Andy Murray [1] vs. Sam Querrey [24]
Querrey beat Novak Djokovic at Wimbledon last year. Is another shocker from the American a possibility in this Centre Court opener on Wednesday? It’s a stretch. Murray is 7-1 against Querrey, his only loss coming seven years ago on hard courts in Querrey’s hometown. In general, Murray’s wins haven’t been close, either. Querrey has the weapons—serve, forehand—to win points against Murray, but not to win them over and over the way he needs to do against the ultra-consistent Scot in a best of five.
Winner: Murray
Marin Cilic [7] vs. Gilles Muller [16]
Often the players who have been winning in the weeks before a Slam, and who you think could be dark horses ... don’t end up being dark horses. See Feliciano Lopez at Wimbledon this year. In the case of Cilic and Muller, though, form has held true; Muller won a title on grass in Holland, Cilic reached the final on that surface at Queen’s and here they are playing for their first trip to the Wimbledon semis. As amazing as Muller’s effort was against Rafael Nadal, and as well-equipped as he is for grass, Cilic will be favored. He beat Muller at Queen’s, and hasn’t dropped a set at Wimbledon.
Winner: Cilic
Roger Federer [3] vs. Milos Raonic [6]
Top billing on Centre Court goes to this rematch of last year’s semifinal win by Raonic. When Federer limped off a fifth-set loser, and took the rest of the season off, many thought he might never return to this or any other court. Now here he is, 12 months later, the favorite to win it all again. Despite his loss to Raonic last year, he’s a strong favorite to get revenge on Wednesday. While Federer has yet to drop a set, Raonic is lucky to have survived his fourth-rounder against Alexander Zverev. The German helped him back into that match; the Swiss probably won’t.
Winner: Federer
