Wimbledon on Sling TV, Day 10
(Coverage starts at 8am ET on ESPN, all times Eastern)
Marin Cilic pushed Roger Federer to the brink of elimination, going up 2 sets to nil, only to drop three straight, losing before falling 7-6 6-4 3-6 6-7 3-6. “This is huge for me. Epic,” Federer said later. “Sometimes when you’re two sets to love down, the mountain to climb is so huge it’s monstrous. I remember just being in trouble the whole time.” But the match of the day was the 3 hour and 53 minute slugfest between Andy Murray and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. Murray went up 7-6 6-1, but lost the next two sets 3-6 4-6, only to dig deep and dismiss Tsonga 6-1 in the fifth and final set.
Centre Court
8am ET
Serena Williams (USA) [1] vs. Elena Vesnina (RUS) Semifinals
Serena Williams defeated 23rd-ranked Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-4 6-4 to advance to the semis at Wimbledon for the 10th time, and keep herself on a collision course with her sister Venus for the finals.
Unseeded Elena Vesnina, ranked 50th in the world, finds herself in the semis set to play one of the all time greats after beating Dominika Cibulkova 6-2 6-2. Vesnina has played in every Grand Slam event, save this year’s Australian, going back to 2006 without ever having made it past the 4th round. Vesnina and Williams have met four times before, with Williams winning each time.
Angelique Kerber (GER) [4] vs. Venus Williams (USA) [8] Semifinals
Fourth-ranked Angelique Kerber beat Simona Halep 7-5 7-6 to advance to her second Wimbledon semis, and her fourth Grand Slam semis. “I’m feeling really good. I’m playing really good tennis right now,” Kerber said afterward. “Also today, I mean, Simona was playing really well, as well… I was trying to being aggressive and playing really my game, focusing just on my style of tennis.”
Venus Williams is having herself a fortnight to remember. On Tuesday she beat Yaroslava Shvedova 7-6 6-2 to advance to the quarterfinals in the Ladies’ Singles, and she and her sister Serena teamed up to beat Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka to advance to the quarterfinals in the Ladies’ Doubles. Not bad for a woman who faced possible retirement five years ago after being diagnosed with Sjogren’s Syndrome, a condition which causes fatigue and joint pain. Venus is 2-3 lifetime against Kerber, including a loss in their one match on grass at the 2012 Olympics.
Pierre-Hugues Herbert (FRA) [1] & Nicolas Mahut (FRA) [1]
vs.
Max Mirnyi (BLR) [12] & Treat Huey (PHI) [12] , Semifinals
Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut defeated Henri Kontinen and John Peers 6-4 6-7 6-4 7-6, needing nearly three hours to do so. Despite being the top seed in the Men’s Doubles, this is only Mahut’s second trip to the semis, and Herbert has never been here before. Hopefully they can continue to get past the fact the Mahut beat Herbert in the 3rd round of the Men’s Singles.
Treat Huey/Max Mirnyi beat Jonathan Marray/Adil Shamasdin 6-4 7-6 6-3 to reach their first semis at Wimbledon as partners. Mirny has five Grand Slam doubles titles under his belt, spanning a 19-year career, but his best showing at Wimbledon was a loss in the finals in 2003, when he was partnered with Mahesh Bhupathi. Huey, for his part, has made just three Men’s Doubles quarterfinals in his six previous Grand Slam events, most recently this year at Australia.
NO.1 COURT
1:00PM
Martina Hingis (SUI) [1] & Sania Mirza (IND) [1]
vs.
Yaroslava Shvedova (KAZ) [5] & Timea Babos (HUN) [5], Quarterfinals
Julien Benneteau (FRA) & Edouard Roger-Vasselin (FRA)
vs.
Rajeev Ram (USA) [11] & Raven Klaasen (RSA) [11], Semifinals
Leander Paes (IND) [16] & Martina Hingis (SUI) [16]
vs.
Heather Watson (GBR) & Henri Kontinen (FIN), 3rd Round
NO.2 COURT
Not before 12:30 PM
Julia Goerges (GER) [8] & Karolina Pliskova (CZE) [8]
vs.
Kristina Mladenovic (FRA) [2] & Caroline Garcia (FRA) [2], Quarterfinals
Serena Williams (USA) & Venus Williams (USA)
vs.
Elena Vesnina (RUS) [4] & Ekaterina Makarova (RUS) [4], Quarterfinals
NO.3 COURT
Not before 12:30 PM
Oliver Marach (AUT) & Jelena Ostapenko (LAT)
vs.
Lucie Safarova (CZE) [9] & Radek Stepanek (CZE) [9], 3rd Round
Robert Farah (COL) [15] & Anna-Lena Groenefeld (GER) [15]
vs.
Andreja Klepac(SLO)[10] v Alexander Peya(AUT)[10], Quarterfinals
Aisam Qureshi (PAK) [14] & Yaroslava Shvedova (KAZ) [14]
vs.
Katarina Srebotnik (SLO) [11] & Marcin Matkowski (POL) [11], Quarterfinals
For the Boys’ and Girls’, Seniors, Wheelcair, and Seniors, Ladies’ and Gentlemen’s Invitational schedule, go to Wimbledon.com
Watch Wimbledon on ESPN Monday at 8am by subscribing to the Best of Live TV package..
All stats courtesy of Wimbledon, ATP World Tour and ESPN