Wimbledon: Quarter-Final Predictions for Day 9

Andy Murray

I have been totally gripped by today's womens quarter-finals so I apologise for another limited preview.  I am on holiday for the rest of the week so will have a lot more time to do my previews and get my report up from my day at Wimbledon yesterday :-)

Andy Murray v David Ferrer

Andy Murray finally got his 4th round match with Marin Cilic finished on Tuesday after it was suspended due to rain on Monday.  He played extremely well in the final two sets although was aided by a tiring Cilic who was clearly a spent force following his epic match with Sam Querrey in the third round.  David Ferrer produced a superb performance to reach his first ever Wimbledon quarter-final as he completely overwhelmed Juan Martin Del Potro, 6-3 6-2 6-3.

Ferrer beat Murray on the clay at Roland Garros in four sets, but the match-up is a different prospect on the grass.  Murray has not played his best so far, but he has been steadily improving throughout the tournament and i'm sensing that he might be peaking at the right time.  Ferrer continues to thwart all my predictions, but has truly been fantastic so far.  Once again i'm going against Ferrer (I never learn!) and believe that Murray will dig deep to make the semi-finals.

Prediction - Murray to beat Ferrer in 4 sets

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga v Philipp Kohlschreiber

The quarter-final that will receive the least attention is actually rather exciting to me with last years semi-finalist, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga set to take on Philipp Kohlschreiber.  Tsonga recovered from the loss of the first set and fought past back problems to beat Mardy Fish in the 4th round, 4-6 7-6 6-4 6-4.  Kohlschreiber continued to take advantage of the opening in the draw left by Rafael Nadal as he put to bed the incredible efforts of the American qualifier, Brian Baker in straight sets.  

Tsonga has won his last four matches with the German in straight sets, but I think this will be a much tighter affair.  Kohlschreiber was hitting the ball beautifully in practice yesterday, but I believe if he did get into a position to win this match, he would not be able to handle the pressure however well he is playing.

Prediction - Tsonga to beat Kohlschreiber in 4 tight sets

Best of the rest:   

Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer both have straightforward matches on paper, but this years Wimbledon has thrown up a number of upsets so you never know! Roger Federer plays Mikhail Youzhny on Centre Court; Federer leads their head-to-head by 13 wins to 0 so a Youzhny win would be rather a cataclysmic result. Djokovic will probably have a trickier match against Florian Mayer, who has a unique game style.  He surprised Richard Gasquet in a four set win in the 4th round and has absolutely nothing to lose against Djokovic.

Quarter-Final Predictions

Federer to dance past Youzhny in 3 sets

Djokovic to beat Mayer in 3 sets

As my title pick is out, i'm now backing Djokovic to win!