The four Wimbledon men’s quarterfinals all have clear favorites, with Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic, Marin Cilic, and tournament favorite Roger Federer all likely to advice, but as we saw with Gilles Muller on manic Monday, upsets happen on grass. Our panel of Steen Kirby, Yesh Ginsburg, Vithun Illankovan, and Brett Margolies are on hand to predict the quarters.
Andy Murray vs. Sam Querrey
Steen: Murray is 7-1 against Querrey and has played well in all but one of his matches this Wimbledon. He has every reason to believe he can defend his Wimbledon title, and Querrey has faced long matches since round 2. I don’t think he’ll be able to last in best of 5. Murray in 5
Yesh: Assuming Murray is healthy, he should be able to get enough Querrey serves back to frustrate the American and win. If Querrey’s serve is on, though, this could get interesting. Murray in 4
Vithun: On both previous occasions when Murray tried to defend a Grand Slam he lost in the quarter-finals in an unexpected sub-par performance. In addition, many of his bad matches this year have just quite suddenly. Querrey beat Novak Djokovic at Wimbledon last year and has reached the quarter-finals at Wimbledon for the second straight year. For some reason, I sense the upset even though I am probably the only one who feels this way. Querrey in 5
Brett: After another straight set win, Andy Murray will finally face an opponent that I think will actually be challenging. He’s put all the injury questions to bed with the way he’s playing, but Sam Querrey is a dangerous player on grass. Can Sam Querrey defeat Djokovic, and Murray in back to back years at Wimbledon? I think he will, he’ll have to serve well and play better on the big points to pull off the upset. Querrey in 4
Gilles Muller vs. Marin Cilic
Steen: Cilic is 2-0 against Muller in his career, and has been in great form. Muller rose up big time in the round of 16, but the come down should be a bit hard on him at his age, I’m also certain he won’t be entirely fit for this one. Cilic should cruise. Cilic in 3
Yesh: What a match by Muller to get here. Unfortunately for him, Cilic is just on a whole other level right now. Cilic in 3
Vithun: This is the predicted quarter-final I had from this section of the draw when it came out. Cilic was my pick of the finalist from the top half of the draw and I still hold this prediction. Muller is likely to be mentally drained after his epic win over Rafael Nadal in the previous round. Cilic has lost in the Wimbledon quarter-finals for the last three years but I believe it will be 4th time lucky. Cilic in 4
Brett: After Gilles Muller had the upset win of the tournament beating Rafael Nadal 15-13 in the 5th set he’ll face Marin Cilic who might be the most in form player in the whole tournament. They met a couple weeks ago at the Queens Club where Cilic won in three sets (6-3 5-7 6-4). Cilic hasn’t ever been to the semifinals at the All England Club, but look for him to be playing Friday for a spot in the Wimbledon final. Cilic in 3
Milos Raonic vs. Roger Federer
Steen: Federer has won nine out of twelve contests against Raonic, but Raonic has won the last two, including the 2016 Wimbledon semifinal. Raonic battled hard to put away a feisty Alexander Zverev in the round of 16, Federer has looked lethal this tournament though, having not dropped a set, he should get the win here, even if Raonic nabs a tiebreak. Federer in 4
Yesh: Raonic beat Federer last year, but Federer is healthy and not coming off a difficult five-setter against Cilic. The Swiss should roll. Federer in 4
Vithun: Raonic has sadly just become a standard Top 10 player now with no special quality to beat the Big 4. I see his career following the exact same path as that of Tomas Berdych: having lots of promise about him after reaching a Wimbledon final but never reaching another Grand Slam final again and plateauing into a regulation Top 10 player. Federer has been playing great so far and should take this relatively comfortably, getting revenge for last year’s semi-final defeat. Federer in 3
Brett: Roger Federer’s last match of his 2016 season was against Milos Raonic in the semifinals of Wimbledon. Fast forward one year later, and I don’t think anybody expected Federer to be playing the way he has this season. Federer won’t have any problem with Raonic, even with the big serve it’s hard to see a scenario where the Canadian takes a set. Federer in 3
Tomas Berdych vs. Novak Djokovic
Steen: Sporting a 25-2 h2h record, and having not dropped a set this tournament, Djokovic should be able to get past the Czech veteran Berdych no matter what. Berdych has had a great run that shows he could still be a solid top 10 player, but mentally he always fails in big matches like this. He’s also won one match in straights this tournament. Djokovic in 3
Yesh: Thiem played a heck of a match last round to challenge Berdych, but I think that Berdych is in strong enough form to be able to take on Djokovic. Berdych in 4
Vithun: Berdych is Djokovic’s pigeon – Djokovic has won 25 of their 27 meetings. Most of those matches occurred when Berdych was a firm fixture in the Top 10 but he is now gradually on the decline, so I do not see any hope for him against Djokovic, who seems rejuvenated after winning in Eastbourne. Djokovic in 3
Brett: I don’t think playing on back to back days will have much impact on Novak Djokovic’s chances against Tomas Berdych. This is just a terrible matchup for Berdych as we’ve seen in the past. Djokovic leads the H2H 24-2 and has beaten Berydch 11 times in a row. The court conditions seemed to be a problem for Djokovic today, but that won’t be enough to help Berdych snap his losing streak against him. Djokovic in 4
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