Wimbledon wrap: Federer’s records & broken bromances

From a ruptured bromance to the threat of legal action by way of some broken records, yesterday at SW19 had a touch of the soap operas about it. We round up the action with the quarterfinals now set in stone.

The men’s action
It was billed as a Battle of the Bromance, but in the end, there wasn’t very much that was bromantic about it. After a tight first set, Andy Murray blew a dejected Nick Kyrgios off Centre Court as he booked his passage into another Wimbledon quarterfinal with a 7-5 6-1 6-4 win.

“I think when things get tough, I’m just a little bit soft,” a brutally honest Kyrgios said post-match. “I mean, I’ve got experience, but it ultimately comes down to just laying it all out there and competing for a long time.”

Murray, meanwhile, is looking forward to a clash with Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who benefitted from Richard Gasquet’s withdrawal. “I know the next one is a very tough match against Tsonga. He’s a really, really good grass court player, very, very dangerous,” Murray mused. “I’m aware I’ll have to be playing at my highest level to win.”

Roger Federer cruised into a 14th Wimbledon quarterfinal – equalling Jimmy Connors’ record – with a straight sets romp over American Steven Johnson. After playing some tight opening games – during which he faced multiple break points – Federer ran away with the match, winning 6-2 6-3 7-5.

“I never thought I was going to have such a great career here at Wimbledon ever since I turned up here in ’98,” Federer opined in press. “It’s probably going to be something I’m happy I achieved looking back when it’s all said and done.”

Elsewhere, Milos Raonic came back from two sets down against David Goffin to win 4-6 3-6 6-4 6-4 6-4; Kei Nishikori was forced to retire in his match Marin Cilic; Lucas Pouille won a titanic tussle with Bernie Tomic, winning 6-4 4-6 3-6 6-4 10-8; and Sam Querrey smashed Nicolas Mahut in straight sets.

The women’s action:
Can anyone stop Serena Williams? It’s hard to see it happening now. The World No.1 swatted aside the in-form Sveta Kuznetsova 7-5 6-0 in a dominant display on Centre. In a rain interrupted match, the reigning champ laughed off her mid-match threats to sue the All England Club if she got injured while being made to play on a damp grass court.

“I have no plans, no future of suing Wimbledon,” Serena said in press. “Let’s get serious. That’s not what I do.”

Match of the tournament? Yes. It was always likely to be a lengthy affair on Court 3 when Aga Radwanska and Domi Cibulkova squared off, but nobody expected it to be so high quality. The pair traded quite exquisite blows during Cibulkova’s 6-3 5-7 9-7 three-hour win. If she can find a way to rest up and recover, the Slovak star will face Elena Vesnina in one of today’s quarterfinal.

Vesnina is just one of a number of unlikely quarterfinalists left in the draw. While it’s no surprise that Venus Williams, Simona Halep and Angelique Kerber are still in the mix, few expected Pavlyuchenkova to power past Vandeweghe yesterday. Likewise, Shvedova’s 6-2 6-4 dismissal of Safarova came as something of a surprise.

Ones to watch:
Women’s quarterfinals day at Wimbledon means just one thing: four women’s matches. Of those on offer, Halep v Kerber is the stand out. It’s hard to see Pavlyuchenkova causing Serena too many problems, and the same can be said for Venus against Shvedova. Cibulkova is the in-form player in the draw right now, but whether she has enough gas in the tank to down Vesnina after yesterday’s Radwanska epic remains to be seen.