
Wimbledon 2016: Wednesday London Schedule and Bracket Predictions
It's all about the men at Wimbledon on Wednesday, as all four quarterfinal matches are scheduled to take place.
Here's a look at the matchups:
| Centre Court | 8 a.m. | No. 3 Roger Federer vs. No. 9 Marin Cilic | Federer |
| Centre Court | After Federer-Cilic | No. 2 Andy Murray vs. No. 12 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga | Murray |
| No. 1 Court | 8 a.m. | No. 6 Milos Raonic vs. No. 28 Sam Querrey | Querrey |
| No. 1 Court | After Raonic-Querrey | No. 10 Tomas Berdych vs. No. 32 Lucas Pouille | Berdych |
Of the remaining players, Andy Murray should be considered the favorite. He's the last player in the field to win the tournament (2013), though of course, Roger Federer won it the year before (and seven times in total).
But the conversation about the final won't matter much for Murray and Federer if they can't get through the quarterfinals.
Murray should be able to handle Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. He's beaten him three straight times, is 12-2 against him all time and is 4-0 against him on grass, including two victories at Wimbledon.
But Murray isn't taking Tsonga lightly.
"If he plays well, I'm not on my game, I can lose that match," Murray told BBC Sport.
He also recollected his two matchups at Wimbledon against Tsonga:
"Both matches were hard. A few of the sets came down to just a couple of points. I'm aware I'll have to be playing at my highest level to win. I think if I play the level I'm playing at just now, I give myself a chance in most matches. But the trick is to keep that up, to maintain that level for the whole two weeks. I've done a good job of it so far. I do feel like when I've needed to in the tournament, I have played some good tennis.
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Federer, meanwhile, lost his last match to Marin Cilic, though that was back in 2014 at the U.S. Open. That was Federer's first loss to Cilic in six matchups. The pair have never faced each other at Wimbledon.
Federer has been clinical thus far at Wimbledon and has yet to drop a set. Cilic has dropped just a set himself, but getting past Federer will be easily his stiffest test yet—especially since the 34-year-old Federer knows this might be his last, best chance to win a Grand Slam title, as Peter Bodo of ESPN.com wrote:
"This tournament has become an empty table set to provide Federer fans with another feast. It became so the moment Novak Djokovic's designs on a calendar-year Grand Slam were blown to smithereens by the atomic serves of Sam Querrey. It was an abrupt, unexpected shift, like ordering kobe beef and being served lobster.
It was a game-changer, because Djokovic has been Federer's nemesis. It is Djokovic, the 29-year old Serb, who has denied Federer the title in three Grand Slam finals (two here at Wimbledon) since the Swiss champ last won one. It's been Djokovic who's managed to push Federer's foot out of the doorjamb each time he's tried to barge in and reclaim the No. 1 ranking.
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With Novak Djokovic gone, Federer has his moment. Potentially. Murray may yet ruin it for Federer, but it's hard to imagine Cilic will steal this moment from him.
Meanwhile, Sam Querrey—the surprise of the tournament thus far—also seems the most likely amongst the underdogs in play on Wednesday to actually pull off the upset.
He's 2-1 all time against his opponent, Milos Raonic, including a 2012 win at Wimbledon. He's played well this year, winning a title at the Delray Beach Open. He's survived some dangerous players outside of Djokovic, including Lukas Rosol and Nicolas Mahut.
Betting against Raonic is risky, of course. He's 31-8 this season, has won a title and has reached three finals and four semifinals. But David Goffin did have him down 2-0 before Raonic recovered to win the next three sets.
He'll be justifiably favored against Querrey. But don't be surprised if the giant killer cuts down one more beanstalk.
Finally, Tomas Berdych should be able to get past Lucas Pouille. The two have never faced off, but Berdych has played well this year, reaching the quarterfinals in both the Australian and French Opens. At Wimbledon, the draw has finally set up for him to break through that threshold and reach a semifinal in 2016.
Pouille isn't a pushover, but Berdych will advance.
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