We take a look at the selected quarter-finals from the ATP Tour’s Wimbledon Championships taking place on Wednesday 10 July 2019.
2019 ATP Tour | Wimbledon Championships
All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club
Selected Quarter-Finals | 10 July 2019
Guido Pella (34/10) vs
Roberto Bautista Agut (2/11)
Guido Pella’s ascension during this Wimbledon event has been the male equivalent of the Coco Gauff story. While he is a seeded player, few could have possibly envisaged the arch clay-court player making such an impact this week. He hadn’t even won a grass-court match this season prior to this event. But he has found something on the hallowed SW19 turf. His routine demolition of Kevin Anderson was followed by a gut-wrenching five-set victory over another grass-court master – Raonic. That’s one factor that could work against Pella: he has been involved in a series of gruelling physical encounters. But don’t expect the 29-year-old to be overawed this week. The Sao Paulo Open Champion enjoyed a magnificent South American clay-court campaign that spilt over into some encouraging results prior to Roland Garros. He will need to serve well against an opponent also enjoying a grass-court emergence.
Roberto Bautista Agut joins compatriot Rafael Nadal as the two Spanish quarter-finalists this year. Agut is currently working a 27 11-year-to-date win-loss record. He started the year in brilliant fashion by claiming the Qatar title. But it has been his Grand Slam consistency that has really shone through this year. He has now reached the quarterfinals of every slam this year. He just needs to find that extra bit of quality to make the significant next step. He showed signs on the Halle grass-courts of his potential. He lost in a nail-biting three-set encounter with eventual champion Roger Federer. And everything about his progression thus far has screamed decisive. Karen Khachanov and Benoit Paire are two dangerous opponents that he systematically outplayed. He enjoys a 6-1 record on grass this season and he will know that this could be his best ever opportunity for a Wimbledon semi-final. He won the 2014 Rosmalen title on grass, meaning that this perhaps should not come as too much of a surprise.
The left-handed Pella trails Bautista-Agut 2-0 in their head-to-head record. This will, however, be their first ever meeting on grass: Agut defeated Pella in a tough encounter at Munich earlier this year. This should be fascinating. All of the data would seem to suggest a Spanish victory. But there’s something of the Ivanisevic about the Pella story – down to the booming lefty serve. And at 34/10 it’s hard to make any other selection.
Roger Federer (1/10)
vs Kei Nishikori (52/10)
The prospect of a Federer-Nadal semi-final seems all the more plausible after a day of emphatic performances from the top three players in the world. Federer’s demolition of Berrettini was as ruthless as it was impressive. It was actually quite momentous, drawing Federer level with Jimmy Connors as the all-time match winner on grass-courts. Federer has just looked better and better as the tournament has gone on, extending his impressive year-to-date win-loss ratio to 36-4. The prospects of a ninth all-England crown look all the more possible following that brilliant performance against the hapless Italian. Perhaps what’s been most impressive has been the range and efficacy of his backhand thus far. On this surface, with backhand operating, Federer can become nigh on unbeatable.
So it’s going to clearly be an uphill struggle for the diminutive Japanese star. Left with the task of flying his country’s flag following Naomi Osaka’s ignominious departure, Nishikori has looked absolutely unflappable thus far. Truth be told, he has probably had the easiest draw of all the players in the quarter-final stage. But he has now reached his second consecutive Wimbledon quarter-final. The reason actually correlates very closely to that of Bautista Agut. Like the Spaniard, he started the year with a tournament victory. He also reached the quarter-final stage of both the Aussie and French Open. But can the Japanese star elevate his game to that next level? He will need to be aggressive in returning Federer’s serve. I know that Berrettini was outmatched, but he played far too much passive tennis to dethrone the Swiss maestro.
These two players are certainly no strangers to one another. This will be their 11th meeting and only the 2nd time they have met on grass. Federer won that match and leads the head-to-head 7-3. Having said that, Nishikori won their last match in London last year. 9/4 for a four-set Federer victory seems decent value to me.
