We're down to the final 8 in the Men's draw
and with the four big hitters still on a semi-final collision course, the
question is, will Federer, Nadal, Djokovic and Murray smoothly progress or can
one of their opponents cause an upset?
Rafael Nadal v Mardy Fish
Following a couple of years with injury and
bad form Mardy Fish has finally started to fulfil the 
potential he always
seemed to have. At 29, there aren’t going to be many more chances at Slams for
Mardy, but having overtaken his great friend Andy Roddick to become US No.1 and
up to a career high ranking of No.9 in the world, Mardy is playing with a
confidence that suggests he can beat almost anyone.
Unfortunately it probably won’t be Rafa
Nadal. In their five previous meetings, Rafa has won all five and in a first
round Wimbledon meeting in 2007, Rafa was the
straight sets victor.
The Spaniard may be carrying a slight foot
injury following his Round 4 match with Del Potro, but he played through the
pain barrier in that match, playing some awesome tennis and overcoming a Del
Potro who was looking close to his best.
To get anything from this Mardy will have
to hold serve time after time. I don’t see him breaking down the Nadal serve
and eventually Rafa will find a way to break his.
There could be a tie-break or two in this
one, but barring a Nadal injury, it should be a smooth path to the Semi-Finals
for the World No.1.
Tips
Nadal to win 3-0 – evens – William Hill
Total Tie-breaks – 1 – 5/4
Roger Federer v Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
It was at this stage last year that Roger
Federer slipped out to big-serving Berdych but don’t bank on it happening again
with an in-form Tsonga.
Tsonga’s only ever win against Roger came
in the 2009 Montreal Masters. They have played twice so far this season and
Federer has won both in straight sets.
There’s no question that after a poor start
to the season Tsonga is returning to somewhere near his best and his impressive
run to the final at Queens was evidence enough of that. However, Federer is
playing in the zone this week and after amazingly dropping the first set to
Luzhny on Monday, I expect him to keep his focus, break down the Tsonga serve
early, and progress to a semi-final showdown with Djokovic in straight sets.
Tips
Federer to win 3-0 at betting odds of 10/11 with Paddy Power
Total Federer games – under 20.5 – 11/10
Andy Murray v Feliciano Lopez
A different draw could have seen these two
meeting in the third round. As it was Lopez took on Roddick and dispatched him
with ease. On the verge of exiting the tournament in the last round, Lopez
pulled off an amazing recovery from two sets down to beat the excellent Kubot.
Murray and Lopez haven’t previously met on
grass but in the four meetings they have had, Murray has won them all.
After a surprisingly one-sided match with
Gasquet in the last-round, don’t expect Murray to let his fans off the hook so
easily this time.
The Scot is virtually certain to win the
match but he could well drop another set along the way.
Tips
Andy Murray to win 3-1 at tennis odds of 11/5 with Victor Chandler
First set tie-break – 3/1
Novak Djokovic v Bernard Tomic
There’s little doubting 18-year-old Bernard
Tomic is destined for great things. An incredible run at SW19 has seen him
comfortably dispatch No.5 seed Robin Soderling and former Wimbledon
semi-finalist Xavier Malisse but the step up in class to World No.2, Novak
Djokovic will surely be too big a leap for the German born Aussie.
In tennis betting, I expect Djokovic to wrap this one up in
straight sets.
Tips
Djokovic to win 3-0 – 8/13
First set score 6-3 Djokovic – 16/5