Wimbledon Day 8 Picks 2013- Women's Quarter Finals (July 2nd)

We might not get a lot earthquake activity in England, but the seismic shocks reverberating from the SW19 epicentre are being felt around the world.

The first week of the tournament started things off with the likes of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Maria Sharapova and Victoria Azarenka all leaving the tournament despite being the amongst the leading contenders to win the titles in the Men's and Women's events.

However, it turns out those upsets were nothing compared to what we would see on Monday as Serena Williams blew a healthy winning position to fall to Sabine Lisicki.

I did write in my outright preview that Lisicki would certainly provide a test, but I didn't have a real conviction that she could beat Serena in the form she had shown through the last twelve months and fresh off her win at the French Open. It turned out to be an outstanding performance from the German, who is very much suited to the grass courts, but to beat the player who was 1/4 to win the title is a surprise that far outweighs anything else we have seen at the Championships.

Interestingly, the last three French Open Champions have all been beaten at Wimbledon by Sabine Lisicki... So maybe this isn't as big an upset as originally thought(!)


The exit of Serena Williams has shaken up the Women's draw and it looks wide open for someone to go on and claim the prize. I can understand why Sabine Lisicki has been set as the favourite considering how she performs on the grass, but I am interested to see how she backs up her win over Williams.

Last year she beat Maria Sharapova here in the Fourth Round before losing to Angelique Kerber so there have to be some questions surrounding Lisicki's ability to recover mentally from her big win on Monday.

Petra Kvitova is a former winner here so will have her supporters to go on and win her second Slam, while the likes of Marion Bartoli and Agnieszka Radwanska will feel they can break their duck, both of those players being former Wimbledon Finalists.

Sloane Stephens could make a big breakthrough for some of the new young blood on the WTA Tour and Na Li is a former Slam winner that has been quietly making her way through the draw. Players like Kaia Kanepi and Kristen Flipkens may never get a better chance to win a Grand Slam.

With that in mind, we may no longer have the star names in the Women's draw, but there is plenty of intrigue that will be played out in the remaining week of the event.


The Men's draw hasn't lost either of the big two players left in the draw and we still look in for a Final involving the current Number 1 and Number 2 World Ranked players. I wouldn't want to think it is a foregone conclusion as there are a couple of big hitters that will certainly feel they can put a spanner in the works as Tomas Berdych and Jerzy Janowicz prepare for Quarter Final appearances.


Lastly, what is going on with the progressively worse coverage being offered by the BBC at what they annually describe as the 'biggest tournament in tennis'? Outside of matches involving the British hopes (and even those weren't spared today), the BBC have moved matches around, pushed them between BBC1 and BBC2 and also decided to move others 'behind the red button' or online.

I can't be the only person that likes to sit down and watch full matches, yet they seem to think that people are happy watching snippets of different matches on different courts... The commentators are poor for the most part and regularly display a lack of knowledge of the game (there are some exceptions to that, but a lot of them seem to have only paid attention during the last month of the grass court season) and the overall viewing experience has been disappointing to say the least.

For all the complaints people have about Sky TV, and there are plenty, they are at least very good at giving viewers the full experience and their coverage of the US Open has to be praised. It's a shame that Wimbledon is considered a 'protected event' by the British authorities as I really feel an injection from a company like Sky would give the tournament the feeling of the best in tennis.


Today is set for the Women's Quarter Finals and there could be plenty of nervousness on display with all eight very likely to be sitting somewhere tonight with the belief that they could win the tournament now the top three players in the draw are all out. It has been a very solid tournament for the picks up to this point and hopefully that will continue as the week draws to a close.


Sabine Lisicki - 4.5 games v Kaia Kanepi: The biggest concern I have for Sabine Lisicki was highlighted above and that is how she copes mentally with one of the biggest wins of her career on Monday. Lisicki had spoken of her belief of being able to beat Serena Williams and anyone else on a grass court, and that was before the draw for Wimbledon, but she does have to cope with a different type of pressure now.

It is going to be a very unfamiliar position for Lisicki as she is being favoured to win the whole tournament and that will certainly bring its own pressure. It may be fruitful to her chances of getting through this Quarter Final that the German won't have a long time to dwell on her win over Williams, although she did fail to back up her big win over Maria Sharapova at the same stage last season.

I do feel a little more confident in Lisicki's chances in this one as I do think Kaia Kanepi is a player she should be beating on a grass court. Kanepi has done very well to get to the Quarter Final here as she had lost her previous four matches on a grass court, and she is off an impressive win over Laura Robson in the last Round.

Kanepi has come through three really tough matches in her four wins so far at Wimbledon and she could be a little fatigued. I also believe that Kanepi has the more erratic serve and she could struggle to keep up with Lisicki if the latter rides the momentum of her Fourth Round win, but all could come down to how much the German has learned from moving on from a big win last season.


Na Li - 2.5 games v Agnieszka Radwanska: It is an exciting time for Polish tennis as they are definitely going to have one male player in the Semi Final and there will be a hope that Agnieszka Radwanska can represent in the Women's draw. After reaching the Final here at Wimbledon last year, Radwanska will want to go one step further this time around, especially with Serena Williams out of the draw.

However, Radwanska has not been in the best of form in the last couple of months and is coming up against an opponent that knows what it feels like to win a Grand Slam title.

Na Li has also won four of the last five matches between the players since August last year and that includes at the Australian Open earlier this year. Li has had to come through some testing matches so far at Wimbledon, but she has the power and consistency to hit through Radwanska and clearly poses a match up problem.

Nerves are going to play a part in all of the matches tomorrow as the draw is so wide open for all of the ladies involved, but Li has the experience and the belief to win this match and take another step towards doubling her career Grand Slam titles.


Marion Bartoli v Sloane Stephens: This is the closest of the Quarter Finals, according to the layers at least, and it has been set as a pick 'em contest. I am favouring Marion Bartoli as I do believe the grass courts will aid her game, although Sloane Stephens is definitely no walkover for anyone.

Bartoli is a former Wimbledon Finalist and she has won titles on the grass courts in the past and she has been very comfortable so far at the tournament. Contrary to her run, Stephens has been pushed to three sets in each of the last three Rounds, but has done very well to reach her second Quarter Final at the Grand Slam level this season.

The young American is definitely a potential star of the future and has big groundstrokes and a strong serve, attributes that could make her a threat on most surfaces over the coming years. Stephens did struggle a little in her last match with Monica Puig and that is where Bartoli could certainly take advantage.

It has to be said that Bartoli has made the best of her career so far and really gets all she can out of her game. She is solid and consistent off both wings and she could still be a little too strong for Stephens on a surface that is playing pretty fast this year.

A lot of this match will come down to 'first strike tennis' and whoever can get that in first will certainly feel they will be able to dictate and win the match. I just feel Bartoli has shown a little more conviction on the surface than Stephens and could come through in what could easily be a three set battle.


MY PICKS: Sabine Lisicki - 4.5 Games @ 2.00 Paddy Power (2 Units)
Na Li - 2.5 Games @ 2.00 Bet Fred (2 Units)
Marion Bartoli @ 1.92 Ladbrokes (2 Units)

Wimbledon Update: 17-8, + 17.58 Units (49 Units Staked, + 35.88% Yield)