The old saying ‘if it ain’t broke don’t fix it’ might not have been made in reference to tennis betting but it is a perfect fit for this Wimbledon quarterfinal match between #3 seed Rafael Nadal and American Sam Querrey. Nadal has been a monster on the grass courts at the All England Club in London this time around.
His inspired play could be a function of the perceived slight he received from the Wimbledon seeding format. If you pay attention to tennis you no doubt caught that although Nadal is seeded #3 here he’s ranked #2 in the world. Nadal was downgraded by the Wimbledon seedings arcane formula which resulted in world #3 ranked Roger Federer being seeded second for their tournament.
Even if this isn’t his motivation he’s looked borderline unstoppable so far as he continues through the bracket toward what is starting to look like an inevitable matchup with world (and Wimbledon) #1 ranked Novak Djokovic in the semifinals. In his previous matchup, Nadal summarily dismissed capable Joao Sousa 6-2, 6-2, 6-2. That could be significant here as Querrey had a tough time of it in his last action before scrapping out a victory over Tennys Sandgren 6-4, 6-7, 7-6, 7-6. Nadal has lost only one set in this tournament and could be considerably fresher than his opponent in this quarterfinal matchup.
Querrey has been in decent form of late and in his last action prior to Wimbledon reached the finals of the Nature Valley International (aka the Eastbourne International) at the Devonshire Park Lawn Tennis Club before losing to Taylor Fritz 6-3, 6-4. Querrey has a booming serve which will be his primary weapon against Nadal. Nadal has been returning very well during the Wimbledon tournament, however, and if that continues he’ll wear his American opponent down with his superior ground game. Huge step up in class for Querrey from world #94 rank Sandren to Nadal. Given that Querrey was outclassed by world #31 rank Taylor Fritz in the Nature Valley International Finals it doesn’t bode well for him here against one of the best in the business in excellent form.
