Sabine Lisicki def. Serena Williams 6-2 1-6 6-4
After Paris where there were no major upsets, Wimbledon is becoming impossible to predict with all the big names falling. The biggest casualty is the top seed and seemingly unbeatable, Serena Williams. Credit to Lisicki, who played aggressively and taking her chances. Serena was still playing inhibited and you get the sense that she's still in her clay court style of play. With her loss, the winning streak is snapped and Lisicki will become the instant favourite to win the tournament. Let's see if she can sustain her momentum this time.
Schedule of play:
Agnieszka Radwanska vs. Li Na
Petra Kvitova vs. Kirsten Flipkens
Sabine Lisicki vs. Kaia Kanepi
Sloane Stephens vs. Marion Bartoli
Match focus:
Agnieszka Radwanska vs. Li Na
Out of the top 8 seeds, only 3 made it to the quarters and these 2 players lived up to their seedings. It is almost safe to say whoever wins this will be the favourite to make the final. Li absolutely annihilated Roberta Vinci while Radwanska struggled with Pironkova. The form book will lean heavily towards the Chinese despite her lower ranking. Li just needs to replicate her form against Vinci and overpower Radwanska from the baseline like she did in Melbourne.
Pick: Li in 2 sets
Petra Kvitova vs. Kirsten Flipkens
With the top seeds falling like flies, Kvitova suddenly becomes the favourite to emerge from the bottom half. She will play Flipkens, who is making her quarter-finals debut in a Grand Slam. One has to favour Petra now as she is slowly playing herself to form. Besides, she had the perfect preparation against Flipkens, playing against another player with a wily slice in Suarez Navarro. Interestingly, Flipkens won their last encounter in Miami in 3 sets, with her winning sets being demolition jobs. She will be quietly confident going into this match. Kvitova needs to know she doesn't need to go for that much anymore, playing safe will be enough against the nervous Belgian.
Pick: Kvitova in 3 sets
Sabine Lisicki vs. Kaia Kanepi
Lisicki will be on a high after defeating Serena Williams. Will she be brought back to Earth by Kaia Kanepi? Sabine often has difficulty backing up her wins as evidenced by her upset over Sharapova last year. Kaia will not be bothered by her big hitting as she will be the one who takes a big swing as well. With her calmness in taking out the crowd favourite Laura Robson, I think Kaia is ready for the big time. Coupled with an almost guaranteed dip in form from Lisicki, we might have an upset here.
Pick: Kanepi in 3 sets
Sloane Stephens vs. Marion Bartoli
For the 2nd time this year, Sloane Stephens is the last American standing in the women's draw. Is this a sign of things to come? Sloane seems to up the ente when it comes to Grand Slam events and this will be her 2nd quarter-final appearance after Melbourne. (she reached the semis in January) Marion Bartoli has been quietly making her way through the draw and despite her lack of form coming into the tournament, she's been playing well and getting her wins with minimal fuss. Sloane was quite lucky with draw as the seeds fell before meeting her, so I have to favour the Frenchwoman who loves grass. She will be looking to advance to her second Wimbledon final after famously upsetting Justine Henin in 2007.
Pick: Bartoli in 2 sets
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