Crowd favourites Andy Murray and Roger Federer will both be hoping to continue their solid run at Wimbledon in their quarter-final matches on Day 9 of the tournament.
The last eight features a mixture of the best and the underdogs. At one end of the spectrum, the top two seeds left in the tournament (Murray and Federer) and at the other end are two players making their grand slam quarter-final debut (Sam Querrey and Lucas Pouille). Despite the removal of Novak Djokovic, the four men’s matches promises to be full of excitement and intrigue.
Roger Federer Vs Marin Cilic
18 months on from Federer’s shock loss to Cilic in the semifinals of the US Open, both men will once again battle against each other on the court. The route to the last eight of the tournament has seen the 34-year-old ease past Guido Pella, Marcus Willis, Dan Evans and Steve Johnson without dropping a set. It is a run that has even surprised the seven-time champion himself, who has been hampered by a knee problem and a back injury during this year.
“I would never have thought that I was going to win the first four matches in straight sets, I’m extremely pleased.” Federer said after his fourth round match.
Cilic promises to be Federer’s toughest test yet. The Croat’s run to his third consecutive Wimbledon quarter-final has included triumphs over Brian Backer, Sergiy Stakhovsky and Lukas Lacko. In the last 16 he progressed to a Federer showdown after Kei Nishikori retired due to injury. Unlike last year, the former US Open champion is beaming with confidence on the grass and he believes that he is a bigger threat in the tournament than he was last year.
“I would say that I’m playing pretty good, close to the baseline and trying to be aggressive as much as I can. Last year I wasn’t feeling as good as this year.” Cilic said.
Overall, Federer currently dominates the head-to-head 5-1 against the ninth seed. If he is able to continue his form from the first week of the competition, it is likely that that Swiss player will be able to reach yet another semifinal at SW19. On the other hand, Cilic should never be underestimated and a straight sets triumph for the seven-time champion will be unlikely. Federer has the edge, but he will be pushed to his limits by his 27-year-old rival is what will be his biggest fitness test on the grass yet.
Andy Murray – Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
For the third time in their careers, Murray Will play Tsonga in the second week at Wimbledon after 2010 and 2012. The world No.2 set up with a clash with the Frenchman with early victories over Liam Broady, Yen-Hsun Lu and John Millman. In the fourth round, he brushed aside an erratic and below-par Nick Kyrgios in straight sets. Murray will now play his ninth consecutive Wimbledon quarter-final. Things are certainly looking good for Murray, however, he is under no illusion of how tough his next match will be.
“I’m fully aware of how difficult my next opponent is. I know Tsonga is one of the best grass court players in the world.” Murray said.
“If he plays well, I’m not on my game, I can lose that match for sure.”
Incredibly Tsonga has never won a tournament on the grass in his professional career. At this year’s grass-court major, the Frenchman endured a marathon third round match against John Isner, edging him out 19-17 in the final set. Despite the epic encounter, he should be fresh for the last eight after only playing six games in the fourth round after Richard Gasquet retired due to a back injury.
Murray has a win-loss of 15-3 against Tsonga and won their three most recent meetings. Six of those encounters occurred on the Grass with the Brit only losing once in a 2004 Challenger tournament. The Brit is expected to come through with the use of his sublime defensive play against Tsonga’s powerful shots. The Frenchman will put up a fight ten times tougher than Krigios did in the previous round, but Murray is likely to still come out on top.
Tomas Berdych – Lucas Pouille
Statistically Tomas Berdych is set to dominate proceedings against rising-star Pouille. The Czech is ranked 21 places higher than him and he will be playing in his 15th major quarter-final compared to Pouille’s first. As far as experience goes, Berdych should win comfortably, however, Pouille is one of the most talented young players on the tour.
32nd seed Pouille reached the last eight with hard fought wins over Juan Martin Del Potro and Bernard Tomic. His run on the grass has reminded the tennis community that is isn’t just Dominic Thiem or Alexander Zverev that has the potential to be future stars in the game. What is even more incredible about the world No.30 is that he had never won a match on the grass prior to the tournament.
“Before the tournament, [my goal] was to win one match on grass. I’m very happy and very emotional with the win,” said Pouille after his fourth round win.
“I’ll try to recover as good as possible for Wednesday. I think it will be one of the most important matches of my career so far… But for the moment, I’m just trying to enjoy it.”
The prospect of Pouille beating the 10th seed in their first meeting is a tough task, but not an impossible one for the 22-year-old. During Berdych’s match against Jiri Vesely, there were periods where he was fragile on the grass and Pouille is the kind of player that has the ability to capitalize on those moments. Berdych might be the odds on favourite against the inexperienced Pouille, but don’t be surprised to see him crash out to the French underdog.
Milos Raonic Vs Sam Querrey
In the North American battle, the fast-serving Raonic faces Djokovic’s conqueror Querrey. It is a showdown that nobody expected a week ago. Both men have earned their respect of the grass this season, but Raonic does have the edge.
Raonic, who never played on a grass-court until the age of 17, has blossomed on the grass since working with John McEnroe. At the Aegon Championships he reached the final without dropping his serve before losing to Murray. He continued his surge with Wimbledon wins over Pablo Carreno Busta, Andreas Seppi and Jack Sock. It wasn’t until the fourth round where he faced danger. For the first time in his career, Raonic came from two-sets behind to battle past Belgian 11th seed David Goffin.
The encounter seems likely to be a triumph for Raonic, however, it is hard to play-down a player who defeated world No.1 Djokovic in the third round of a grand slam, regardless of any potential issues the Serbian may have had. Querrey reached his maiden major quarter-final with a straight-set win over Ricoh Open champion Nicolas Mahut.
Querrey has defeated Raonic at Wimbledon before in the second round of the 2012 tournament. On the other hand, Raonic has developed significantly over the past four years and it is expected that he will get his revenge for that loss on Wednesday.
Order of play
Centre Court (start 13:00)
(3) Roger Federer (Swi) v (9) Marin Cilic (Cro)
(12) Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (Fra) v (2) Andy Murray (Gbr)
Court 1 (start :13:00)
(28) Sam Querrey (USA) v (6) Milos Raonic (Can)
(10) Tomas Berdych (Cze) v (32) Lucas Pouille (Fra)
