Nick Kyrgios produced the upset of the tournament and the upset of the entire year as he knocked out Rafael Nadal in four sets in a gripping Centre Court battle.  After progressing through what looked liked a tricky first three rounds, it emerged that his fourth round match was the most dangerous! I really didn’t see this upset coming although I felt strongly that Rafa would not win Wimbledon this year.  I’m standing by my original tip of a Murray v Federer final.

Poll Results: 40% correctly predicted that Wawrinka would beat Lopez, 89% correctly predicted that Federer would beat Robredo and a huge 44% correctly predicted that Kyrgios would beat Nadal… impressed!

1. Roger Federer v Stan Wawrinka

An all-Swiss quarter-final between Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka illuminates a bursting schedule for Centre Court on Wednesday.  At the beginning of the tournament, it looked unlikely.  Stan was reportedly hospitalised with a fever the week before Wimby  although these reports seem to have been slightly exaggerated.  Wawrinka enjoyed his best win of the tournament in the fourth round, beating the in-form, Feliciano Lopez, 7-6(5) 7-6(7) 6-3.  Lopez had won six out of seven tiebreaks he had played at Wimby before this match.  Against a top ten player, he was unable to work his magic.  He had several set points in the second set tiebreak.  When he was unable to convert, his challenge soon evaporated.

Federer has cruised into the quarter-finals; he hasn’t dropped a set and hasn’t even played a tiebreak this fortnight.  In the fourth round, he comfortably defeated Tommy Robredo, 6-1 6-4 6-4 in just 94 minutes.  Before this year, Federer had owned Wawrinka in the H2H, winning 12 of 14 matches.  In their only match-up of 2014 in the final of Monte-Carlo, Stan came from a set down to win his first Masters 1000 title with a 4-6 7-6(5) 6-2 victory.  That match had a real buzz about it although on grass and with so many other great matches on the schedule, i’m not feeling the same kind of excitement surrounding this match.  Still, it should be easy on the eye in terms of shotmaking, but I believe that Federer is the overwhelming favourite.

Prediction: Federer d. Wawrinka in 3 sets (2 tiebreaks)

2.  Milos Raonic v Nick Kyrgios

Nick Kyrgios produced the upset of the year as he defeated Rafael Nadal in four sets, 7-6(5) 5-7 7-6(5) 6-3 to set up a quarter-final with Milos Raonic.  Kyrgios boomed down 37 aces and showed nerves of steel to break a whole load of records and barriers in his career.  This was a remarkable win.  Although I predicted Nadal to win in three sets, I wasn’t as surprised as I expected to be.  The way Kyrgios closed it out and the way he reacted was interesting.  This guy has got it all and is going to be a huge, huge star.  I also wouldn’t compare this result to Luka Rosol‘s win a few years back.  Rosol hit a hot streak and played the match of his life, but I l believe Kyrgios could come back with the same intensity and same quality to go even further in this tournament.

Raonic progressed into his second Grand Slam quarter-final after a four set win over Kei Nishikori, 4-6 6-1 7-6(4) 6-3.  Raonic is starting to find his feet on grass as Nishikori’s body seemed to let him down once more.  Raonic and Kyrgios have already played each other on the tour at Roland Garros last month.  Raonic won in three sets, 6-3 7-6(1) 6-3.  I really cannot make my mind up about this match.  The way Kyrgios beat Nadal today was just immense and playing on Centre Court for the first time in his career, he didn’t look phased at all.  Something tells me he could go even deeper on this fairytale run.  On the other hand, Raonic offers something different to Nadal in terms of serving and it is very likely that the sets will be decided on the tiebreak.  There’s no way in telling how Nick will back up that win over Rafa.  However on the other other hand, Raonic has never made a Grand Slam semi-final before so there will be pressure, expectation and nerves.  I’m really torn…

Prediction: Kyrgios d. Raonic in 5 sets