Wimbledon Day 8 Picks (July 3rd 2012)

The weather did indeed win the day on Day 7 Mof the Championships and the forecast does not exactly look that good over the next day which means we could see a backlog on Wednesday, especially if any of the outstanding Men's matches go into five sets.

I actually thought it was a crazy decision from the All-England Club to not play another match after the Novak Djokovic-Victor Troicki match finished at 8pm this evening as they may just have got another match finished with three hours spare.

I understand they don't keep players around if they can help it, but I imagine most would still have been on the grounds at 7:15 when it became obvious that Djokovic was likely going to cruise through the match.

They could easily have put the David Ferrer-Juan Martin Del Potro match on Centre Court tonight and that was a little more baffling considering those two players are going to open up there tomorrow morning- I can only imagine they had already allowed those two players to leave earlier, while the other matches will be completed on the courts they had begun on.

If the weather forecast is as bad as predicted tomorrow, it will be interesting to see if they will put one of the Women's Quarter Finals onto Centre Court if the first three matches are completed with enough time to spare, especially considering the Semi Finals will be played on Thursday.

The problem is that persistent rain will likely mean at least one female player is likely to have not secured her place in the final four and will be at a definite disadvantage as the tournament progresses.


The picks had a pretty awful time yesterday, especially the Roger Federer handicap pick that missed by half a game because he was broken early in both the third and the fourth sets... I finally felt a little justified in stating that I think he has an injury that he has been hiding from the public after he took the first medical time out I ever recall him having. I just don't see how he can beat Novak Djokovic right now so his search for a seventh Wimbledon title and getting back to World Number 1 will go on.

Ana Ivanovic was blown off court by Victoria Azarenka, while both Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Richard Gasquet were broken within 30 seconds of one another and went on to lose the first sets of their matches against Mardy Fish and Florian Mayer respectively.

Day 8 Picks:

Maria Kirilenko + 4.5 games v Agnieszka Radwanska: Agnieszka Radwanska could take over as World Number 1 if she wins this tournament thanks to the early exit of Maria Sharapova, but she has a big hurdle to overcome as she looks to make her first appearance in a Grand Slam Semi Final by beating Maria Kirilenko.

Radwanska is the obvious favourite with 4 straight wins over Kirilenko, but the last two meetings have been pretty close matches and there is a chance that the Pole could be a little tight in this one and that will make it that much tougher for her to progress.

Both players have been playing well at Wimbledon so far, but both will be facing the toughest opponent they have seen so far and I am counting on Radwanska to be suffering more nerves of the two players with the prizes that are within her grasp from here on out.

Kirilenko has won the only meeting between the players at a Grand Slam when she won as the underdog at the 2009 US Open, but Radwanska will point to her two close wins last season on the North American hardcourts.

Hopefully the Russian player can push Radwanska as she did last season and maybe sneak a set that should make the cover that much easier to come by.


Victoria Azarenka - 5.5 games v Tamira Paszek: Tamira Paszek has reached the Quarter Final for the second year in succession at Wimbledon, but she once again faces Victoria Azarenka who is in much better condition and form than she was 12 months ago.

Azarenka has come through the tournament with absolutely no problems and she was fantastic in her demolition of Ana Ivanovic yesterday and she won't be afraid of this match up.

Paszek has played well on the grass courts, winning at Eastbourne before this tournament began, but she has not had a great season and I believe this is as tough as an examination as she could have faced at this stage. Azarenka has plenty of motivation with the World Number 1 spot back within her grasp, and she seems more comfortable on the grass than she has previously and I think she will have too much consistency for Paszek again.

They have met twice before with Azarenka winning both matches and yet to lose a set. As I mentioned before, these two met here at the Quarter Final last season and Azarenka lost just 4 games on her way through.

She may lose a couple more games at least this time, but a 6-4, 6-2 win would not be far from the mark in my opinion.


MY PICKS: Jo-Wilfried Tsonga - 5.5 games @ 2.00 Pinnacle (2 Units) To be completed with Tsonga trailing 4-6, 1-1
Richard Gasquet - 5.5 games @ 1.80 Pinnacle (2 Units) To be completed with Gasquet trailing 3-6, 1-2
Maria Kirilenko + 4.5 games @ 2.14 Pinnacle (2 Units)
Victoria Azarenka - 5.5 games @ 2.00 Ladbrokes (2 Units)


Wimbledon Update: 14-12, + 5.42 Units (51 Units Staked)