Wimbledon 2015: Grass Clippings Day 9
Men's Quarterfinals
Though rain interrupted play several times on Day 9, all four men's quarterfinals were completed and the semifinals are set. Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, and Andy Murray all cruised through no-fuss wins over Marin Cilic, Gilles Simon, and Vasek Pospisil, respectively. The best match of the day—and the lone upset—was Richard Gasquet upending French Open champion Stan Wawrinka. Reeshard, who will contest his second Wimbledon semifinal, will face a tough test against Djokovic in the next round, while Federer and Murray will face each other.
Wawrinka's (not so) Lucky Shorts
The red and white plaid shorts that Wawrinka sort-of-famously wore during his Roland Garros title run last month aren't allowed at Wimbledon, but Stan managed to bring his "lucky" shorts with him anyway. Tennis journalist Christopher Clarey tweeted out this photo of Stan's shorts in miniature:
https://twitter.com/christophclarey/status/619093239296053248
Unfortunately for Wawrinka, there wasn't quite enough luck in these mini shorts to see him through against Gasquet.
Three Out of Four Isn't Bad
Stan Wawrinka was literally points away from reaching the Wimbledon semifinals for the first time. Had he done so, the top four men's seeds would have all been together in the semifinals for the first time since 1995 when Agassi, Sampras, Becker, and Ivanisevic all made it.
Brotherly Love
Earlier in the fortnight, Andy Murray interrupted himself during a press conference with a fist pump when his brother Jamie advanced in doubles. With Andy's berth in the singles semis secure and Jamie into the semis in doubles, the brothers will be the first to represent their family in singles and doubles wince John and Neale Fraser in 1962.
Unbroken
Going all the way back to Halle in mid-June, Roger Federer had served 116 games without being broken. Though he won his match with ease, Federer's 116-game unbroken streak came to an end yesterday in tenth game of his match against Gilles Simon.
The Wimbledon Shot Clock
It doesn't exist yet, but maybe it should. While the timing rules at Grand Slams dictate that there should be no more than 20 seconds between points, it's unclear when the timer should start and whether there's any flexibility for grueling points, ball kids chasing balls, or any number of scenarios. And the inconsistent enforcement of the rule makes things even worse. Yesterday, the timing controversy reared its head again and for once it didn't circle Nadal or Djokovic. Vasek Pospisil received two time violations during his match against Andy Murray and both came at crucial points of the match. Pospisil received his first at 5-all, 30-all in the second set (with Pospisil having lost the first set). Immediately after the call, Pospisil missed his serve and proceeded to lose the next two points. Pospisil received another violation at 4-all, 0-30 in the third set as well and went on to be broken as well, allowing Murray to serve out the match.