The SFs for the men’s singles has been set. There weren’t any upsets in the QFs. Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, and Jo-Wilfriend Tsonga all won their respective matches.

Federer defeated Mikhail Youzhny in straight sets- 6-1, 6-2, 6-2- and is in his 32nd Grand Slam SF. Although his back had been hurting during his fourth round match, Federer showed no signs of discomfort during this match. He will play against the current world number 1, Novak Djokovic.

Djokovic also had an easy QF. He defeated Florian Mayer 6-4, 6-1, 6-4. So far, Djokovic has had a very good tournament.He won his first Wimbledon title last year, when he defeated Rafael Nadal and became world number 1 for the first time. He will face Federer for a chance to win his second Wimbledon title.

Andy Murray played David Ferrer in the QF and won in 4 very close sets.  He lost the first set in a tiebreak, but won the next three sets, two of which also went to a tiebreak. Murray will be playing for a chance to become the first British man to be in the Wimbledon finals in over 70 years. He will face Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

The last player to join these three is Tsonga. He played Philipp Kohlschreiber and won 7-6 (7-5), 4-6, 7-6(7-3), 6-2.  This will be Tsonga’s second SF. Last year, he made it to the SF by defeating Federer, coming back from 2 sets to win in 5 sets. He will play the hometown favorite, Andy Murray.

It was a busy for Serena and Venus Williams. First they played a second round match against the 4th seeded doubles team- Maria Kirilenko and Nadia Petrova. Then they played a third round match against 13th seeded doubles team- Bethanie Mattek -Sands and Sania Mirza. The Williams sisters first match was a difficult one for them. They lost the first set 3-6, won the second 6-3, and had tough time with the third set. They eventually won the third set 9-7 and moved on to the third round. Since the second round match had been postponed a day, the Williams sisters had to go back a few hours later and play their third round match that same day. Although this was their second match of the day, the Williams sisters had an easier time with their third round match. They won in straight sets- 6-4, 6-3- and moved on to the QFs.

Serena Williams

At the end of Day 9, only one American remains in the singles draw at Wimbledon. That one American? You guessed it, Serena Williams. The other Americans all lost their matches today. Mardy Fish and Brian Baker played their fourth round matches today because of yesterday’s rain delay.

Serena Williams knocked out last year’s Wimbledon champion, Petra Kvitova in straight sets. Up to this point, Kvitova had been playing really well. But she was no match For Williams’ big serve. She served 13 aces and her fastest serve came at 120 mph. She won the match 6-3, 7-5. Williams will face Victoria Azarenka in the SFs.

Baker played Philip Kohlschreiber of Germany and lost in straight sets, 6-1, 7-6(7-4), 6-3.  This was the furthest Baker had gone in any major. He should be very proud of himself, he played some really good tennis these last two weeks and can only get better. His ranking will be somewhere around 70-80 and if he stays in the top 100, he will receive direct entry to next month’s US Open.

Fish played Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and lost in 4 sets. He had 11 break points, but was only able to convert 2 of them. Despite this, Fish had a very good run, esp considering this was his first tournament since April. Fish was the last American male left in the singles draw.  Originally, he’d been chosen to represent the US, but turned down the chance to let the younger players have a chance.

In an All German QF, Angelique Kerber beat Sabine Lisicki in 3 very close sets. This was one of the most entertaining matches of the day. Kerber, who had beat Kim Clijsters in her previous match, won the first set without a problem. She started off well in the second set, quickly winning the first 3 games.  However, Lisicki came back to win that set in a tie break- 7-6(9-7). The third set  was very close and very nervewrecking for both players. Lisicki came very close to winning the third set, and match. She served for the match at 5-3, but was broken. After that, Kerber win all to win the next 3 games and the match. She will be playing Agnieska Kerber in her first Wimbledon SF.

Andy Murray played against Marin Cilic, who had defeated Sam Querrey earlier in the second longest Wimbledon match. It took Murray a while to win the first set, but he won the next two sets without a problem. He will face David Ferrer in the QF.

