ATP Wimbledon – Men’s Wednesday Preview

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga vs. Roger Federer    

While three of the leading women fell in the fourth round, Federer, top seed Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray all progressed to the quarter-finals.

A repeat of the French Open scenario, where the top four seeds met at the semi-final stage is very likely, assuming Nadal does recover. Federer lost the first set against Youzhny, he was a little bit sluggish in first set while the Russian played very aggressive and at the edge, the Swiss lost the set due to a lapse as overall he controlled the match and wasn’t in danger to lose the match.

Tsonga advanced much easily dispatching Ferrer in 3 sets.Federer has beaten Tsonga twice already this year, in the semi-finals at Doha and in first round at the Rome Masters event on clay.

"I think he's got the weapons to be a huge threat on grass, make a run here. It's a tough draw, but I'm ready for it", said the swiss.

Tsonga hasn’t been past this point at any Grand Slam since reaching the finals of the Aussie Open in 2008 while the Swiss will be aware that in this stage lost to Berdych last year. The Frenchman has the serve and power on his side but Federer also served well here and the way he varies on court he will keep Tsonga off-balance, the Frenchman will try to steal a tie-break but Federer is favorite to take this one in 3 sets.

Bernard Tomic vs. Novak Djokovic

Australian Bernard Tomic is just three matches away to be the first teenager to win Wimbledon since Becker in 1986 but things are trickier now. He is boosting with morale and hadn’t backs up against Malisse, he just served big, went for his shots and hit lower forehands all over the court but also the Belgian made a lot of errors on court.

Djokovic made a good match against Llodra being all over the court and returning well and this will be the key of the match as the Serb has good retrieving skills and solid defense.

Tomic keeps his errors low and when he goes for his shots can be dangerous, he is booming with confidence and will want to prove that this quarter-final isn’t a fluke but the Serb isn’t to an unknown terrain and with Federer looming ahead he will want to finish the match in three sets and not stay too much on court.  

Andy Murray vs. Feliciano Lopez

It was Murray’s most impressive performance in his four matches so far at Wimbledon when he beat Gasquet in three sets. He started a little bit sluggish and were some tight moments in first set but the Britt kept his game and after he won the opening set things were easier for him on court, especially after he broke in the second set. He controlled the match coming with better strategy on court. Lopez had come from two sets down against Kubot saving two match points for his best performance in a Grand Slam.

The Spaniard is coming with a lot of morale and looks in great shape as after that he played in mixed doubles. Was a tough match but mainly with the serve and forehand as both players served big over the match but simply the Spaniard was in better shape.

“He serves well, good slice backhand, plays different than a lot of the Spaniards. He likes coming forward a lot”, said Murray about Lopez.

Spaniard’s biggest weapon is his serve, and Murray has the ability to neutralize that with his incredible return of serve. He also moves around the court extremely well and his ground strokes are consistent and will push Lopez way behind the baseline and will keep him away of net.

Behind a noisy crowd is hard to see Murray losing this one, Lopez is coming in good form and confidence but still he played too much and he will have some downs.      

Rafael Nadal vs. Mardy Fish

Rafael Nadal tested his left foot in advance of Wednesday's semifinal. Nadal showed no sign of discomfort as he bounced at training session after a RMN and things aren’t that serious.

The Spaniard struggled a lot against Del Potro and even that the injury isn’t always welcome, that injury helped him as when he interrupt the match he also get of rhythm the Argentine.

Still Del Potro made a solid match and was close for a big surprise. But again the Spaniard hasn’t an easy match when he will meet Fish who is on his best performance at Wimbledon and is coming at his best. The way Fish controlled the match against Berdych shows that Nadal will have another tough match.

The American isn’t without chances, he needs to keep serving big, especially out wide, mixing up serving and volleying and staying back at times too. Fish has to attack with his better wing, backhand as much as possible and go for his shots when he sees an opportunity, as long he will keep his errors low and will win cheap points behind the serve he will have his chance.

But all will come out of his head, if the American believes that he can win against Nadal then he has his best chance now.