After the women played out their semi-finals at Wimbledon on Thursday it is the turn of the four remaining men to do battle in their own semis on Centre Court on Friday on what promises to be a superb day of tennis.
We have two men who will be competing in their first Wimbledon semi-final followed by two who know all about not just playing in this stage of Grand Slams but who are no strangers to going all the way.
Day 10 Recap
We saw two largely one-sided semi-finals in the women’s draw on Thursday with Angelique Kerber and Serena Williams easing through to set up a repeat of the 2016 final on Saturday. Kerber won in straight sets against a thoroughly disappointing Jelena Ostapenko while Julia Goerges had no answer to the wonder that is Serena.
It was an up and down betting day for us. Ostapenko’s poor performance denied us any chance of the game overs coming in for that match but on the flip side it did at least guarantee us a place with the Angelique Kerber outright bet and the chance of the full bunce on Saturday afternoon.
Kevin Anderson vs John Isner
The opening semi-final on Centre Court will see both Kevin Anderson and John Isner competing in their first Wimbledon semis and indeed they will both be on the main court for the first time this year as they compete for a place in the final on Sunday.
Anderson had one of the wins of his life in the quarter final when he came past Roger Federer having trailed by two sets in the early stages. He powered back and in the end ran out a worthy winner in a very lengthy clash. Isner was too good for Milos Raonic whose body failed him once again. The American heads into this quarter final playing awesome tennis and has yet to drop his serve in the tournament.
Isner leads the head to head between these two 8-3 although they’ve not met for a while and Anderson is a much better player now than he was then but the slower, firmer Centre Court should play into the hands of the American. His extra pep on his serve and his forehand as well as the bounce to allow him to play his shots should see him too good for the South African for whom picking himself back up may be an issue after such an emotional win. I’ll go with Isner here.
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Novak Djokovic vs Rafael Nadal
The second semi-final is a repeat of the 2011 final as two of the best ever to play the game meet in what has all the hallmarks of being an epic contest as Novak Djokovic takes on Rafael Nadal for the second spot in the final on Sunday.
Djokovic has cruised through the draw to make it into this semi-final. He has dropped a couple of sets along the way but Kyle Edmund and Kei Nishikori were still blown away in those matches. Nadal had been coasting through the draw but came up against a significant obstacle in the previous round and ended up going nearly five hours in a brutal contest with Juan Martin del Potro.
You’ve got to think this will take an insane effort for Nadal to go again less than 48hrs after the conclusion of that cracker with del Potro and even if he is fully recovered there is no guarantee he will win. Djokovic leads Nadal 26-25 in their career meetings but when you take clay out of the equation that stranglehold becomes 19-9 to the Serbian. Djokovic has played some wonderful tennis this fortnight with Queens coming at just the right time. We know Nadal will give his all but circumstances may well have fallen into the hands of the Serbian superstar. I’m with Djokovic here.
Tips
Back J.Isner to beat K.Anderson for a 4/10 stake at 1.91 with Boylesports (double winnings if Isner loses the first set and wins the match)
Back N.Djokovic to beat R.Nadal for a 4/10 stake at 1.91 with Boylesports (double winnings if Djokovic loses the first set and wins the match)
Back them here:
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