A pair of blockbuster quarterfinals is on the schedule for Friday at Queen’s Club. Tomas Berdych is taking on Marin Cilic while Juan Martin Del Potro is going up against Lleyton Hewitt.
(5) Marin Cilic vs. (2) Tomas Berdych
Cilic and Berdych will be squaring off for the sixth time in their careers when they collide in the quarterfinals of the AEGON Championships on Friday afternoon. Berdych is leading the head-to-head series 4-1, but they have never faced each other on grass. Their most recent encounter came last year on the clay-courts of Monte-Carlo, where the Czech prevailed 7-6(3), 6-1.
Berdych has a considerable edge in current form. Queen’s Club’s No. 2 seed is 31-11 for the season following straight-set wins this week over Thiemo De Bakker and Grega Zemlja. Cilic is a solid 22-10, but he has mostly been dreadful since a strong February-March stretch that featured a title in Zagreb and a quarterfinal finish in Miami. The 12th-ranked Croat opened with a routine win against countryman Ivan Dodig before getting past Feliciano Lopez 4-6, 7-6(5), 7-5 on Thursday. After such a tough match against Lopez, there is no reason to think the defending champ will be able to pull off an upset of Berdych.
Pick: Berdych in 2
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Lleyton Hewitt vs. (3) Juan Martin Del Potro
Hewitt and Del Potro will be facing each other for the fourth time in their careers when they do battle on Friday. Del Potro leads the head-to-head series 2-1, but Hewitt cruised through their only previous grass-court clash 6-3, 7-5, 7-5 at Wimbledon in 2009. They last met more than two years ago in the 2011 San Jose quarterfinals, with Del Potro prevailing 6-2, 6-3.
Both players could use another win to continue what has already been an impressive tournament. Hewitt blew a two-set lead against Gilles Simon in round one of the French Open, but the 32-year-old Australian is now above .500 for the season with a 10-9 record thanks to Queen’s Club scalps of Michael Russell, Grigor Dimitrov, and Sam Querrey. Del Potro, who has been dealing with both injuries and illness, is contesting his first event since Rome and only his third since Miami. The eighth-ranked Argentine got a first-round bye then scored a hard-fought victory over Xavier Malisse and a more comfortable win at the expense of Daniel Evans. Hewitt should have an advantage on grass and Del Potro will have to serve huge and play aggressive with his forehand if he wants to hold off the veteran challenger.
Pick: Hewitt in 3
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I like both picks: Berdych playing so well this year and would have gone far at RG if not for that terrible 1st round draw vs Monfils, and same for Rusty…he’s been playing well all year!