Wimbledon 2014: Schedule and Bracket Predictions for Day 8 at All England Club

There is a high concentration of talent as we head into the later rounds of Wimbledon 2014, and Day 8 features some of the best players in the world looking to continue their tennis brilliance at the All England Club.

Rafael Nadal takes on a young upstart in the form of Nick Kyrgios, while Roger Federer will look to fend off the aggressive play of Tommy Robredo.

In the ladies' draw, Maria Sharapova and Simona Halep will attempt to move past their respective foes and make good on the window of opportunity that has opened up with the early exits of Venus and Serena Williams.

Let's take a look at the complete schedule for Day 8, followed by predictions for two of Tuesday's top matches.

Schedule

Date	Time (ET)	TV
Tues., July 1	Centre Court, 8 a.m.-1 p.m.	ESPN2
	Court One, 8 a.m.-11:30 a.m.	ESPN
	Court One, 11:30 a.m.-3 p.m.	ESPNEWS

A full draw and live bracket for each day can be found at Wimbledon.com.

Matchups

Draw	Round	Court	Matchup	Prediction
Gentlemen	Fourth round	Centre Court	Rafael Nadal vs. Nick Kyrgios	Nadal
Gentlemen	Fourth round	No. 1 Court	Tommy Robredo vs. Roger Federer	Federer
Gentlemen	Fourth round	No. 2 Court	Stan Wawrinka vs. Feliciano Lopez	Wawrinka
Gentlemen	Fourth round	No. 3 Court	Milos Raonic vs. Kei Nishikori	Nishikori
Ladies	Fourth round	Centre Court	Angelique Kerber vs. Maria Sharapova	Sharapova
Ladies	Quarterfinals	Centre Court	Petra Kvitova vs. Barbora Strycova	Kvitova
Ladies	Quarterfinals	No. 1 Court	Lucie Safarova vs. Ekaterina Makarova	Safarova
Ladies	Fourth round	No. 2 Court	Simona Halep vs. Zarina Diyas	Halep
Ladies	Fourth round	No. 3 Court	Sabine Lisicki vs. Yaroslava Shvedova	Lisicki

Day 8 Predictions

(2) Rafael Nadal vs. Nick Kyrgios

Pavel Golovkin/Associated Press

Nadal may have been haunted by early exits in the past two editions of Wimbledon, but a loss to a 19-year-old wunderkind might really have him cursing those responsible for watering the grass at the All England Club.

Kyrgios is the lone unseeded player remaining in the men's singles draw. His presence in the fourth round is rather remarkable, as he's beaten some top talent to get to this point.

He took care of Stephane Robert in five sets in the first round and then truly made his mark against No. 13 Richard Gasquet, coming from two sets down to win 3-6, 6-7 (4-7), 6-4, 7-5, 10-8.

The New York Times' Christopher Clarey commended the young Australian's effort against Gasquet:

He then defeated fellow upstart Jiri Vesely in four sets to set up the clash against Nadal.

Nadal put together some of his finest tennis in his four-set win over Mikhail Kukushkin in the third round. Nadal dropped the first set 6-7 (4-7), then trounced Kukushkin 6-1, 6-1, 6-1 to take the match. He played a very polished match, committing just 12 unforced errors on the day.

One would expect young Kyrgios to be a bit frightened heading into a match against Nadal, but he's seemed completely at ease.

"Obviously 14 grand slams between us, so it's going to be a good match," joked Kyrgios, via The Sydney Morning Herald's Liam FitzGibbon.

This match should unfold in Nadal's typical pattern for this tournament. The pre-match jitters and looming threat of a shock upset will allow Kyrgios to steal the first set from the dominant Spaniard. After Nadal quiets his nerves, look for him to beat Kyrgios with his strength and veteran guile and take the remaining sets with relative ease.

Prediction: Nadal in four sets

(5) Maria Sharapova vs. (9) Angelique Kerber

Ben Curtis/Associated Press

This match was supposed to take place on Monday, but it was delayed due to rain. ESPN Tennis didn't seem to mind:

Maria Sharapova has a golden opportunity to take home the Wimbledon trophy for the first time since her famous upset over Serena Williams in 2004. First, she will have to take on the accomplished Angelique Kerber.

Sharapova will have to be careful against Kerber's unorthodox style, as per tennis pro Laura Robson, writing for The Telegraph:

"

When you watch Angelique she hits the ball so awkwardly, but it has a knack of always going in. She gets a lot of balls back and hits plenty of deep ground strokes. I'm sure Maria will see that as a challenge and aim to keep the rallies short, looking to dominate from the off with aggressive shots.

"

Sharapova defeated an equally aggressive Alison Riske to get to this point, so she should be well-prepared to cut down on long rallies in this match. She tends to get stronger as the game goes on and gets used to the nuances of the grass courts.

Sports Illustrated noted how strongly she finished her match against Riske:

Kerber showed that she can battle adversity against Kirsten Flipkens in the third round. After dropping the first set 3-6, Kerber broke Flipkens' serve four times over the final two sets to vanquish her foe 6-3, 6-2 and complete the win.

This duel will certainly be an interesting contrast of styles. Sharapova might have the edge due to her stellar form in 2014—she is 31-6 on the year in singles play.

Kerber will look to draw Sharapova into making mistakes, but it will prove to be a difficult task and won't be enough for victory.

Prediction: Sharapova in three sets