opponent. 

Sharapova 6-3, 6-3

Novak Djokovic vs. Bernard Tomic

Clive Brunskill/Getty Images

Novak Djokovic is another star who is just cruising through the Wimbledon field right now. His wins over Philipp Kohlschreiber and Jarkko Nieminen were about as comprehensive as possible. The Wimbledon Twitter account highlighted just how dominant he's been.

Bernard Tomic—much like Irina-Camelia Begu—hasn't really impressed to this point. The 22-year-old needed five sets to beat Jan-Lennard Struff in the opening round. While he rallied to beat Pierre-Hugues Herbert, he admitted the surprisingly hot conditions at Wimbledon have been getting to him. 

"I was very dizzy out there," Tomic said, per BBC. "I didn't sleep well yesterday and the day before. I'm probably getting three or four hours of sleep. I was fatigued and started to get dizzy out there with the heat hitting me."

Obviously the heat didn't hurt Tomic too much. He ultimately won his match in three sets, but that doesn't sound like a man who is primed to beat the best player in the world. 

Expect Djokovic to continue his march toward the final with relative ease. 

Djokovic 6-4, 6-4, 6-2

Serena Williams vs. Heather Watson

Susan Mullane-USA TODAY Sports

Serena Williams' march to the championship could hit an interesting snag Friday. Heather Watson isn't a star. BBC Sport offered a comparison between Watson and Williams' resume and it wasn't even close:

There are a few reasons Watson is an intriguing matchup for Williams, though. 

First, she's the only British player on the women's side left in the British tournament. The 23-year-old is sure to have a bit of a home-court advantage when she looks to overcome the odds. That can't hurt. 

But perhaps more than that, Watson's style could test Williams. Watson booked this match with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Daniela Hantuchova in which she only hit 12 unforced errors. Wimbledon tweeted out the highlights from the match:

In breaking down Watson's chances of upending Williams, Sam Smith of BBC Sport noted her aggressive return game against Hantuchova:

"

Heather's return was particularly aggressive and effective against Hantuchova. At times, we saw her at her very best.It is going to be a lot tougher against Serena but it is something she has got to try and do again. More importantly, though, to begin with she just has to get a racquet on Serena's first serve and just get the ball in.The problem is that Serena has the hardest second serve in the women's game. Heather will have to try to get on top of some of those, but it will not be easy.

"

With the crowd behind her and a propensity for avoiding errors, Watson has the ability to at least make things interesting against Williams. Unfortunately, making things interesting isn't likely to be enough to beat her. Williams has been playing extremely well thus far in London. 

Williams will have her toughest yet, but it won't be enough to make the Wimbledon crowd happy. 

Williams 7-5, 6-4 

All schedule info, stats and match times courtesy of Wimbledon.com unless otherwise noted.