Wimbledon 2013: Day 9 Schedule, Matchups and Predictions

Agnieszka Radwanska, Marion Bartoli and Sabine Lisicki took care of business against lower-seeded opponents in the quarterfinals of Wimbledon on Tuesday. Belgium's Kirsten Flipkens provided the lone upset, ousting No. 8 seed Petra Kvitova to earn a place in the semifinals at the All England Club.

On the men's side of the draw, top seeds Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray and David Ferrer are still alive and vying for spots in the semifinals.

Will Juan Martin del Potro overcome his career struggles against Ferrer? Can Fernando Verdasco defy history against Murray? Will Djokovic avenge his loss earlier this year to Tomas Berdych?

Here's the broadcast schedule for Day 9 of Wimbledon 2013 on Wednesday, complete with predictions of the top matches.

TV Schedule (via Tennis.com)

Date	Time (ET)	Round	Network
Wednesday, July 3	7 a.m. - 4 p.m.	Quarterfinals	ESPN2
Wednesday, July 3	8 a.m. - 3 p.m.  (Centre Court)	Quarterfinals	ESPN

Live Stream

Date	Time (ET)	Round	Live Stream
Wednesday, July 3	7 a.m.	Quarterfinals	ESPN3

David Ferrer (4) vs. Juan Martin del Potro (8)

David Ferrer is 6-2 lifetime against Juan Martin del Potro, capturing the pair's last four matchups. He defeated Del Potro in the Round of 16 last year at Wimbledon.

Grass has been Del Potro's worst surface over the course of his career, as all of his 14 singles titles came on either hard court or clay. As for Ferrer, he's gone 34-15 with two singles titles on grass.

Ferrer has also had the better 2013 campaign of the two, posting a 37-11 record with two singles titles heading into Wimbledon. Del Potro was 20-8 on the year with zero singles titles before starting play at the All England Club.

To make matters worse for Del Potro, his knee is bothering him, per Matt Cronin of TennisReporters.net:

Prediction: Ferrer 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, 6-3

Fernando Verdasco vs. Andy Murray (2)

Andy Murray is 8-1 lifetime against Fernando Verdasco, but they have not faced each other since 2010. 

Murray was 27-5 with three singles titles heading into Wimbledon. He has proceeded to win all four of his matches at the All England Club in straight sets.

Verdasco owned a 9-12 record on the year before the start of the tournament. The only seeded player he has faced so far has been No. 31 seed Julien Benneteau.

Easy prediction for me: Murray wins in straight sets.

That said, here's some food for thought, courtesy of Douglas Robson of USA Today:

Prediction: Murray 6-3, 6-4, 6-3

Novak Djokovic (1) vs. Tomas Berdych (7)

Last but certainly not least, world No. 1 Novak Djokovic faces Tomas Berdych.

The interesting thing about this matchup is that Djokovic is 13-2 lifetime against Berdych, but the Czech player defeated Djoker in the pair's last matchup, capturing a three-setter at the Rome Masters this year.

Berdych is also a respectable 31-12 this year (albeit with no singles titles), while Djokovic is 33-5 with three singles titles.

Berdych had some strong words headed into the quarterfinals clash, via Wimbledon.com:

Of course, Djokovic has won all four of his matches at the All England Club this year in straight sets. He's also reached the semifinals at Wimbledon four times in eight career appearances, advancing to win the title in his glorious 2011 campaign (he reached the semifinals last year).

I don't think this will be an easy match for Djokovic, but he is the better player overall. His loss to Berdych at the Rome Masters didn't change that.

Prediction: Djokovic 6-4, 5-7, 6-4, 6-4