Andy Murray will continue his campaign for a first Wimbledon title when he takes the court for quarterfinal action on Wednesday. Meanwhile, Jerzy Janowicz and Lukasz Kubot are facing each other in an all-Polish showdown.
Fernando Verdasco vs. (2) Andy Murray
Verdasco and Murray will be squaring off for the 10th time in their careers at the ATP level when they clash in the Wimbledon quarterfinals on Wednesday. Murray is dominating the head-to-head series 8-1, but they have never faced each other on grass. They also have not met since 2009, when Verdasco pulled off a 2-6, 6-1, 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 fourth-round Australian Open upset before ultimately losing to Rafael Nadal in an epic five-set semifinal. Murray, though, bounced back to beat Verdasco three times later in 2009.
The second-ranked Scot has soared since then, especially last yeah when he captured Olympic gold in addition to his first Grand Slam title in New York. A back injury booted Murray out of this season’s French Open, but for the most part he has continued to be outstanding. The All-England Club’s No. 2 seed boasts a 31-5 record following wins this fortnight over Benjamin Becker, Yen-Hsun Lu, Tommy Robredo, and Mikhail Youzhny. Verdasco has slumped for the most part since 2009, especially in 2012 and throughout the first half of 2013. Suddenly, however, the 54th-ranked Spaniard is in resurgent form. He fared relatively well on clay, reached the Eastbourne quarterfinals for his Wimbledon tuneup, and so far at this event he has taken out Xavier Malisse, Julien Benneteau, Ernests Gulbis, and Kenny De Schepper.
Like countryman Feliciano Lopez, Verdasco cannot be discounted on grass. He had already advanced to the Wimbledon fourth round on three previous occasions and this time around he has won 12 sets in a row since dropping his opener to Malisse. At the same time, Murray is obviously playing at home and he has won 21 straight grass-court matches against everyone other than Roger Federer dating back to the start of last year’s Wimbledon.
Pick: Murray 6-3, 7-5, 6-3
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Lukasz Kubot vs. (24) Jerzy Janowicz
The two Polish surprises will be going head-to-head for the first time in their careers on Wednesday. Since finishing runner-up last fall at the Paris Masters, Janowicz had only made major headlines with a monumental meltdown over a controversial line call at the Australian Open. Finally, however, the world No. 22 has his game back in shape. He dismissed Kyle Edmund, Radek Stepanek, and Nicolas Almagro all in straight sets to reach round four at the All-England Club before benefiting from Federer’s absence and beating Jurgen Melzer in five on Monday.
Kubot’s stroke of good luck came earlier in the tournament, when he got a second-round walkover from Steve Darcis while he could have been running into two-time Wimbledon champion Rafael Nadal (Nadal lost his opener to Darcis on day one). The world No. 130 went on to crush Benoit Paire in straights before overcoming another Frenchman–Adrian Mannarino–in five.
Wednesday’s winner will become Poland’s first men’s singles Grand Slam semifinalist in tennis history. Janowicz and Kubot are also the first two Polish slam quarterfinalists since Wojtek Fibak reached that stage of three majors in 1980. That will only up the ante for what is already the biggest match of their lives even without the pressure of potentially making history. Neither Janowicz nor Kubot had ever been to a slam quarterfinal prior to this fortnight. Kubot had lost three times in the last 16 of majors, whereas Janowicz had never been past the last 32. Janowicz, though, played a whole host of big matches in Paris and several more on clay this spring, so he is battle-tested. The edge should go to the world No. 22 based on a superior serve and overall firepower from all areas of the court.
Pick: Janowicz in 4
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Yes, I also like Murray in 3, and Jersey Boy in 4.