Veterans Tsonga and Cilic will go for upsets
Will two of the remaining “Big Four” – Andy Murray and Roger Federer – continue their march to the Wimbledon final? Or maybe Wednesday’s quarter-final matches will guarantee a new pairing for Sunday’s final at The Championships.
Previewing the four quarter-final contests…
[12] JO-WILFRIED TSONGA (FRA) vs. [2] ANDY MURRAY (GBR)
FedEx ATP Head2Head: Murray leads 12-2
For their 15th meeting and third at The Championships (2010, 2012), Murray will try to stay perfect against Tsonga on grass (5-0). The Scot has played ruthlessly this fortnight. The second seed remains a perfect 12-0 in sets and has yet to even be pushed to a set tie-break. Murray reached the quarter-finals by sweeping 15th seed Nick Kyrgios in the fourth round. The 2013 Wimbledon champion will look to reach his seventh Wimbledon semi-final and his second in a row when he and Tsonga play. They will be the second match on Centre Court.
Tsonga will try to play home spoiler against the British crowd and reach his third Wimbledon semi-final (also 2011, 2012). The Frenchman has spent about an hour longer on court than Murray. In the third round, the 31 year old rallied the No.2 Court crowd to overcome a match point and a marathon fifth set (19-17) to beat American John Isner. Tsonga’s fourth-round match lasted only 24 minutes, though, after compatriot Richard Gasquet had to retire because of a back injury.
[3] ROGER FEDERER (SUI) vs. [9] MARIN CILIC (CRO)
FedEx ATP Head2Head: Federer leads 5-1
No one, including Federer, was quite sure how he’d perform at the 130th edition of The Championships. The 34 year old had struggled with back and knee injuries this season and had lost in the semi-finals on the grass in Stuttgart and Halle. But nearly all Federer fans and the third seed himself must be pleased with his performance so far this fortnight. The Swiss star has yet to drop a set and turned in “by far my best match” of the tournament against American Steve Johnson in the fourth round. Match by match, Federer also has looked more and more comfortable on the All England Club grass.
He and Cilic will be the first contest on Centre Court on Wednesday. The Croat brings a 1-5 FedEx ATP Head2Head record into the quarter-final contest, which will be his third consecutive last eight match at Wimbledon. But the 6’6” right-hander won his most recent against Federer, a 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 sweep at the 2014 US Open en route to his first Grand Slam championship. Cilic also has looked strong during the past week, dropping only one set thus far, to Sergei Stakhovsky in the second round.
[28] SAM QUERREY (USA) vs. [6] MILOS RAONIC (CAN)
FedEx ATP Head2Head: Querrey leads 2-1
Can Querrey keep the best run of his life going, or will Raonic impose himself and his booming serve on the American? Their quarter-final match, the first on No.1 Court on Wednesday, will be a contest of big games and big players. Querrey stands at 6’6”; Raonic, 6’5”. Both also have earned career firsts to reach the last eight.
In the first round, Querrey came back from two sets down for the first time in his career to beat Czech Lukas Rosol 12-10 in the fifth. During the third round, Querrey completed what hadn’t been done in 13 months by beating Novak Djokovic at a Grand Slam championship. The 28 year old then backed up the biggest win of his career by sweeping Frenchman Nicolas Mahut in straight sets in the fourth round. Needless to state, the first-time Grand Slam quarter-finalist is swelling with confidence.
Raonic, though, also should have plenty of self-belief when he steps on the grass on Wednesday. The Canadian came back from two-sets down to win for the first time in his career earlier this tournament as well (David Goffin, fourth round). Raonic and Querrey have met at Wimbledon one prior time, with Querrey winning the 2012 second-round contest in four sets, three of which ended in tie-breaks. Expect similar endings on Wednesday. Both players rank in the top five of the ATP World Tour in tie-breaks won this season. Raonic is second with a 20-5 record; Querrey, fifth, 17-11.
[10] TOMAS BERDYCH (CZE) vs. [32] LUCAS POUILLE (FRA)
FedEx ATP Head2Head: 0-0
Berdych is the lone quarter-finalist who had to play on Tuesday, but the 30 year old said he didn’t mind winning the fifth set and finishing his fourth-round match against his Czech compatriot Jiri Vesely. Berdych’s quarter-final contest against Pouille will be experience vs. youth. Berdych reached the Wimbledon final in 2010 (l. to Nadal) and will be playing in his fourth Wimbledon quarter-final and 15th at a Grand Slam championship. Before Pouille’s first-round match at Wimbledon last week, the 22 year old was 0-4 on grass. This year at Wimbledon, he’s 4-0.
Both players have had to extend themselves to reach the last eight. Berdych played his two-day, five-set match against Vesely; Pouille went the distance with Aussie Bernard Tomic 6-4, 4-6, 3-6, 6-4, 10-8 in the fourth round. Their quarter-final contest will be the first time they’ve met.
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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] |
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.”
“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.”
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.”
