(3) Roger Federer v (6) Milos Raonic

Perhaps the most intriguing match of the day pits third seed Federer against sixth seed Raonic in a rematch of their 2016 Wimbledon semi-final, which saw the Canadian prevail in five sets. Federer leads their FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry 9-3 and the pair have split their two Wimbledon matches, with Federer scoring a straight-sets win in the 2014 semi-finals.

Federer, contesting his 100^th match at Wimbledon, has sailed into the last eight without losing a set. Meanwhile, Raonic nearly went two sets down in his second-round match with Mikhail Youzhny and survived a marathon five-setter with 10^th seed Alexander Zverev. The Canadian hasn’t defeated a player inside the Top 5 of the Emirates ATP Rankings since his win over Federer last year, but is finally healthy after his right leg struggles throughout much of 2017 and playing his best tennis.

Should the Swiss maestro prevail, he would take over Jimmy Connors for the most Wimbledon semi-final appearances in the Open Era, with 12 in total.

(1) Andy Murray v (24) Sam Querrey

The top seed and defending champion carries a 25-match win streak against Americans into his quarter-final showdown with Querrey. He leads their FedEx ATP Head2Head 7-1 and has won their past three matches. Murray also defeated Querrey in their lone match on grass at Wimbledon in 2010.

After surviving an epic third-round clash with 28^th seed Fabio Fognini, Murray appears to have found a new level in his game. His consistency is back in full swing, with the Brit hitting just seven errors in his straight-sets win over Benoit Paire to reach the last eight.

If Murray wins, he will remain as World No. 1 when the newest standings are released on Monday. He’ll drop to No. 2 if he loses to Querrey and Djokovic takes the title. 

Querrey has already scored a win over a World No. 1 at Wimbledon with his victory last year over Novak Djokovic and is eager for a repeat this fortnight. Buoyed by his serve and forehand, the American has shown impressive mental resilience in surviving back-to-back five-set matches over 12^th seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Kevin Anderson to reach the quarter-finals. But should this match run long, fitness may come into play since Querrey has logged far more time on court than Murray.

If the American prevails, he’ll top the list for most attempts before reaching a maiden Grand Slam semi-final (42).

(2) Novak Djokovic v (11) Tomas Berdych

Although Djokovic leads his FedEx ATP Head2Head against Berdych 25-2 and has won their past 12 matches, the Czech player beat Djokovic in the 2010 Wimbledon semi-finals. Berdych has always found a way to raise his game on the lawns of the All England Club and has looked sharp this fortnight, particularly in his five-set win over eighth seed Dominic Thiem in the fourth round.

Djokovic has continued to build on his title win at the Aegon International (d. Monfils), racing into the quarter-finals without losing a set. With 1992 Wimbledon champion Andre Agassi imparting grass-court wisdom into his ear, the Serbian is displaying the level of tennis that has brought him three titles here.

If the second seed prevails on Wednesday, he’ll surpass Jimmy Connors at second on the all-time list for most Grand Slam semi-final appearances with 32.

(7) Marin Cilic v (16) Gilles Muller 

Cilic and Muller faced off last month on grass in the semi-finals of the Aegon Championships, with the Croatian prevailing in three sets. They’ve both racked up the most grass-court match wins at tour-level of any player this season, with Muller going 11-1 and Cilic posting a 10-2 record.

Cilic has been dominant with his serve all tournament long, hammering 70 aces as he raced into the quarter-finals without losing a set. Using that shot to set up his potent forehand, he’s continued to apply pressure on his opponents that allow him multiple opportunities to break.

Muller will be riding high after his epic five-set win over Nadal on Monday. His big lefty serve and penchant for serve-and-volley tennis is tailor made for grass, as evidenced by him prevailing last month at the Ricoh Open (d. Karlovic). He’s playing the best tennis of his career at age 34, sitting at a career-high No. 26 in the Emirates ATP Rankings. But after an emotionally charged win over Nadal that took nearly five hours, it remains to be seen how much Muller will have left in the tank if this match also runs long.

Sixteenth seeds Oliver Marach and Mate Pavic are the first team to reach the doubles semi-finals at Wimbledon, doing so with an emphatic 7-5, 6-2, 6-2 win on Tuesday over Marcin Matkowski and Max Mirnyi.

Marach’s only other Grand Slam semi-final came at the 2009 Australian Open (w/Kubot), while Pavic has never reached the last four at a major. They’ll take on Hans Podlipnik-Castillo and Andrei Vasilevski or Nikola Mektic and Franko Skugor in the next round. That quarter-final was suspended due to rain on Tuesday, with Podlipnik-Castillo/Vasilevski serving at 7-6(8), 4-6, 1-1.

Top seeds Henri Kontinen and John Peers also had their quarter-final suspended against tenth seeds and Roland Garros champions Ryan Harrison and Michael Venus. Kontinen/Peers lead 6-4, 6-7(5), 4-3.

The lone third-round match to be completed saw British brothers Ken Skupski and Neal Skupski delight the home crowd with a 7-6(3), 5-7, 7-6(7), 6-4 victory against Marcus Daniell and Marcelo Demoliner. Next up for the Skupskis are fourth seeds Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo.

Does Pete Sampras have the best first serve of all time? 

Sampras finished year-end No. 1 in the Emirates ATP Rankings for six straight years from 1993 to 1998, dominating with pinpoint accuracy, and often backing it up with some of the finest serve-and-volley points our sport has ever seen.

An Infosys ATP Beyond The Numbers analysis of Sampras’ first serve shows it has no peer when compared to other players who also ended the season ranked No. 1 from 1991 to 2016.

Infosys Nia Data identifies that Sampras’ best season behind his first serve was 1998, where he won a dominant 83.0 per cent of his first-serve points. The following table shows how consistently good Sampras was during his reign as World No. 1 compared to other players ranked No. 1 at the end of the season from 1991 to 2016. 

Pete Sampras: First Serve Points Won

Sampras won Wimbledon seven times from 1993-1995 and 1997-2000, with his first-serve win percentages being a major reason why. 

Pete Sampras: 1st Serve Points Won / Wimbledon Ranking

Serve-and-volley was a favourite strategy for Sampras behind both his first and second serves, with this specific tactic being first recorded at Wimbledon in 1997.

Sampras defeated Cedric Pioline 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 in the 1997 Wimbledon final, serving-and- volleying a massive 81.1 per cent (516/636) of service points for the tournament. He won an impressively high 75.4 per cent (389/516) of those points. The following table breaks down Sampras’ serve-and-volley performance at The Championships from 1997 to the last year he competed at SW19 in 2002.

  Pete Sampras: Wimbledon Serve & Volley Performance 

Sampras’ first serve motion, accuracy, and what immediately followed it was magical. If you are building the best player of all time from separate components, you would do well to pick Sampras’ first serve as the ultimate first strike weapon.