The quarter finals begin at Wimbledon on Tuesday when the first half of matches take place on the two main courts at SW19 as the third Grand Slam of the year heads towards the conclusion this weekend.
We have two standout stars on show on Centre Court and a couple of dangerous challengers headlining the action on Court 1 on a Tuesday afternoon where the action is set to ramp up a notch with the business end of the event in sight.
Centre Court
Iga Swiatek vs Elina Svitolina
The women’s match on the Centre Court sees the number one seed Iga Swiatek competing in her first Wimbledon quarter final when she meets the back to form Elina Svitolina who is looking to reach a Grand Slam semi-final nine months after giving birth.
This promises to be a cracking match. There is no doubt that Swiatek would have the higher threshold and be a worthy huge favourite were this on a hard court or on clay but the fact that it is on grass where she isn’t as sure in her movements or her game brings Svitolina right into the mix. You have to give the Ukrainian a lot of credit in this run. She has seen off three Grand Slam champions and a very competent player to make it to this stage with Venus Williams, Elise Mertens, Sofia Kenin and Victoria Azarenka her victims so far so she definitely hasn’t had it easy getting to this quarter final. The only real grass court test Swiatek has faced in her run came in the last round when she had to come from a set down to Belinda Bencic to win and I wouldn’t be surprised if this plays out the same way. Svitolina has that ability to make her opponent play that extra ball and with Swiatek still a little unsure of herself on grass that can keep the new mum competitive even if she doesn’t win. I think the 5.5 game handicap is a couple too big given the way Svitolina has dealt with similar challenges this week already.
Andrey Rublev vs Novak Djokovic
The men’s match on Centre Court sees Novak Djokovic continuing his quest for a sixth straight Wimbledon title when he takes on the Russian challenger Andrey Rublev for a place in the semi-final on Friday.
Djokovic had cruised through to the fourth round but he was given a real work out by Hubert Hurkacz over two days in the last 16. After being made to battle hard, Djokovic came through and will be hoping for an easier run here. Rublev was able to finish his match on Sunday but despite having a two set lead on Alexander Bublik, he was forced to go the distance which isn’t ideal. Rublev had dropped sets to Aslan Karatsev and David Goffin before that so he has had to do things the hard way in this tournament. It gets no harder than this test for him though. Rublev did beat Djokovic in Belgrade last year but the other three meetings between the two have yielded straight sets Djokovic wins and in those seven sets Rublev has picked up a grand total of 17 games, which suggests he could be blown away here. I would certainly be looking at getting on a comfortable Djokovic win had his match with Hurkacz not been carried over to Monday. I still wouldn’t be surprised if the Serb wins this as easily as those previous meetings but Pedro Cachin took him to a tiebreak in the third set in the first round while Jordan Thompson and Stan Wawrinka also lost a set on a breaker which might give Rublev encouragement. There is enough doubt but me to sit this one out.
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Court 1
Jessica Pegula vs Marketa Vondrousova
The other two singles matches on Tuesday will be played out over on Court 1 with the women up first when Jessica Pegula goes up against the unseeded Czech player Marketa Vondrousova for a place in the semi-final.
Pegula arrived at Wimbledon with a lot of doubters over her grass court ability but after coming past Lauren Davis in three sets in the opening round, she hasn’t dropped another set in the tournament and actually looks like she has clicked on the surface. I think Vondrousova brings about her toughest test so far though, both from a comfort on grass perspective and a very heavy hitting game and as a left-hander that awkward style too. There is something in my mind that makes me think that the Czech is a bit of value at odds against but in truth I would like slightly bigger to get involved because if Pegula finds her range early then this could be a long afternoon for Vondrousova. I wouldn’t put anyone off the underdog but the prices are just about tight enough to put me off.
Jannik Sinner vs Roman Safiullin
The men’s match sees Jannik Sinner in a second Wimbledon quarter final in as many years when the Italian player looks to go one better than he did in 2022 when he meets the Russian surprise package of Roman Safiullin for a spot in the last four.
Sinner won’t need reminding that he led Novak Djokovic 2-0 in sets at this stage last year but wasn’t able to finish the job off. I think it is fair to say the challenge is nothing like as daunting this time around but he needs to remain focused and get the job done. Safiullin has seen off Roberto Bautista Agut and Denis Shapovalov among others this week so far so he has shown that if you allow him to hang around he is more than capable of taking advantage. I do think the run of the Russian ends here because I really like the aggressive groundstrokes of the Italian on this surface but he does have one or two too many flat spots for comfort. That puts me off getting him onside on a handicap but he does have a big advantage of having been this deep in a Grand Slam before and having played on the show courts here already. That tempts me in but the line is just a little too far in the favour of the Russian assuming he doesn’t get stage fright but that possibility is there so I’ll leave this one alone too.
Tips
Back E.Svitolina (+5.5 games) to beat I.Swiatek for a 3/10 stake at 1.95 with 888sport
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