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.

Sam Querrey and Marin Cilic after playing the 2nd longest match in Wimbledon

5 hours and 31 minutes. That’s how long it took Marin Cilic to defeat Sam Querrey during the third round in the second longest match in Wimbledon history. The longest match was played by Querrey’s occasional doubles partner, John Isner and French player Nicolas Mahut, back in 2010. In the Cilic-Querrey match, the fifth set alone took 2 hours and 7 minutes to finish. The final score was  7-6 (8-6) 6-4 6-7 (7-2) 6-7 (7-3) 17-15. This match had 81 games in total. Both players played some incredible tennis, unfortunately for American fans, Querrey did not emerge as the winner. He should be proud of his perfomance, though. Next up for Cilic is Andy Murray.

Americans Mardy Fish, Brian Baker, and Serena Williams all won their matches today. Andy Roddick won the first set, but ended up losing the next three sets, and the match to David Ferrer. Fish was playing against  David Goffin and won in straight sets. The last two sets went to tie break. This was a much easier match for Fish than his second round match, when he went to five sets with British wildcard James Ward.  Baker played against Benoit Paire and won in four sets. He will be in Wimbledon fourth round for the first time.

Williams didn’t have such an easy match on Saturday. She lost the first set in a tie break and then cruised through the second set winning 6-2. However, she struggled a little during the third set. She finally won the set at 9-7. Roddick lost in what many people think is his final match in Wimbledon. He started off great, and as I said won the first set. He lost the second set in a very close tie break – 7-6 (10-8). After losing the tie break, it seemed like Roddick just wasn’t able to compete with Ferrer and lost the next two sets 6-4, 6-3.

The player who upset Caroline Wozniacki earlier this week, Tamira Paszek, is through to the QFs after defeating Yanina Wickmayer in the third round 2-6, 7-6 (7-4), 7-5.  Another player who also upset a former number one wasn’t so lucky. Lukas Rosol defeated Rafael Nadal in the second round, but lost to Philip Kohlschreiber in the third round, 6-2, 6-3, 7-6 (8-6).

Something else happened during Wimbledon that rarely happens in tennis. Yaroslova Shvedova won a “golden”set against the 10th seeded player Sara Errani. A “golden set” is when a player wins a set without dropping a single point, in other words winning 24 points in a row.  She won this match 6-0, 6-4.

The favorites all won their matches. Victoria Azarenka didn’t struggle at all during her 6-3, 6-3 win over Jana Cepelova.  Neither did the defending champion, Petra Kvitova, who won 6-1, 6-0 over American Varvara Lepchenko in less than 45 minutes.  Andy Murray won in four sets over Marco Baghdatis.  One of my favorites, Juan Martin Del Potro also won in straight sets against Kei Nishikori.