Wimbledon, Day 9: Gentlemen's Singles Quarterfinals Preview

After the surprises of Tuesday's Ladies' Singles quarterfinals, the eight remaining men take over on Day 9.  None of these matches could produce a result anywhere near as shocking as Pironkova beating Venus was, but there's still plenty of room for surprises.

No. 1 Roger Federer (SUI)  vs No. 12 Tomas Berdych (CZE) -- Tomas Berdych finally seems to be living up to his potential. He made the final of Miami in March, beating three top ten players in the process.  The first of the top ten players he was ousted was Roger Federer, who he also beat at the Athens Olympics in 2004.  Berdych made the final four of a grand slam for the first time in his career earlier this month, eventually losing in five sets to Robin Soderling in the French Open semifinals.  Berdych should be able to beat Federer in baseline rallies, and if he serves well he should be able to make things incredibly difficult on Federer.  The only question is finishing ability, which Federer has in spades and is considerably more suspect for Berdych.  If Berdych is going to win this match, it's going to have to be over in three or four.  But I don't think it will be.  Prediction: Federer in 5.

(For more on Tomas Berdych, check out Part 1 and Part 2 of his interview with SB Nation's tennis blog, The Daily Forehand)

No. 10 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA) vs No. 4 Andy Murray (GBR) -- Puncher vs. counter-puncher battles are always interesting, and but should favor the puncher on the fast grass courts.  Therefore, if both play their best tennis, Tsonga should win this one.  His weapons are simply bigger.  But even though his game is more suited for it, Tsonga might not have the comfort level on grass that Murray has developed.   This is Murray's third Wimbledon quarterfinal, and Tsonga's first. Add the partisan crowd to the mix, and I give Murray the edge. Prediction: Murray in 4.

No. 3 Novak Djokovic (SRB) vs Yen-Hsun Lu (TPE) -- These two could be considered the two with the worst chances to win this title, and therefore are pretty lucky to be playing each other.  What allowed Lu to beat Roddick was Roddick's atrocious returning, which shouldn't be as much of an issue for Djokovic.  What will be an issue for Djokovic, however, is his largely suspect health and conditioning.  Lu will make Djokovic run, and if the heat gets to him he could be in trouble.  But temperatures aren't even going to be in the 80s on Wednesday in London, so Djokovic should be in good shape to make as surprising a semifinal run as a No. 3 seed ever has. Prediction: Djokovic in 3.

No. 6 Robin Soderling (SWE) vs No. 2 Rafael Nadal (ESP) -- The marquee match-up of the day, to be sure.  At least until his fourth round struggle against No. 9 David Ferrer, Soderling had looked like the most dominant player in the tournament.  His huge ground strokes were finding the lines, and his serve was untouchable. Nadal, on the other hand, was forced to play five sets in back to back matches against relatively marginal opponents.  But he looked sharp Monday, controlling his match against Paul-Henri Mathieu from wire to wire for a straight sets win.  Still, Soderling's power and aggressiveness should help him against Nadal on grass immensely.  They were even enough to beat him on clay at the 2009 French Open, on a much less ideal surface for Soderling's style.  Soderling should be able to hit through Nadal with relative ease, much in the same way Juan Martin del Potro did at last year's US Open.  There's been some bad blood between the two at Wimbledon in the past, but the only thing likely to be on display today is some good, dominant tennis.  Prediction: Soderling in 4.