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Wimbledon Quarter Finals Preview

 

July 1, 2008

 

We're down to the final 8 at Wimbledon 2008. Which of the remaining players will achieve glory at SW19? We preview the upcoming matches below:

Quarter Final 1: Roger Federer (1) vs Mario Ancic

To say that Mario Ancic has made a superb comeback in the face of adversity would be something of an understatement. Plagued by injury and illness, including a bout of glandular fever only a year ago that seriously threatened his playing career, Ančić is quickly reaching the type of form that brought him into the top 10 of the ATP rankings in 2006.

After an incredible 5 set match against 22nd seed Fernando Verdasco, where Ancic came back from two sets down to win 13-11 in the fifth, the talented Croat will be looking for his biggest win to date when he takes on world number one Roger Federer.

Mario Ancic can proudly proclaim that he is the last person to have beaten Roger Federer on grass – unfortunately this win came in 2002 and since then Federer has defeated Ancic 5 out of 5 times, including a match only a few weeks ago in the French Open third round. Still, Ancic is in the best form he has been for some time and will be looking to come out with all guns blazing to produce the biggest upset so far in a tournament which has already produced some hugely surprising results.

Unluckily for Ancic, Federer is in stellar form again and has yet to drop a single set in this year's Wimbledon. The Federer we have grown to admire for his amazing tennis skills looks to be back on the court, and it looks like nothing will stop the World No.1 from reaching his sixth successive Wimbledon Final.

Prediction:

Ancic will do all he can to try and stop the Swiss master from playing his top game, most likely with a fierce serve and volley game, but on current form it looks like Federer will be able to produce enough strokes of genius to withstand the threat.

Ancic will no doubt put up a good fight, but Federer should take the match in 3 closely contested sets.

Quarter Final 2: Marat Safin vs Feliciano Lopez (31)

 

Marat Safin has shown that he has the ability to be one of the best players in the world, capable of winning grand slams against even the greatest opposition. He has also shown that he can be an inconsistent and emotionally unstable competitor, prone to crashing out in the first or second round of major tournaments.

So far, we have witnessed the former Safin - a player talented enough to defeat some of the best players in the world, as he has done this week by dispatching World No. 3 Novak Djokovic and World No. 9 Stanislas Wawrinka in succession. If the Russian continues playing in such an impressive fashion, it will be hard for Lopez to stand in the way of a great player that is showing an amazing return to form.

Still, Feliciano Lopez has produced some impressive form of his own, defeating 10th seed Marcos Baghdatis in an epic five set battle. He is also no stranger to Wimbledon success, having reached the quarter finals in 2005 and is sure to continue his good form and provide Safin with a tough match.

Prediction:

Lopez holds an impressive 4-1 record against Safin, but it seems like he is facing a player who is near unstoppable right now. Lopez will have to come up with something extremely special to stop the talented Russian from progressing to his first ever Wimbledon semi-final.

Safin should win a close match in 3-4 sets, and set up one extremely exciting semi-final encounter with Roger Federer.

Quarter Final 3: Rainer Schuettler vs Arnaud Clement

Up until this week, it would have appeared that we had seen the best of Arnaud Clement some 5-7 years ago, having not made it to a grand slam fourth round or better since the 2003 French Open. However, the 30 year old French veteran has exceeded all expectations and has produced his best Grand Slam singles performance for 7 years by making this year's quarter finals at Wimbledon.

The 32 year old Germany Rainer Schuettler has also exceeded expectations with some exceptional results, defeating World No. 8 James Blake and Serbian Janko Tipsarevic who toppled World No. 6 Andy Roddick in the second round.

Prediction:

This is most likely to be the most evenly matched of the four quarter finals, and it is very difficult to call a winner out of the two players. Schuettler has a 3-1 record over Clement and his victories this week have been more impressive of the two, so we are picking Schuettler to win a great match in either 4 or 5 sets.

