It should be a thrilling day of quarter-finals at Wimbledon

Claim £50 of free bets when opening an 888sport account

There were no surprises yesterday as the top four women’s seeds reached the semis (we thought Azarenka might pull off a shock before remembering she was facing a Williams sister at Wimbledon). The men’s quarter-final draw couldn’t be better though: Federer v Karlovic sees the enduring grass master face the in-form King of Aces, Djokovic v Haas is a repeat of the Halle final, Roddick v Hewitt sees two of the decade’s finest grass court players handed another chance to shine and then there’s Murray v Ferrero, the weakest of the line-up but with huge public interest. Here are three stats on each match:

Tommy Haas (24) v Novak Djokovic (4)
» Djokovic has a 2-1 head-to-head record with Haas but the German beat him in the final at Halle on grass last month.
» This is the furthest Haas has ever got at Wimbledon, continuing a trend where each of the last seven Halle winners have reached the last eight. He has reached three Grand Slam semis but all in Australia.
» Djokovic has won 13 of his last 15 quarter-finals and has reached the last four of six of the last seven tournaments he’s entered.

Lleyton Hewitt v Andy Roddick (6)
» Both men have won 27 career titles, reached four Grand Slam finals and won at Queen’s four times. Therefore it’s no surprise that they are almost inseparable head-to-head, with Hewitt holding a 6-5 advantage.
» Roddick has the advantage on grass though having won their two previous encounters on the surface, including one last month at Queen’s, where A-Rod won both sets on tie-breaks.
» Seven unseeded players have reached the Wimbledon semi-finals this decade, including two last year. However, Hewitt last got that far in a Grand Slam at the 2005 US Open whereas Roddick has made three semis since then.

Ivo Karlovic (22) v Roger Federer (2)
» Karlovic has reached the quarter-finals of nine grass court tournaments over the last five years, winning two, but this is the first time he has got this far at Wimbledon.
» The Croatian has won 91% of his service games this year - more than anyone in the top five - meaning against superior opposition he always stands a good chance of reaching tie-breaks. Indeed, half of his sets so far at Wimbledon this year have gone the distance.
» However, he has lost seven of his previous eight matches to Federer and is 3-9 in tie-breaks against him. Federer beat him in straight sets five years ago at Wimbledon, winning two of them 7-6.
» A feat worth breaking the three-stat rule for: Federer has reached the semi-finals of the last 20 Slams and last lost a quarter-final in one in 2001.

Andy Murray (3) v Juan Carlos Ferrero (WC)
» Murray was knocked out in straight sets by a Spaniard in the quarter-finals last year although that of course was eventual winner Rafael Nadal. If he wins, it will be the fifth time in 12 years that a Brit has reached the semis.
» The last wildcard to reach the quarter-finals at Wimbledon was Goran Ivanisevic in 2001 and he won it. However Ferrero, who has reached the semis of every other Grand Slam, lost in straight sets to Murray at Queen’s last month in their first ever meeting.
» Murray has never gone out of a Grand Slam at the same stage in consecutive years.

Posted: July 1st, 2009 by Michael Lintorn |