Wimbledon Day 9: Wawrinka crashes out, Top 3 move ahead

Here’s all the action from Wimbledon Day 9, with the Gentlemen’s Quarter-Finals.

1. Roger Federer [2](SUI) beat Gilles Simon [12](FRA)
6-3 7-5 6-2

Roger Federer gave Gilles Simon a tennis masterclass at a chilly Court No.1 afternoon. It was Simon’s first QF at Wimbledon. Federer entered the match with 107 consecutive holds of serves- a streak which began at Halle – and looked in prime form from the very beginning.

The match hardly ever looked a contest as the Frenchman Simon never really got a chance to play his game. He had absolutely no answer to the genius all court play from Federer.

Roger broke early to go 3-0 up before a rain delay kept them off court for about 35 minutes. Federer quickly wrapped up the set 6-3 after the delay.

Federer was cruising at 6-3 5-4, serving for the set, but Simon broke back to make it 5 all. Federer who had only faced two break points in the entire tournament so far, lost his serve for the first time. But Simon couldn’t deny the inevitable as Federer broke again and then served the set out. A double break in the third set sealed the match for the 7- time Wimbledon Champion.

With this win Federer will now play in his 10th Wimbledon Semi-final on Friday, only one behind the all time record held by Jimmy Connors. He has never lost a Semi-Final at Centre Court and will be up against the crowd favorite Andy Murray, who dispatched the challenge of Canadian Vaesk Pospisil. “It’s going to be a tough one for me, but obviously I’m looking forward to it”, said Federer.

2. Andy Murray [3](GBR) beat Vasek Pospisil (CAN)
6-4 7-5 6-4

Andy Murray didn’t have an easy time at Centre Court. He was at times outplayed by the Canadian, but Murray delivered at crucial moments to make way into another Wimbledon Semi-final. Murray got an early break in the first set and took it 6-4, after Pospisil let an opportunity slip at 0-30 on Andy’s serve. The Canadian was rushing across the baseline and hitting winners to give Scott a really tough time.

But after hanging on till 5-5, he couldn’t match the court coverage of Murray and squandered the set. It was all too easy for Murray from that point and with just one more break of serve Andy won in straight sets.

Federer and Murray last battled at the Centre Court for the Olympic gold in 2012, where Murray beat the Swiss. At Wimbledon 2012, Federer beat Murray to claim his 17th major. Their last meeting was at the WTF last year, where Federer humiliated Andy 6-0 6-1.

Murray has improved a lot since his 2012 heartbreak, he’s now a double major champion and has drastically worked on his game with new coach.

3. Novak Djokovic [1](SRB) beat Marin Cilic [9](CRO)
6-4 6-4 6-4

The defending champion Novak Djokovic easily knocked out the US Open Champion Marin Cilic with a straight sets win. Cilic couldn’t replicate his wonder at Flushing Meadows and lost three serves, one in each set and slumped to a 4-6 4-6 4-6 defeat.

At 4-5 Deuce, Cilic had a look at Novak’s serve, but the Serb was way too better when it came to such big points. Novak then broke in the 9th game of the second set and took a two sets to love lead, which was an impossible position to recover from for Cilic.

The third set also was decides on a single break of serve and the World number one came through easily at the end.

4. Richard Gasquet [21](FRA) beat Stan Wawrinka [4](SUI)
6-4 4-6 3-6 6-4 11-9

The best quarterfinal was played late at Court No. 1 between the French Open champion Stanislas Wawrinka and Frenchman Richard Gasquet, both single handed backhand on show.

Gasquet was running through with some fine shots and unexpectedly took the opener as Wawrinka was struggling to get his timing going. But once he did, he ran away with the next two sets, riding strong on that heavy backhand. Gasquet’s backhand was keeping him in the game, but certainly not winning them for him.
But a match that was expected to be a one sided affair turned into a classic as it went on in the fifth set. At 5-3 Gasquet was serving for a place in semifinal, but Stan broke back to make it 5-5.

It went on serve till 10-9, but then Gasquet came up with some scintillating shot making produced triple match points on the Stan serve. They were a bit too many for the Swiss who succumbed to yet another QF exit, just like last year. The World Number  1, Novak Djokovic is waiting for Richard Gasquet in Friday’s semi-final.