Quarter Final 4: Andy Murray (12) vs Rafael Nadal (2)

British No.1 and World No. 11 Andy Murray has truly come of age in this year's Wimbledon championships. He produced what was arguably the best performance of the tournament so far, coming back from a two sets to love deficit to overcome 8th seed Richard Gasquet in an absolutely thrilling 3 hour and 57 minute, 5 set marathon match that ended at 9:30 at night.

The up-and-coming tennis star has met the expectations of the likes of John McEnroe and Bjorn Borg by making the quarter-finals and producing his best ever grand slam performance to date, and the young Brit is in for the match of his life when he faces the currently unstoppable Rafael Nadal.

Nadal has defeated some extremely talented players with apparent ease in the last few rounds, and it looks almost inevitable that he will contest yet another Wimbledon final against Federer, for the third year in a row. This year, more than any before, it looks as if Nadal has his greatest chance of achieving Wimbledon glory and winning the tournament for the first ever time.

The major concern for the Spaniard may not even be Andy Murray, but recurrent injury concerns. Nadal had to call for an injury time-out in his easy fourth round, straight sets victory over 17th seed Mikhail Youzhny of Russia but Nadal has dispelled any concerns about potential injuries and insists that he is in top physical shape.

Murray cannot afford to give his opponent a two set advantage as he did in his last match, because there would be practically no hope of beating Nadal when down by such a large margin. However, Murray is sure to have learnt the lessons of his recent victory and will not give the Spaniard any easy chances.

Therefore, we are bound to witness what will should be the most exciting of the quarter-final encounters, with two absolutely talented players meeting in a match where both are genuinely confident of their chances at winning.

Prediction:

This could be the hardest match that Nadal has had to play for some time now, and the outcome will really give an indication of how close the 22 year old is to dethroning Federer in this prestigious grand slam tournament.

With the crowd solidly behind him, Murray should put in the performance of his life and will push Nadal to the limit. The Spaniard will have to produce his absolute best tennis to progress through to the next round and continue his Wimbledon quest.

Nadal has shown no reason so far why he cannot win Wimbledon, and in spite of a superb challenge from Murray, Nadal should triumph in a spellbinding encounter.

However, do not be surprised if Nadal is taken to four, if not five sets.

Betting on Wimbledon

We have been asked to recommend our top choices for betting on the Wimbledon tennis championships and here are our top picks:

1) Betfair.com (Betfair Review)

We choose Betfair as our top pick for Wimbledon betting as they are not only one of the best choices for the online bettor (see their review), but their odds are often the best available online, if not one of the best.

Furthermore, they offer live betting on every single Wimbledon match with a wide range of propositions to bet on, such as the basic winner prediction to set betting, over/under and set scores.

Click here to visit Betfair now and receive a £25 free bet

2) PinacleSports.com (Pinnacle Sports Review)

As mentioned in their review, Pinnacle Sports sportsbook offers some of the best odds online for almost every sporting event, and their odds on Wimbledon are no expection. They offer some of the best match odds, as well as the best online odds for spread betting on the matches and betting over/under on the games in the matches.

A truly excellent online betting site, Pinnacle Sports should always be visited to find the best odds for any sports match.

Click here to visit Pinnacle Sports and receive 10% free up to £250 on any deposit of £125 or more

3) Bet365.com (Bet365 Review)

Bet365 is our third pick for Wimbledon betting as they offer something for everyone - their odds are extremely competitive with the best bookmakers online, they offer a huge array of bet propositions for the tennis matches, and they offer some of the best in-play live betting opportunities as well.

Not only this, but they offer £100 in free bets for all new customers! A highly rated bookmaker, Bet365 is a top betting site and our 3rd best choice for betting on Wimbledon.

Click here to visit Bet365 now and £100 in free bets

Other top picks for tennis betting are as follows:

Canbet.com(Canbet Review) - Top bookmaker, great odds, high betting limits and receive up to £200 in free bets for signing up

PaddyPower.com (Paddy Power Review) - Great odds, huge variety of betting choices, and some great money-back specials on offer from Ireland's best bookmaker.

 

Enjoy the tennis!

 

 

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