Semifinal spots will be at stake when the eight remaining men take the court at Wimbledon on Wednesday. Among those in action is Andy Murray, who has an enticing showdown with Grigor Dimitrov on his hands.
(3) Andy Murray vs. (11) Grigor Dimitrov
Murray and Dimitrov will be squaring off for the fifth time in their careers when they collide in the quarterfinals of Wimbledon on Wednesday. The head-to-head series stands at 3-1 in Murray’s favor, but Dimitrov survived their most recent encounter 4-6, 7-6(5), 7-6(3) earlier this season in Acapulco. Murray, though, was just returning from a back operation at that point. He is now playing his best tennis of the year, with a semifinal showing at the French Open and total domination so far at Wimbledon. The defending champion has taken out David Goffin, Blaz Rola, Roberto Bautista Agut, and Kevin Anderson without surrendering a set and playing just one tiebreaker.
Dimitrov booked a spot in his second Grand Slam quarterfinal (2014 Australian Open) by defeating Ryan Harrison, Luke Saville, Alexandr Dolgopolov, and Leonardo Mayer. The Bulgarian dropped only two sets in the process–both to Dolgopolov in a five-set victory. He is an outstanding 34-9 for his 2014 campaign, which includes three titles and most importantly in this case his quarterfinal run Down Under. Now a proven force at majors, Dimitrov should be able to make this competitive. But Murray is once again looking dominant at a venue where he has been borderline unbeatable of late and it is hard to see him going down to anyone other than Novak Djokovic or Roger Federer.
Pick: Murray in 4
[polldaddy poll=8160518]
(8) Milos Raonic vs. (WC) Nick Kyrgios
This was supposed to be Raonic vs. Rafael Nadal, a matchup in which the underdog likely would have had a good chance on grass. Raonic will have an even better chance–a considerable favorite, in fact–against Kyrgios. The two huge hitters just faced each other at Roland Garros, where Raonic won a first-round encounter 6-3, 7-6(1), 6-3. The situation now is obviously much different; it’s a quarterfinal and it’s on grass instead of clay.
The surface change likely helps Kyrgios even though Raonic is also extremely dangerous on the slick stuff. The 19-year-old Aussie is still extremely inexperienced and any match that he can reduce to one or two-strike tennis will see him have a shot at winning. But can he recover mentally just one day after the win of his career, a four-set stunner over Nadal? That is a task that may be too difficult, especially against an opponent who has dropped only one set in scalps of Matthew Ebden, Jack Sock, Lukasz Kubot, and Kei Nishikori. Raonic is also 3-0 in tiebreakers this fortnight, which bodes well for a contest that is sure to feature at least one or two such situations.
Pick: Raonic in 3
[polldaddy poll=8160520]
[polldaddy poll=8160515]
[polldaddy poll=8160514]
I still maintain if draws are indeed made tough to trouble Rafa, karma will bite back hard . Its the law of the universe.
Ever been to a magic show in public Sanju?Hate to break it to you but it’s not real.
Same thing, for sure, no? 😉
#SleightOfHand
#Illusions
Yes @Sanju. Fixing draws is a tawdry business. Nice people prefer to look away………..
As do the federazzi.
Djoko first tomorrow..Good..will have more recovery time
The Bouchard Halep match is a good dogfight. Both are future GS champs. Very steady play and good hitting
Don’t think I’m dissing Rafa by saying that he got trashed by Tsonga on that day or that he should have been able to handle Kyrgios … ‘should’ as in an ideal scenario but it was not to happen , move on, get better, waiting for HC season already
I liked what Kyrgios said before the match with Rafa “it’s going to be a good match, between us both we have 14 GS” 🙂
I hope he credited Genie Bouchard with that line, the one where he says between us both we have 14 GS? Otherwise he’s just a plain ol’ thief to boot.
She’s the one who coined it after posting a selfie with Johnny Mac on her instagram account.
Everyone had moved on until you asked for reasons why Rafa couldn’t beat Krygios other than Krygios playing out of his skin.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/tennis/2014/07/03/tennis-tradition-phony-apology-wave-wimbledon/12123275/
Note the lack of an example of TMF “apologizing”.
Besides, what is the big deal. In tennis, it is just good sportsmanship and a recognition of players recognizing the frustration on the other side of the net. Tennis is not “other sports.”
But any excuse to put Rafa in a bad light.
#ShhhFederazziAtWork
This Milos quote is much more in line with the person he appears to be. He was misquoted earlier by the telegraph.
https://twitter.com/The_Changeover/status/484709689067048960
This is why I like to see/read the direct transcripts myself.
Commies are biased and like to sensationalize, even if it takes a misquote “mistake”.
#Federazzi@Work
^^I am warming to Raonic……..
He appears to have his head screwed on tightly on his shoulders.
Bouchard is the real deal………..
I have a feeling she will beat Kvitova. I hope Princess Eugenie makes an appearance on Saturday to cheer on her name-sake.
#MapleLeafSlam
Canada Day and all of this plus Raonic all in one week???
🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂
#YouCannotBeSerious!!!!!
#GoCanada!!!!!
https://twitter.com/Wimbledon/status/484724230563852288
https://twitter.com/Wimbledon/status/484719858295537666
RT @Wimbledon: “”I never say I’m surprised [by my achievements] because I put in a lot of hard work. It’s been years in the making” – @geniebouchard”
Another line for Kyrgios to plagiarise…………
https://twitter.com/TennisChannel/status/484724812993294337
#AnythingsPospisil
#GenieInABottle
#MilosBionic
They. Just. Cannot. Leave. Rafa. Alone.
RT @jon_wertheim: “Bouchard wins. Simona Halep signing autographs, Nadal-style as she leaves in defeat…”
I saw the same intentional dig.
Nadal-style period would have sufficed. “win or lose” would have been better but then he couldn’t have worked in the intentional dig.
Vamos Genie!!!
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/tennis/article-2664972/Eugenie-Bouchard-set-Wimbledon-storm.html
Tiggy’s take is my take as well but you just never know…
Roger Federer vs. Milos Raonic
This version of the present vs. the future has also met four times, and the present—i.e. Federer—has won them all. But three of those matches have been close. Raonic has pushed all of their best-of-three-setters to a decider; two of them, including one on grass in Halle two years ago, have gone all the way to a final tiebreaker. The Canadian’s serve has been effective against Federer, but Federer’s serve has been effective in this tournament. If the match is close, the surroundings may play their part. I don’t think Raonic is ready to beat Federer in front of this crowd, on this court, at this stage of Wimbledon. The 23-year-old knows there will be more chances; the 32-year-old can’t be so sure. Winner: Federer
My apologies if this Uncle T interview has been posted already:
http://sport360.com/article/international/23021/toni-nadal-backs-rafa-add-his-two-wimbledon-titles
“I think Rafael has played not a bad game here this year in Wimbledon. But we have had a very bad draw because we played with players – it’s so difficult to play against these kind of players. Players with big serves.”
Preach it Tio Toni.
#Rigged
What does Uncle Toni know? His charge is simply not as good as the others in toppling one big server after another on a slick surface. 😉
We’ll never know. They’ve never had to.
#NoCoincidence
And of course it’s one big coincidence that all these big servers landed in Rafa’s quarter…
Nudge nudge, wink wink…………..
It’s magic ritb!
I wish @Sanju’s karma would hurry up and sort them all out! 🙂
I suspect it will be a loooooong wait.
rafaisthebest (at 4:19 pm),
I posted a quote from this article today at 11:56 am.
well, if the draw was rigged they didn’t take into account the Dimitrov factor, did they? or maybe they just rig for Fed, who knows?
Dimitrov had never been past the second round at Wimbledon.
“If Rafael had beaten Kyrgios, maybe he could have won the tournament because it’s just a couple of balls that made the difference. It wasn’t the same as last year when Rafael couldn’t run and he played really bad. This year he could have beaten everyone. He could lose, but he had chances to beat the best players in the world.
“Rafael began the year very good in Doha and Australia and then he played not too good and I think he has recovered his confidence and his level is again at a good level. and I think Rafael now has the possibility to make a good US tour and a strong finish to the season.”
I said exactly the same yesterday , haha…uncle Toni is right on
Shireling says:
July 3, 2014 at 8:36 pm
well, if the draw was rigged they didn’t take into account the Dimitrov factor, did they? or maybe they just rig for Fed, who knows?
By the Qtrs. there was no hiding place. They could either choose Dimitrov or they could choose Ferrer, Raonic, Gulbis or Isner.
Wimbledon 2014: Nick Kyrgios admits Rafael Nadal win left him tired
Wimbledon 2014: Nick Kyrgios admits that his fitness let him down during his 6-7 6-2 6-4 7-6 defeat by Milos Raonic
The Sport Review
By The Sport Review and Marianne Bevis at Wimbledon
Thursday 3 July 2014, 10:02 UK
The 19-year-old Australian conceded that his surprise fourth-round win over Rafael Nadal took a physical toll during his loss to the eighth seed on Court One on Wednesday.
“[The Nadal match] had a pretty big impact,” said Kyrgios. “I was struggling physically about halfway through the second set. I was feeling sore in a couple of places.
“I have nothing left to give. Beating Rafa took a lot out of me but I will work on my fitness and conditioning.
“But I’m not going to take any credit away from him. He served unbelievably. I thought I came out strong on his first return game. I made him earn that.
“All the other service games it looked like he was in such a rhythm that I just couldn’t do anything out there.”
Raonic, meanwhile, expressed his delight at setting up a semi-final showdown with seven-time champion Roger Federer.
“It’s a good feeling,” said Raonic. “It was a very difficult match today. A lot of not knowing what to expect because I knew I played him three weeks ago, but it was very different circumstances this time around.
“I’m happy with the result I was able to get out of it.”
http://www.thesportreview.com/tsr/2014/07/wimbledon-2014-nick-kyrgios-admits-rafael-nadal-win-left-him-tired/