Soon to be number 1 (yet again) Victoria Azarenka defeated Tamira Paszek in straight sets. Paszek has surprised a lot of people these past few days. Not only by defeating the former world number one, Caroline Wozniacki, but also by winning her next few matches, proving it wasn’t just a fluke. Even though Azarenka won in straight sets, the match was much closer. This was one of Azarenka’s toughest Wimbledon matches. It won’t get any easier for her she faces Serena Williams next.

David Ferrer is through to his first QF at Wimbledon. He defeated Juan Martin Del Potro in straight sets. Ferrer has been to the QFs in all of the other majors, but never in Wimbledon. He will be playing Britain’s Andy Murray for a spot in the SF.

Mardy Fish (picture courtesy of yahoo sports)

Serena Williams (picture courtesy of ESPN website)

Day 2 of Wimbledon was a much better day for the Americans. While Day 1 had split results, most of the Americans who played on Day 2 made it to the second round, like Mardy Fish and Serena Williams. Some of the other winners of Day 2 were Andy Murray, the hometown favorite, Rafael Nadal, Juan Martin Del Potro, Petra Kvitova, Victoria Azarenka, David Goffin, and Brian Baker.  While the first few names might sound familiar to most people, Goffin and Baker are players that are new.

As I mentioned, Day 2 was very good for the Americans. After disappointing first round losses for  Venus Williams and John Isner on Day 1, many people probably didn’t have their hopes up for the Americans on Day 2. However, S. Williams and Fish won their matches in straight sets. Serena Williams is a 4 time Wimbledon titlist and was looking to bounce back after her first round loss at the Frecnh Open. She got off to a good start at Wimbledon where she won 6-2, 6-4. Mardy Fish recently announced that a few months ago, he had some problems with his heart and had to undergo surgery. He was able to get through his match with no major problems. Some other Americans who won their matches today were Sam Querrey, Christina McHale,  Jesse Levine, and Brian Baker.

The name Brian Baker isn’t familiar to most casual tennis fans. He’s an American player who recently came back to the ATP tour after being away for 6 years. Why was he away for so long? He had 5 serious surgeries over the years and wasn’t able to do the one thing he loved, which was play tennis. After winning the Savannah Challenger and making it to the final of the ATP Nice Open, he was given a wildcard to the French Open where he made it to the second round before losing to Gilles Simon in 5 sets. He had to qualify for Wimbledon, which he did, and beat Portuguese Rui Machado in straight sets. Next up for Baker is Jarkko Nieminen.

Another interesting match today was between the two up and comers- Goffin and Bernard Tomic. Last year, as a qualifier, Tomic was the youngest tennis player (since 1986) to reach the QFs. He upset Robin Soderling, who was the 5th seeded player. Goffin was playing in his first ATP tour-level match on grass and had been given a wildcard into Wimbledon. Although Goffin is older, he had less experience in a major tournament. This was only his second major, his first was this year’s French Open, where he lost in the 4th round to Roger Federer.  None of that mattered today. Although, Tomic won the first set, Goffin was able to step up his game and play the rest of the match as if he had done this plenty of times before. Goffin is a player that you should watch out for. He could just be the next Roger Federer.

The favorites also won their matches today. Nadal started off pretty slow, but was able to win his match against Brazilian Thomaz Bellucci in straight sets. Murray, who is under a lot pf pressure from the English press to do well at Wimbledon, won in a convincing manner, deafeating Russian Nikolay Davydenko in straight sets. It has been a long time since any British tennis player, male or female, has won a major. Murray has been to 3 finals, but  lost all 3. There’s even more pressure on him during Wimbledon. Other players who might have some pressure on them, as recent winners of majors, are Victoria Azarenka and Petra Kvitova. Azarenka is ranked 2nd in the world and won the Australian Open this year. Kvitova is ranked 4th in the world and won last year’s Wimbledon title. Both of them were able to win their first round matches without any problems.

Here are some other players who won today- Del Potro, who defeated Dutchman Robin Haase and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga who defeated Roger Federer in last year QF. There were only two upsets today, thought neither of them as big as yesterday’s upsets.  Nieminen beat 14th ranked Feliciano Lopez and Grigor Dimitrov upset 32nd ranked Kevin Anderson. Wimbledon will be on ESPN 2 tomorrow, at 7 am EST. Both Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic will be playing their second round matches.