'Tsonga won't hurt Murray' – BBC pundits on the men's quarter-finals
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And then there were eight. One of these men, including home hope Andy Murray, will be crowned Wimbledon singles champion on Sunday.
British number one Murray, the second seed, is the overwhelming favourite after defending champion Novak Djokovic fell in the third round.
Can anyone stop him? BBC Sport analysts John McEnroe, John Lloyd and Andrew Castle assess all four of Wednesday’s quarter-final matches.
| DAY NINE ORDER OF PLAY |
|---|
| Centre Court – play starts at 13:00 BST |
| Roger FEDERER (Sui) [3] v Marin CILIC (Cro) [9] |
| Jo-Wilfried TSONGA (Fra) [12] v Andy MURRAY (GB) [2] |
| Court One – play starts at 13:00 BST |
|---|
| Sam QUERREY (US) [28] v Milos RAONIC (Can) [6] |
| Tomas BERDYCH (Cze) [10] v Lucas POUILLE (Fra) [32] |
Tsonga ‘not got enough ammunition’ to beat Murray
Murray has been in imperious form as he targets a second Wimbledon title, breezing through to the last eight without even dropping a set.
The next man to try and stop the Scot? French 12th seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.
Not only is Murray in arguably the form of his life, he also has a formidable record against Tsonga. He boasts a 12-2 advantage in their head-to-head meetings, including two previous wins – in the 2010 quarter-finals and 2012 semi-finals – at Wimbledon.
“Murray is stepping up to the baseline, or inside it, that’s Lendl’s influence,” said former British number one Castle. “And the confidence that is flowing from it is unreal.
“If Andy plays well, he wins.”
Tsonga’s best chance of beating Murray, according to both Castle and Lloyd, is by serving “unbelievably well”. But even that still might not be enough.
“The trouble is everyone knows he likes to go out wide on the serve and also down the middle on the left court. His patterns of play suit the great returner that Murray is,” said Castle.
Lloyd added: “Tsonga has got a big serve, is a great athlete and he’s aggressive. But I still don’t think there is enough ammunition in his game to go up against Murray for five sets.”
Federer versus Cilic ‘is touch and go’
“Watch out Roger. This is going to be a much tougher test than anything else you have faced,” McEnroe warns seven-times champion Federer.
The American, a three-time Wimbledon champion, is in no doubt that Federer is going to face a step up in class against Croatian ninth seed Marin Cilic.
The 34-year-old Swiss arrived at SW19 on the back of an injury-hit year, prompting concerns he might lack fluency and match practice to win a record eighth Wimbledon title.
So far he has brushed them aside – like his opponents – with four straight-set victories.
“We know he is hitting the ball great but he hasn’t been pushed yet. He will start being pushed now,” said Lloyd.
He faces a far tougher test against Cilic, who beat Federer in the 2014 US Open semi-final on the way to claiming his first – and only – Grand Slam title.
“At the beginning of the week I picked Cilic to reach the semi-finals – I’ve been very impressed by him,” added Lloyd.
“If Cilic serves the way he has been serving and picks his targets, it could go either way. He is a good shot-maker too, he’s belting his forehand too. It is touch and go and could go either way.”
Big-hitting Querrey and Raonic power on
One word has been commonly used to describe this match: power.
Sam Querrey caused the shock of this year’s tournament when he blasted his way past an out-of-sorts Djokovic.
And the American 28th seed showed no signs of hangover from the finest win of his career, reaching his first Grand Slam quarter-final with an impressive straights-set victory against last-16 opponent Nicolas Mahut.
Next he faces Canadian sixth seed Milos Raonic, now with John McEnroe in his camp as an advisor, for a place in the semi-finals.
“It will be a power match – it won’t be easy on the eye. It could go the distance,” said Lloyd.
Castle added: “The power from the back of the court is probably with Sam on the forehand side, but I think a lot of the sets will go deep.”
Both players have fought back from two sets down already in this tournament, with Querrey beating first-round opponent Lukas Rosol in five sets and Raonic doing the same against David Goffin in the last 16.
“You begin to feel like you have a bit of invincibility about you,” added Castle. “Raonic is expressing himself more, he’s not afraid to show anger.
“He’s pushed himself from the third gear up to fourth and fifth. That’s the McEnroe influence.”
Lloyd added: “Raonic has come out of his shell a little bit. He’s expressing himself more and he’s more aggressive. McEnroe on his side has had a great effect on him.
“I think he will beat Querrey.”
‘No-one has even noticed Pouille’
Frenchman Lucas Pouille has soared through the world rankings this year, climbing from 90th to the top 30 inside six months.
And, despite beating Juan Martin del Potro and Bernard Tomic already, his progress to a first Grand Slam quarter-final has gone under the radar somewhat.
“Pouille throws you a lot of different looks and interestingly won a close match against someone in Tomic who I though was going to make it to the quarters,” said McEnroe.
Castle added: “Pouille is a gifted player, very quietly worked his way through the draw. No-one has even noticed him.”
Berdych, the 2010 beaten finalist, is much more experienced at the highest level, having seen off fellow Czech Jiri Vesely in a five-set match over two days to reach his 15th Grand Slam quarter-final.
“Normally I’d have gone for Berdych, but he has had a very mentally tough past few days,” said Lloyd.
“However, he’s been there and done it, while Pouille has never been here. Not in his dreams did he think he would be in the Wimbledon quarter-finals.”
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