DAY 8: David Ferrer showed why he was ranked No. 5 in the world on Tuesday afternoon with a tremendous performance against Juan Martin del Potro. The Argentine, ranked No. 9, could not find a way past his opponent's dogged and determined style, whereas Ferrer had an answer for everything del Potro threw at him, taking the match comfortably 63 62 63 in a little under two hours.
Del Potro needed treatment on his knee in the first set after falling awkwardly, although he was already in trouble by that point with Ferrer a break up. Del Potro managed to engineer four break points throughout the course of the match, but was unable to capitalise on any of these opportunities. Ferrer, on the other hand, won five of his eight break points as he eased to victory.
Ferrer will play Britain’s Andy Murray in the quarterfinals, a repeat of the same stage at Roland Garros last month, which Ferrer won. The two players are dead level on head-to-heads, however, with five wins each, but this will be their first meeting on grass. In response to having to face Murray in what is essentially his home Grand Slam, Ferrer said “It's going to be very difficult to beat Andy on this surface. I will try to do my best and try to play like I did."
Murray is through after defeating Croatia’s Marin Cilic 75 62 63 in a match which was heavily disrupted by rain. The match began on Monday afternoon but was stopped early in the second set after Murray had taken the first 7-5 and was leading 3-1 in the second. Play did not then restart until the following day, but they only managed to get two games in before being forced off again.
They came back out an hour later and Murray wrapped up the match. Cilic, known for having an impressive serve, struggled in his battle against the elements and his form dropped at the end of the first day. However, he recovered this in the third set and Murray was made to work hard for his victory.
All four of the women’s quarterfinals were played on Tuesday and 13-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams is still in the running to win her 14th major title as she beat defending champion Petra Kvitova 63 75 under the Centre Court roof. Kvitova could not handle the American’s serve as Williams sent down 13 aces and had a phenomenal 86% first serve success rate.
Williams will meet world No. 2 Victoria Azarenka in the semifinal after she defeated Tamira Paszek 63 76(4). The Belarusian has not dropped a set so far in these Championships and has looked impressive throughout. She served for the match twice but was broken both times by the unseeded Paszek, who has played very well herself, taking out some of the big names, such as Caroline Wozniacki in the second round, but Azarenka prevailed in the tiebreak taking it 7-4.
The other semifinal will be contested between Angelique Kerber, who beat fellow German Sabine Lisicki 63 67(7) 75, and third seed Agnieszka Radwanska, who beat Maria Kirilenko 75 46 75.
The match between Lisicki and Kerber was enthralling. Lisicki, who knocked out Maria Sharapova in the last round, saved three match points in the second set before taking it 9-7 in the tiebreak. She then had the opportunity to serve for the match at 5-3 in the third, but could not capitalise and Kerber won the next four games to take the set 7-5 and, with it, the match.
The last quarterfinal, being played on No. 1 Court, was halted due to rain with the match delicately poised at 4-4 in the deciding set. Originally, play was due to finish on Wednesday but the tournament officials announced late in the evening that the match would be moved to Centre Court to be finished under the roof.
Kirilenko, who was on top before the break having taken the second set, was the slower of the two to adjust after the break and Radwanska capitalised, breaking the Russian before going on to take the final set 7-5 and book her place in the semifinal.
The rest of the men’s fourth round matches were also completed on Tuesday, with Jo-Wilfried Tsonga benefitting from an extra night’s rest as he downed Mardy Fish in four sets 46 76(4) 64 64. Fish had taken the opening set on Monday before play was stopped due to the weather and when they came back out on Tuesday, Tsonga was in the ascendancy.
The Frenchman won the second set on a tiebreak and then took the third 6-4, before rain caused a further delay. However, it was not enough to put off the world No. 6 and he wrapped up the fourth set and, with it, the match 6-4 with an ace.
Tsonga will meet Philip Kohlschreiber in the quarterfinal as the German No. 2 overcame Brian Baker, the qualifier from USA, 61 76(4) 63. Baker, making his comeback after five years out of the sport, was having a dream Wimbledon, but that came to an abrupt halt against world No. 30 Kohlschreiber.
Kohlschreiber is not the only German in the last eight, however, as fellow compatriot Florian Mayer beat Richard Gasquet 63 61 36 62. Gasquet, who had not dropped a set before coming into this match, could not find a way past Mayer, who will go on to play Novak Djokovic in the quarterfinal.
This is the first time that two Germans have made it to the quarterfinal in 15 years and they are, understandably, very proud. Kohlschreiber said “Of course, now we're very happy that we have two players in the quarterfinals. It's a long time since that ever happened. I hope that at least one [of us] will go to the semifinal.”
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