Wimbledon Day 8: Happy Fourth of July, Serena and Sam

Hey, all. Galileo here.

Jiri Vesely saved five match points, the same amount of points won by Sveta in her second set, and won the fourth set breaker against Berdie 11-9. He and Berdman are two sets all with the winner playing Pouille. Vesely could make his maiden slam semi-final here.

And after this BACKSPINNER waxed lyrical about the Aussies, they both blew it. Impressively, Querrey backed it up and won a tricky match against Mahut. This day was exciting and memorable just as every manic Monday should be. Kerber can rise to number one if she wins. Radwanska crashed out again in three long sets. That match against Lisicki is beginning to look more and more like the turning point of her career. And Shvedova has made a highly improbable run here.

Stat of the day: on first serve points Querrey was 96 per cent won.

So, lots happened. Let’s go straight in...


CENTRE COURT: FEDERER D. JOHNSON
...Sure, the outer matches were spectacular. But some of the ones more heavily billed were damp squibs. They used to say Steffi played like she was double parked. Today Roger played as if he had left the oven on. In just over an hour and a half he dismissed the American 6-2, 6-3, 7-5. He hit the ball fine and rallied with the top seed. He spanked that forehand and even went 23-21 on the winners. But Federer is in form that he hasn’t been since January. How do you beat somebody who goes 35-13 on the winners? How do you beat somebody who wins 46 per cent of return points and 71 per cent of second service points? Forget the numbers; Federer is flowing like water over worn down rock, like champagne in a flute. The Swiss is gliding, floating like a butterfly and stinging like a hornet. That forehand is back with a vengeance. Sure Cilic is dangerous, but he also relies on surprise and upsetting his opponent. Federer is ready and, as much as this BACKSPINNER has predicted abysmally, Cilic won’t win that. In ten semi-finals at Wimbledon Fed has dropped just one set. To Djokovic. Book the Swiss in for an 11th final.
=============================
CENTRE COURT: MURRAY D. KYRGIOS
...Kyrgios tanked today. He threw the match and has once again been roundly criticized by everyone. He is back in the dog house but at least he acknowledges that. Off the court he behaves but on it is a different matter. He capitulated and his press conference was shocking. This section of BACKSPIN land, as is all of it, is about tennis. It is not about the further embarrassing behaviours of one of our crazier residents. Murray won 7-5, 6-1, 6-4 and was on the court barely longer than Fed. The two appear to be on a collision course with one another at this point. Murray hit just six errors and played the perfect match. Kyrgios never even got a break point. This was a poor match and one that is hopefully soon forgotten. Murray has to deal with Tsonga next and then a surprise semi-finalist. Tsonga will play with nothing to lose and could be very tricky. At least Kyrgios is likely to finish in the top five on the aces count.
=============================
NO.1 COURT : TSONGA D. GASQUET
...Tsonga won when Gasquet retired down 2-4 in the first. In stark contrast to Kyrgios’ behaviour, Tsonga gets massive sportsmanship points for this:

Countrymen sticking together.@tsonga7 helps the injured Gasquet carry his bags off court #Wimbledon https://t.co/EszUw8wuC2

— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 4, 2016

Against Murray, Tsonga just has to go for it. Serve-volley, go big on any forehand he sees. He should be as unpredictable as possible. He does all these things, anyway. Murray is likely going to win in four but Tsonga will play all the nicest tennis. Look for him to also try to take the net from Murray. If Murray is somehow having a bad passing shot day his chances will dramatically improve.
=============================
NO.2 COURT: CILIC D. NISHIKORI
...Nishikori needs to create a website or Twitter account dedicated solely to keeping us updated on his various injuries. Down 6-1, 5-1 he finally listened to his team who had been urging him to retire for at least a set. It was the ribs this time. Is there any part of him that isn’t injured? He should do what Clijsters did. He should retire, come back and somehow be more brilliant than before. Anyway, Cilic is through to his third consecutive quarter here. He lost to Nole in five in 2016 and in straights last year. He is a back half of the year guy and has been abysmal throughout the year. But now is when he starts to get cooking. He needs to take the racket out of Federer’s hand. But he will have to move around and on this surface once you start to get moved around you never stop. He also has to be perfect for over three hours. Can he do that?
=============================
NO.2 COURT: RAONIC D. GOFFIN
...A contender here for match of the championship. Goffin crafted, sliced, diced and served his way to a 6-4, 6-3 lead. He had momentum, he had the upset. He also had the Canuck right where he wanted him. But alas, Raonic came back from 2 down for the first time and won 4-6, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4. Essentially a top-ten clash, this burgeoning rivalry is growing into one of the most exciting around. In Basel, Goffin triumphed in three. That was in 2014, but in 2016 Raonic won in Indian Wells in three. It was a semi-final, too. The game styles are a fantastic contrast with Raonic the muscle against the thinker, the brain. There were six breaks in the three hours clash. Raonic went 53-44 on the winners while his opponent hit 44-27. Honestly, everybody had thought this would be a straight sets, straightforward encounter. But the Belgian is the successor to Ferrer and he has an uncanny knack of making these matches close. He really had Raonic all over the place throughout, but on this surface Raonic always has a slight edge. On this occasion it was too much. Raonic plays Querrey and in that you can expect 50 combined aces and lots of breakers. Could Querrey possibly continue his run?
=============================
OUTER COURT SELECTION: POUILLE D. TOMIC
...before Wimbledon, Pouille had never won a grass court match but he beat Tomic in five heart-breaking sets. At least Bernie didn’t tank. No, the Frenchman won 6-4, 4-6, 3-6, 6-4, 10-8. Somehow it didn’t even take three hours. Up 4-2 in that last set those final eight points eluded Tomic, who graciously admitted his opponent had “played the match of his life.” Despite his despair he will rise to world number 17. That’s a career high. With a decent summer showing he could rise to the top 16, which would help him greatly in New York. But Pouille is the Cinderella of the tournament and is not done yet. He is set to rise to 21, up nine places. That semi-final in Rome gave him seeding in Paris and that in turn assured him seeding at Wimbledon. He is a journeyman who has finally made it big, made it big time. And you have to love that. France needs a new hero, needs a new cast and it may have found its leading man. Pouille could make it all the way to the semi-finalist, though he will be a massive underdog against whichever Czech he faces. Then again, he thrives as the underdog. Props to Pouille. He keeps rising and riding.
=============================


Kiki and Garcia should be playing tomorrow folks.


Thanks all and visit WTA BACKSPIN please.

Read more!