Wimbledon Day 9: ... And The Rest

OK, I’m so tired I can barely see, so let’s just wrap the other guys up in one mammoth, picture-heavy post …

Rafael Nadal d. Robin Soderling, 36 63 76(4) 61

Odd match, this one. I didn’t see much of it, but what I did see confused me. I looked at the score and Robin was leading 5-0 in the opening set; then I looked back and he was going off on Pascal Maria.

Weirdness. Anyway, Rafa obviously righted the ship and that’s about all I can say about that. So the closest thing that the draw has to a defending champion left is through to the semi-finals. Yay. As for Robin, he fizzled a bit after a devastating start to the tournament, but it’s still a good Wimbledon for him. I want him to keep this up and kick on in the summer. It can happen.

Novak Djokovic d. Yen-Hsun Lu, 63 62 62

It’s remarkable how under-the-radar Nole has been this tournament, even in the quarterfinals. Perhaps that’s exactly what he needed, because something’s working. OK, so it was a tough ask for Lu to back up his win over Roddick with a win over Nole, but from what I saw, Djoko (heh) was playing absolutely fantastic. His semi-final against Berdych should be a cracker, and if Berdych has any kind of a letdown from the form he displayed against Federer, Nole has an excellent chance to make the final. Nole. In the final. It could happen. And he looks like he’s having fun. I think that deserves a small picspam.

Fly, Nole. Fly high.

Andy Murray d. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, 67(5) 76(5) 62 62

This was billed, I think deservedly, as Murray’s first real test of the tournament, and in some ways it didn’t quite live up to the expectations. Murray came out worryingly passive, wasn’t serving great, and the imperious form of the early rounds looked like it might be proving to be an illusion.

As Murray’s early break in the second set dissolved and Jo went up a minibreak in the tiebreak, it looked like a lot of the glee I heard from people in my office at the thought that Federer was out of the way (hello, Nadal?) was going to get the kind of response it deserved. Luckily for Murray, however, Jo made a bizarre decision at 5-5 in the tiebreak to leave a reflex stretch return from Murray, and it dropped in to give Andy a set point which he duly took. That decision seemed to take the wind out of Jo’s sails completely and he rather faded away in the third and fourth sets, allowing Murray to cruise to the finish line.

So a lucky escape for Murray in some ways, but he got the win. He’s through. And from now on, what with that Nadal bloke and everything, getting the win is all that matters.

Keep it going, handsome.