Wimbledon Day 9 Preview: The Gentlemen’s Quarter-Finals

Following Gilles Muller’s upset of Rafael Nadal in the match of the tournament on Monday, we are left with three of the “big four” in the quarterfinals. One of these four have left the All England Club with The Gentlemen’s Singles Trophy in each of the last fourteen years. Let’s examine each of their chances to advance one step further as we take a close look at all four quarter-finals scheduled for Wednesday.

Andy Murray vs. Sam Querrey

The first match of the day on Centre Court will see Andy Murray, both the British and world number one, against world number 28 and American number three Sam Querrey. Murray is a two-time Wimbledon champion, while Sam Querrey’s second straight trip to the Wimbledon quarterfinals is only his second time advancing this far at any major. Murray leads their head-to-head 7-1, with Querrey’s only win coming seven years ago on a hard court in his home state of California. Querrey has also played two straight five-setters, while Murray has only dropped one set through four rounds. Obviously Murray is the favorite here, but if you’re Sam Querrey, here’s a few things to keep in mind. Murray is not 100% healthy: though we haven’t seen much evidence of it impacting his play, his hip will likely begin to hinder him the longer the match goes. Also remember if Sam is on and he keeps hitting big, he’s capable of defeating big names: just look at last year’s Wimbledon upset of Novak Djokovic and his defeat of Rafael Nadal in the Acapulco final earlier this year.

Marin Cilic vs. Gilles Muller

At the same time that match is taking place on Centre, two of 2017’s best grass court players will square off on No.1 Court. Muller played the match of his life in talking out Nadal over the course of almost five hours in the last round, but he can’t possibly have anything left physically or emotionally, can he? It’s hard to imagine he will, and his opponent has been in better form than any man in the field during this fortnight. Cilic has not dropped a set, and looks like a man on a mission coming off a heartbreaking loss to Roger Federer in last year’s quarter-finals, where he held match points. He also narrowly lost to Feliciano Lopez in a third set tiebreaker in the final at Queen’s Club just a few weeks ago. This is the fourth straight year Cilic has reached the Wimbledon quarterfinals, but has yet to reach his first semifinal. The hungry Croat will most likely end that streak on Wednesday.

Roger Federer vs. Milos Raonic

This is a rematch from last year’s Wimbledon semifinals, in which Raonic upset the seven-time champion in what would be Federer’s last match of 2016 due to a knee injury. But both men arrive at this year’s Championships in much different places. 2017 has seen Raonic the one dealing with injuries and a lack of confidence, while Federer has been healthy and only lost two matches this year. Raonic is coming off a tough five-set match against Alexander Zverev on Monday, while Federer is another man who has won every set he’s played in this tournament. Roger will find extra motivation on this day in his desire to avenge last year’s loss. This is Federer’s fifteenth Wimbledon quarterfinal, and there’s a strong chance we’ll see him in his twelfth Wimbledon semifinal on Friday.

Novak Djokovic vs. Tomas Berdych

Djokovic holds a 25-2 career record against Berdych, and has won their last twelve meetings. Normally I would be tempted to stop this match preview right there, but this may not be as straightforward as their head-to-head indicates. Djokovic spent over two hours on the court just yesterday in his fourth round match that was held over from Monday, and he appeared to be a bit lethargic and sore. The trainer visited Novak multiple times during his fourth round victory over Adrian Mannarino, getting his arm treated just as we saw at last year’s U.S. Open. Let’s also not forget Djokovic’s level of play has been well below his usual high standard over the past twelve months. Berdych’s only major final came on the lawns of the All England Club in 2010, and one of his two victories over Djokovic was in that year’s semifinals. Djokovic will still be favored against Berdych on Wednesday, though not as heavily as usual.

Order of play