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
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(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
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