The Gentlemen’s Singles Quarter-Final matches in the 2017 Wimbledon Tennis Championships are set. Except for a few unexpected surprises, the favorites have barged through almost without a hitch. At Center Court, Andy Murray takes on Sam Querrey while Roger Federer faces Milos Raonic. At Court 1, Novak Djokovic takes on Tomas Berdych while Gilles Muller battles Marin Cilic.
Andy Murray versus Sam Querrey: Center Court (Starts at 1 p.m. local time, 8 a.m. EST)
Wimbledon top seed and world No. 1 Andy Murray will take on American Sam Querrey at Center Court for a spot in the Semifinal. Murray will be in familiar territory literally and figuratively. The two-time Wimbledon champion is playing in front of his home crowd and has looked threatening for most of the tournament. So threatening, in fact, that the injury concerns before the tournament began have largely been forgotten. Murray has dropped only one set on his way to a tenth Wimbledon Quarter Finals appearance. Murray defeated Benoit Paire of France, 7-6 (7-1), 6-4, 6-4 in the fourth round.
Sam Querrey, on the other hand, earned his second straight Wimbledon Quarter Finals by defeating Kevin Anderson of South Africa in a thrilling five-set match. Querrey, ranked No. 28 in the world, overcame Anderson, 5-7, 7-6 (7-5), 6-3, 6-7 (11-13), 6-3, in a match that took three hours and seven minutes to complete. Querrey is seeking his first Grand Slam Semifinal appearance and is the last hope for the Americans to take home a Grand Slam title, a feat that no American has done in the last 13 years.
Going up against Murray, Querrey is a huge underdog. Metro , citing William Hill, reveals that Murray has a 1/6 chance of winning the match while a Querrey win is offered at 4/1. In eight career meetings with Murray, Querrey trails the Scot Murray 1-7.
Roger Federer versus Milos Raonic: Center Court (Starts after Murray-Querrey Match)
Following the Murray-Querrey match, Roger Federer of Switzerland will be back in action at Center Court as he battles Milos Raonic of Canada for a spot in the Wimbledon Semi-finals. Federer, the tournament’s No. 3 seed and the current world No. 5, has won nine of 12 career matches against Raonic. However, Raonic has won their last two meetings, including last year’s Wimbledon semifinal thriller.
That being said, Raonic is facing a well-rested and free-of-injury Federer while the injury bug hit the Canadian this year. Federer took a six-month break from tennis after losing to Raonic last year and to prove that the Swiss Maestro is back in his element, Federer won the 2017 Australian Open. Also, Federer hasn’t been pushed past the third set in this year’s Wimbledon.
Federer defeated Grigor Dimitrov 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 to reach the quarter-final while Raonic beat Alexander Zverev in a grueling 5 set match, 4-6, 7-5, 4-6, 7-5, 6-1.
Novak Djokovic versus Tomas Berdych: Court 1 (Starts at 1 p.m. local time, 8 a.m. EST)
Novak Djokovic of Serbia comes in as the heavy favorite to win his Quarterfinal match against Tomas Berdych of Czech Republic. Seeded second at Wimbledon, Djokovic continues his search for a fourth Wimbledon title following an injury-plagued 2017 season.
Djokovic, the current world No. 4, defeated Adrian Mannarino of France, 6-2, 7-6 (7-5), 6-4, to reach the Wimbledon Quarter-Final. Djokovic hasn’t yet lost a set in this year’s edition of Wimbledon. Berdych, the world No. 15 and seeded No. 11 in Wimbledon, beat Dominic Thiem to set up the Quarter-Final match against Djokovic.
Djokovic leads Berdych 25-2 in their head-to-head matches with Berdych’s last win against Djokovic coming way back in 2013. With the fiery Serb seemingly back in top form, the Czech would be hard-pressed to beat Djokovic.
Gilles Muller versus Marin Cilic: Court 1 (Starts after Djokovic-Berdych Match)
After the Djokovic-Berdych match, Gilles Muller of Germany will see action on Court 1 against Marin Cilic of Croatia in what many believe to be the most competitive of the four Quarterfinal matches. This is Muller’s first Quarterfinal appearance in Wimbledon while Cilic is on his fourth consecutive Wimbledon Quarterfinals.
The 16th seeded Muller made waves in the tournament as he knocked out one of the favorites in the tournament, No. 4 seed Rafael Nadal, in the fourth round. The Muller outlasted Nadal in a thrilling five set match, 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 4-6, 15-13 to book his Quarterfinal slot. Meanwhile, the 7th seeded Cilic had an easier time against another Spaniard, beating Roberto Bautista Agut in straight sets 6-2, 6-2, 6-2.
While Marin Cilic is relatively well-rested and leads their head-to-head match-up at 2-0, Gilles Muller’s win against the man who won this year’s French Open should make a huge difference, at least confidence-wise. The winner of this Quarterfinal match will face the winner of the Djokovic-Berdych match.
Bonus: Ladies’ Semifinal Action
The Ladies’ Singles will continue tomorrow as Gabrine Muguruza of Spain goes up against unseeded Magdalena Rybarikova of Slovakia. In the other Semifinal match, American Venus Williams looks to add another Grand Slam to her resume as she faces hometown bet Johanna Konta.
[Featured Image by Kirsty Wigglesworth/AP Images]