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KEY DATES FOR WIMBLEDON 2017

Qualifying begins: 26 June

The Draw: 30 June

Pre-event Press Conferences: 1 & 2 July

Order of Play: 2 July

Championships begin: 3 July

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News
Wednesday, 29 June 2016 08:03 AM BST
Six matches to watch on Day 3
World No.772 looks forward to Federer fairytale READ MORE

Gentleman's singles

Roger Federer vs Marcus Willis

An hour-long lesson with Willis at the Warwick Boat Club - which is where the Briton would be on Wednesday afternoon if he wasn't on Centre Court taking a swing at the greatest player of all time - costs £30.

Already Willis is guaranteed £50,000 from The Championships; it would take him 1,667 lessons to earn that sum (if he could squeeze in eight lessons a day, and he never stopped for a day's holiday, that's around 208 days of toil).

Quite something for the world No.772, who until Wimbledon had only won around £200 so far this year, and who wouldn't be here if he hadn't met a girl in a bar a few months ago, who persuaded him to carry on competing. 

Federer himself is among those who has enjoyed following Willis, who has already played seven matches at this event, with three in pre-qualifying, three in qualifying and then one in the main draw. 

In Federer's view, this is "very cool" and one of the best stories in tennis in years.

Grigor Dimitrov vs Gilles Simon
In this green and purple corner of south-west London, Dimitrov is best known for being the man who derailed Andy Murray's title defence in 2014 (the summer after Murray had become the first Briton for 77 years to win the men's singles). That victory took Dimitrov through to his first Grand Slam semi-final. Unfortunately for Dimitrov, who in his youth was nicknamed 'Baby Federer', he hasn't put together another long run at a major. Now unseeded, he has no protection in the draw and his second-round opponent is a Frenchman who reached the quarter-finals last summer, with his run only coming to an end when he ran into Federer.

 Jack Sock vs Robin Haase
In the summer of 2014, Sock was part of a boyband called 'Popsocks' - the American and his Canadian partner, Vasek Pospisil, were a scratch pairing who won that year's men's doubles title. Sock is also a fine singles player, though the No. 27 seed has never previously gone beyond the second round here when playing solo.


Ladies' singles

Sam Stosur vs Sabine Lisicki
Such is the speed of Lisicki's serve, which was once recorded at a record 131mph, the German has been nicknamed 'Doris Becker'. Though she prefers 'Boom Boom Bine'. Her best result at the All England Club came in the summer of 2013 when she finished as the runner-up to Frenchwoman Marion Bartoli. That same year, she defeated Stosur in the third round, winning that match in three sets. Lisicki and Australian Stosur, a former US Open singles champion, were once doubles partners at the All England Club - together, they reached the 2011 final.

Venus Williams vs Maria Sakkari
It was Martina Navratilova, a winner of nine Wimbledon titles, who observed how Williams plays with "abandon and attitude" on grass.

"Venus takes charge," said Navratilova. Five times Williams has won the title here - for a number of years, some must have imagined that the trophy, the Venus Rosewater Dish, had been named after the Californian. While the 36-year-old hasn't won the Wimbledon crown since 2008, you sense that it is still the tournament that brings the best out of her. Last summer it took her younger sister Serena to stop her in the fourth round, and it would be an almighty shock if she were to lose to Sakkari, a Greek qualifier.

Garbine Muguruza vs Jana Cepelova
After her triumph on the clay of Roland Garros, where she scored her first Grand Slam title by beating Serena Williams in the final, Muguruza now has an elevated position in the game. The Spaniard is also a fine grass court player as she showed by reaching last year's Wimbledon final, when it was Williams who defeated her. But she should be aware that Cepelova, her Slovakian opponent, has some previous experience of bumping a top-five player from the Wimbledon draw, as she removed Romania's Simona Halep in the first round last summer.

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