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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Elena Vesnina hits the shot of the day during the second set of her thrilling win over Dominkia Cibulkova in their quarter-final at Wimbledon.
WATCH MORE:Vesnina overpowers Cibulkova to make semis
READ MORE: Serena Williams beats Svetlana Kuznetsova
Watch more from Wimbledon here.
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Nick Kyrgios needs to see a psychologist if he is to fulfil his talent, according to six-time Wimbledon doubles champion Mark Woodforde.
The 21-year-old Australian’s attitude was questioned after he lost convincingly to Andy Murray in the fourth round at Wimbledon on Monday.
Kyrgios later revealed he played computer games on the morning of the match.
“Some of the choices he is making are quite questionable,” said Woodforde.
“Look at his preparation yesterday, getting up and playing computer games. Not what you would expect from a future champion.”
Kyrgios has not employed a coach for over a year, but Woodforde said: “Maybe it is not a coach, maybe it is a psychologist or doctor of some sort who can help him with issues because I think it does start off the court with him.”
Three-time Wimbledon champion John McEnroe has also said the world number 18 “doesn’t understand” what it takes to become a Grand Slam champion.
The 1987 champion Pat Cash, meanwhile, said Kyrgios needs “some rewiring”.
He added: “I don’t think he is trying sometimes, there’s no doubt about it.”
A number of former players have been suggested as a coach for Kyrgios, including 2002 Wimbledon champion Lleyton Hewitt, Australia’s current Davis Cup captain.
Asked if he would coach his compatriot, Woodforde said it would be a “big no” for him.
“I wouldn’t be sitting in the stand being told to stand up and down, clap, and being spoken to in that manner,” he added.
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Veteran Berdych will face 22-year-old Pouille
Tomas Berdych won a one-set decider on Tuesday to complete the quarter-final line-up at The Championships.
Resuming at two sets-all, Berdych beat his Czech compatriot Jiri Vesely to complete a 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(10), 6-7(9), 6-3 victory over three hours and 56 minutes on No. 3 Court at Wimbledon.
Having regrouped overnight, Berdych won eight of the first 10 points to take a 2-0 lead in the fifth set. Vesely, celebrating his 23rd birthday today, fought hard by by striking powerful and deep groundstrokes to break to 30 for 3-3. But Berdych, the 2010 finalist, held his nerve to break in the seventh and ninth games.
Tenth seed Berdych, who is through to the Wimbledon last eight for the fourth time, will next face first-time Grand Slam quarter-finalist Lucas Pouille.
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Five-time champion Venus Williams reached the Wimbledon semi-finals for the first time since 2009 with victory over Kazakhstan’s Yaroslava Shvedova.
Eighth seed Williams – at 36 the oldest Grand Slam semi-finalist for 22 years – beat unseeded Shvedova 7-6 (7-5) 6-3.
An all-Williams final remains possible after top seed Serena beat Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-4 6-4.
In Thursday’s semis, Serena will play Russia’s Elena Vesnina and Venus will take on Germany’s Angelique Kerber.
“We don’t really talk too much about it but we are playing doubles later, so we are just happy to be in the semi-finals,” Serena told BBC Sport.
Asked about a potential final meeting, she added: “It will be great. Venus is such a tough opponent I want her to win so bad – not in the final if I am there, but if I’m not, I do.”
Kerber, the fourth seed, beat Romanian fifth seed Simona Halep 7-5 7-6 (7-2) in the opening match on Centre Court.
Unseeded Russian Vesnina thrashed Slovakian 19th seed Cibulkova 6-2 6-2 in the remaining quarter-final on court one.
Venus Williams showed she remains a real threat on the All England Club grass with an impressive win over world number 96 Shvedova.
The champion in 2000, 2001, 2005, 2007 and 2008 made it through to her first Grand Slam semi-final since the 2010 US Open.
At 36, she is the oldest major semi-finalist since Martina Navratilova finished runner-up at Wimbledon in 1994.
“I love playing the game,” Williams told BBC Sport. “When you’re winning matches it makes it that much sweeter.”
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The American, who played her first Wimbledon in 1997, recovered from losing an early break to win the opening set tie-break from 5-2 down.
She then dominated the second set, racing into a 5-1 lead and holding off signs of a Shvedova comeback to serve out the win.
“What a tough day on the court,” Williams added. “The tie-breaker, it felt like she would win. I felt like my opponent was on fire.
“I felt like the crowd enjoyed all the great points. She got them involved in the last game. We gave them good tennis today.”
Kerber edged past Halep in a contest of terrific rallying, with returns very much dominating over serves.
There were eight successive breaks in the first set, and 13 in total, but the Centre Court crowd was thrilled by much of the shot-making.
Halep was always coming from behind before ultimately succumbing with a double-fault to hand over the first set, and despite twice recovering breaks in the second, a rash of errors gave Kerber a deserved win in the tie-break.
“I think actually it was a good match, on a really high level from both of us,” said the German.
“There were a lot of breaks but I think because we are both great return players, it was not so easy to serve actually. It was a really high level match.”
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