Wednesday’s quarterfinals feature two all-time greats, two young Canadian standouts, two Central European Major quarterfinal debutantes, and two tall, big-swinging, unshaven 25-year-olds.
Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic are two wins away from facing each other in the championship match of Wimbledon for a fourth time. Combined, they’ve reached 60 Grand Slam event finals, while the other six quarterfinalists have reached none. However, a repeat appointment for Roger and Novak on Sunday is far from a guarantee.
Doubles and juniors action will begin on the outer courts at 11:00am local time. The gentlemen’s singles quarterfinals commence at 1:00pm on No.1 Court, and 1:30pm on Centre Court.
Denis Shapovalov (10) vs. Karen Khachanov (25) – 1:00pm on No.1 Court
This is Shapovalov’s second appearance in a Major quarterfinal, which both occurred within the past year. It’s also the second for Khachanov, who reached his first back in June of 2019. Their only previous meeting went to Shapovalov, two years ago at the reformatted Davis Cup in Spain. These two players have almost identical win-loss records over the past 12 months, though the Canadian has reached five tour semifinals, compared to only two for the Russian. One of those semis was just a few weeks ago on the grass of Queen’s Club, while Khachanov went just 1-2 in grass court tune-up events. This surface favors Shapovalov, as the grass doesn’t allow as much time for Khachanov’s big backswing. Karen did well in outlasting Sebastian Korda on Manic Monday, in one of the most unorthodox fifth sets you’ll ever see, which included 13 breaks of serve. But as dramatic as that was, it wasn’t exactly a high level of tennis, especially compared to Shapovalov’s convincing straight-set win over Roberto Bautista Agut. Last summer in New York, Denis was a set away from his first Slam semifinal, losing 6-3 in the fifth to Pablo Carreno Busta. He should be able to win one more set today, and advance to a likely Friday matchup with Novak Djokovic.
Novak Djokovic (1) vs. Marton Fucsovics – 1:30pm on Centre Court
Yes, Novak is certainly a considerable favorite over Marton, who was 17-16 at Majors prior to this fortnight. And Djokovic is 2-0 against Fucsovics, winning on hard courts in 2018 and 2019. However, Fucsovics made both of those matches interesting, taking a set off Djokovic on both occasions. But all things considered, this feels like the most predictable of Wednesday’s four quarterfinals. Djokovic possesses a vast experience edge, consisting of 49 more Slam quarterfinals than Fucsovics. And since dropping the first set in his opening round to Jack Draper, Novak has entered lockdown mode, taking 12 straight sets.
Matteo Berrettini (7) vs. Felix Auger-Aliassime – Second on No.1 Court
These two friends off the court will be forced to do battle on the court with very high stakes. Off the court, Matteo is dating fellow quarterfinalist Ajla Tomljanovic, whose cousin Nina is dating Felix. Ajla has described how herself, Matteo, and Felix have all been rooting each other on during this fortnight. On the court, they’ve only met once, with Berrettini prevailing two years ago in the final of the grass court event in Stuttgart. That’s one of eight ATP finals for Auger-Aliassime, and he’s failed to even win a set in any of them. That’s why Monday’s five-set victory over fourth-seeded Sascha Zverev felt like such a huge moment for Felix, who has struggled thus far on big stages. But Berrettini remains the far more accomplished player, with two previous Major quarterfinal appearances, and five career ATP titles. And Matteo has looked remarkably comfortable on the grass this season, with a 9-0 record. He won Queen’s club last month, and has dropped only one set at this event. Berrettini is a considerable favorite to achieve his second Slam semifinal.
Roger Federer (6) vs. Hubert Hurkacz (14) – Second on Centre Court
Two years ago at Indian Wells, Hurkacz made his first significant impression on tour by reaching the quarterfinals. He was defeated in that round by Roger Federer, a man who he has described as his inspiration to become a tennis player. On Wednesday, he gets his rematch with the eight-time Wimbledon champion. Hubert is the only quarterfinalist who had to play on Tuesday, as his fourth round match against Daniil Medvedev was suspended due to rain. Hurkacz dominated the resumption, taking the last two sets to oust the No.2 seed. When asked after the match if having no day of rest would be a disadvantage, he disagreed, stating, “No, I think actually playing today might have helped me because I got used to the indoor conditions, the conditions on the big court, how the ball bounces there, all the crowd.” With rain again forecast for Wednesday, the roof may indeed be closed for this matchup, so Hurkacz’s successful Centre Court experience from Tuesday may indeed prove extremely valuable.
Federer came into this tournament with only eight matches in 16 months, and looked rather lackluster in his loss to Auger-Aliassime in Halle. As this fortnight has progressed, Roger has improved his form with every round, winning nine of his last 10 sets. But just a few weeks from turning 40-years-of-age, and with little match play since January of 2020, another lapse in his level wouldn’t be surprising. Hurkacz has served extremely well through four rounds, only allowing three breaks of serve. And his excellent net play in the fourth round (50/69 net points won) could be highly effective against Federer. However, Hurkacz has never advanced beyond the second round at any other Grand Slam event, which displays a severe lack of experience at this level. I have a feeling Roger has just enough Centre Court magic left in him to overcome a red-hot Hubert, and reach his 14th Wimbledon semifinal.
Other Notable Matches on Wednesday:
Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah (3) vs. Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury (6) – This men’s doubles quarterfinal was rescheduled from Tuesday due to rain. Two weeks ago in Eastbourne, Ram and Salisbury defeated Cabal and Farah in the semifinals.
Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova (1) vs. Veronika Kudermetova and Elena Vesnina – Roland Garros champion Krejcikova’s 15-match win streak in singles was snapped on Monday by Ash Barty, but her and Siniakova are on a 7-match streak in doubles, and have won three Majors as a team. Kudermetova and Vesnina took out Coco Gauff and Katy McNally on Tuesday in three sets.
Wednesday’s full Order of Play is here.
