London - Arab Today
Wimbledon men's quarter-finals on Wednesday (x denotes seeded player):
Andy Murray (GBR x1) v Sam Querrey (USA x24)
-- Defending champion Murray will retain his world number one ranking if he defeats Querrey, the man who ended Novak Djokovic's run as champion in 2016. Murray is bidding to make his eighth Wimbledon semi-final in the last nine years and is playing in his 10th straight quarter-final at the tournament. Murray and has reached the last-eight at 24 of the last 26 Slams.
Querrey, 29, made the quarter-finals in 2016 where he lost in four sets to eventual runner-up Milos Raonic. He has sent down 99 aces, just three behind tournament leader Gilles Muller, the conqueror of Rafael Nadal.
Head-to-head: Murray leads 7-1
Gilles Muller (LUX x16) v Marin Cilic (CRO x7)
-- Muller, 34, makes his maiden appearance in the last-eight after knocking out two-time champion Rafael Nadal in a five-set epic, his first win over a top five player in 23 attempts. The Luxembourg player's only other Grand Slam quarter-final came in 2008 when he lost to Federer at the US Open. Muller won the grass-court the title at 's-Hertogenbosch this summer and reached the semi-finals at Queen’s where he lost to Cilic.
Cilic, the 2014 US Open champion, is in the quarter-finals for a fourth successive year. He has lost in the last-eight in each of the last three years -– falling to Djokovic in 2014 and 2015, and to Federer in five-sets last year despite holding a 2-0 lead.
Head-to-head: Cilic leads 2-0
Milos Raonic (CAN x6) v Roger Federer (SUI x3)
-- Federer will attempt to reach his 12th Wimbledon semi-final and stay on course for a record eighth title when he faces Raonic, the man who defeated him in the semi-finals last year. The 35-year-old is playing in his 50th Grand Slam quarter-final and is closing in on becoming the oldest champion at the All England Club in the Open era.
Raonic, the runner-up to Murray last year, is bidding to make the semi-finals for the third time. However, while Federer has not dropped a set, the big Canadian needed five sets to see off highly-rated German Alexander Zverev in the last-16.
Head-to-head: Federer leads 9-3
Tomas Berdych (CZE x11) v Novak Djokovic (SRB x2)
-- Djokovic takes a staggering 25-2 career record over Czech 11th seed Berdych into his quarter-final as he eyes a potential semi-final duel with Federer. Second seeded Djokovic needed a medical timeout to treat a long-standing right shoulder injury in his last-16 clash with Adrian Mannarino. He also claimed a hole had opened up on the service line on the Centre Court.
Berdych hasn't defeated Djokovic since 2013 but he did triumph over the Serb at Wimbledon in the semi-finals seven years ago when the Czech finished runner-up to Nadal.
Source: AFP