The number 2 seed Roger Federer faces Frenchman Gilles Simon who has matched his best appearance at a Grand Slam which was a quarterfinal run at the 2009 Australian Open. For Roger Federer, this is a great opportunity to finally clinch a 18th Grand Slam title and further embellish his repertoire as one of the greatest players to ever play the game. Without a doubt, Federer will be a favorite heading into this match but there are indications Simon can pull a few tricks up his sleeves that can trouble Federer.
Roger Federer is having a remarkable Wimbledon so far even up to his high standards. This is his 13th quarterfinal appearance at the All England Club and he has displayed nothing but brilliance in the first 4 rounds. He has not dropped a service game in those first 4 matches. In fact, he has held serve 100 times in a row since the start of grass season! A remarkable stat! Federer kicked off his Wimbledon campaign by easily dispatching Damir Dzumhur 6-1, 6-3, 6-3. Then he faced two big servers in the likes of Sam Querrey and Sam Groth. Federer had an easy time against Sam Querrey, besting the American 6-4, 6-2, 6-2. The match against Groth was more competitive with Federer breaking twice in the first 2 sets winning both of them 6-4, 6-4, but then Groth, armed with his powerful serves, won a close 3rd set tiebreak by a score of 7-5 to stay in the match. Unfazed, Federer kept his cool and broke Groth twice in the deciding 4th set, securing the victory by winning the set by a comfortable margin 6-2. His serves have been ticking and he is proving to be a serious contender out of the final 8 left in the draw.
Gilles Simon, a player who normally stands below the top players of the world, is playing his best tennis of his career at the age of 30. His first round match against Nicolas Almagro was a pretty straightforward affair as he just needed 3 breaks, winning 6-4, 6-4, 7-5. In the 2nd round, he met Blaz Kavcic whom he was able to defeat in 4 sets, 6-1, 6-1, 6-7(5), 6-1. His 3rd round match was against fellow countryman Gael Monfils on Court 1 and they both put on quite a show in a high-quality 5-set duel. Fading light and scheduling concerns due to the fact that the next day was Middle Sunday (traditionally a rest day) forced officials to move the match to Centre Court. Simon went on to defeat Monfils 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(6), 2-6, 6-2. After playing a competitive 5-setter, he next faced the higher-ranked Czech Tomas Berdych in the 4th round. In less than 2 hours, Simon troubled Berdych from the get-go and stunned the tall Czech 6-3, 6-3, 6-2, setting up a showdown against Roger Federer in the quarterfinals. This is his best showing at Wimbledon in his career. Previously, his best performance was making the fourth round in 2009.
Head to Head: Federer leads the overall head to head 5-2. Simon won the first two encounters back in 2008. The last five clashes went in the favor of the Swiss with their most recent clash last year at Shanghai with Federer taking the match in two tiebreak sets. The most interesting storyline is that they have met at Grand Slams twice, with both of them requiring a deciding fifth set. At the second round of the 2011 Australian Open, Federer overcame a Simon comeback bid after winning the first two sets. Federer won 6-2, 6-3, 4-6, 4-6, 6-3. Then in the 2013 French Open fourth round, Federer came back from being down two sets to one, taking it 6-1, 4-6, 2-6, 6-2, 6-3. However, unlike the previous head to head matches, this will be their first meeting on grass, a surface that favors Roger’s game and traditionally Simon’s worst surface.
Key Factors: Federer will seek to continue his dominant serving display by keeping his first serve percentage up, not allowing Simon to get returns in play. Federer would also like coming into the net when the opportunity presents itself, pressuring Simon into making precise passing shots while on the run time and time again. For Simon, he’ll want to extend baseline rallies and keep Federer at bay in the back of the court. Simon is known for his consistent groundstrokes and will need both his forehand and backhand firing if he were to cause an upset. Simon needs to move Federer around and perhaps frustrate Roger by forcing Roger to play one more shot. The Frenchman will hope to use his counter-attacking abilities in which he is known for by retrieving balls from the back of the court, leaving doubts on Federer’s mind. While going in as the underdog, the Frenchman should take solace in the fact that he has taken Federer nearly to the brink of defeat in Grand Slams before. So long as he can stay in the match, good things may fall in place for the lower-ranked Simon.
Prediction: Federer takes this match fairly comfortably in 3 sets. It is hard to imagine how Simon can challenge someone like Federer’s caliber. Simon presents no big weapon and I can see Federer tear Simon’s game apart through his aggressive playstyle. Federer thrives on grass and Simon is more of a clay and hard courter. Anything but 3 sets for Federer would come as a bit of a surprise for me even though Simon is capable of pushing Federer as history has shown. However, this is Wimbledon, the greatest stage of tennis, and there’s a good chance Gilles fold under the pressure.