Wimbledon: Quarterfinals

The second Monday of Wimbledon has to be one of the better tennis days of the year, with all 16 fourth matches being played.  But after all the upsets in the first two rounds, mentioned in my previous post, the top players have for the most part taken care of business, especially on the men's side.  The exception to that on the women's side was Serena's 34-match winning streak getting snapped by Sabine Lisicki today.  If there was one woman near Serena in the draw I thought might give her a run for her money, it was Lisicki.  And I've also noticed that when Serena gets in these tight matches in the third set, she often loses them, her win over Kuznetsova at the French Open being an exception.  Upsets did continue in the men's draw with many of the lower seeds that had openings falling out, such that only 9 seeded men survived to the round of 16.  Ten women were still alive at that point, but you remember only 15 seeded survived the first two rounds, compared to 18 for the men.

But without further ado, here are the remaining men and women.  This group looks quite different from many previous majors.

Men
1) Novak Djokovic (SRB) - 25th major quarterfinal (6th at Wimbledon), 19-5 record (4-1), 17th consecutive QF
2) Andy Murray (GBR) - 16th major quarterfinal (6th at Wimbledon), 12-3 record (4-1), last '13 Aussie Open
4) David Ferrer (ESP) - 12th major quarterfinal (2nd at Wimbledon), 6-5 record (0-1), 7th consecutive QF
7) Tomas Berdych (CZE) - 8th major quarterfinal (3rd at Wimbledon), 3-4 record (1-1), last '13 Aussie Open
8) Juan Martin Del Potro (ARG) - 8th major quarterfinal (1st at Wimbledon), 2-5 record, last '12 US Open
24) Jerzy Janowicz (POL) - 1st major quarterfinal!
Fernando Verdasco (ESP) - 4th major quarterfinal (1st at Wimbledon), 1-2 record, last '10 US Open
Lukasz Kubot (POL) - 1st major quarterfinal!

-Del Potro has now reached the quarters at all 4 majors
-Djokovic now has the longest active quarterfinal streak at 17.
-There is not much to say about rankings since Djokovic has such a massive lead.  Federer will drop to no. 5 unless Berdych reaches the final.  Del Potro has passed Tsonga to get no. 7.  Kubot, who came into the tournament ranked no. 130, is up 68 spots to no. 62.  Janowicz is now inside the top 20 while Verdasco is back up to no. 35.
-Djokovic, Murray, and Ferrer are the only remaining quarterfinalists from last year.  Youzhny lost to Murray in R4.
-Djokovic and Murray have yet to drop a set and Verdasco has lost only one.

Women
4) Agnieszka Radwanska (POL) - 9th major quarterfinal (4th at Wimbledon), 1-7 record (1-2), 3rd consecutive QF
6) Na Li (CHN) - 8th major quarterfinal (3rd at Wimbledon), 4-3 record (0-2), last '13 Aussie Open
8) Petra Kvitova (CZE) - 7th major quarterfinal (4th at Wimbledon), 4-2 record (2-1), last '12 Wimbledon
15) Marion Bartoli (FRA) - 6th major quarterfinal (3rd at Wimbledon), 2-3 record (1-1), last '12 US Open
17) Sloane Stephens (USA) - 2nd major quarterfinal (1st at Wimbledon), 1-0 record, last '13 Aussie Open
20) Kirsten Flipkens (BEL) - 1st major quarterfinal!
23) Sabine Lisicki (GER) - 4th major quarterfinal (4th at Wimbledon), 1-2 record (1-2), last '12 Wimbledon
Kaia Kanepi (EST) - 5th major quarterfinal (2nd at Wimbledon), 0-4 record (0-1), last '12 French Open

-Radwanska is the only women's French Open quarterfinalist repeated that result at Wimbledon.
-The men have combined to reach 75 major quarterfinals while the women have managed 42.  This shows the relative consistency of the men's second tier players like Ferrer, Berdych, and Del Potro.
-Radwanska, Kvitova, and Lisicki are the only remaining quarterfinalists from last year.  Serena lost to Lisicki in R4.
-Bartoli and Flipkens are the only women yet to lose a set.
-There is little drama on the rankings front.  The top 3 are set.  The Radwanska/Li winner will be no. 4 for the time being.  Bartoli is back in the top 10 and Kanepi has halved her ranking to no. 23.  Kvitova has passed Kerber for no. 7.  Stephens and Flipkens are enjoying career highs at no. 15 and 17.

Quarterfinal matchups:

Djokovic vs Berdych
Ferrer vs Del Potro
Janowicz vs Kubot (first ever all-Polish major QF)
Murray vs Verdasco

Lisicki vs Kanepi
Radwanska vs Li
Bartoli vs Stephens
Kvitova vs Flipkens