2018 WIMBLEDON

DAY 9 MEN’S NOTES

Wednesday 11 July

Quarterfinals

 

No. 1 Roger Federer (SUI) v No. 8 Kevin Anderson (RSA)

No. 2 Rafael Nadal (ESP) v No. 5 Juan Martin del Potro (ARG)

No. 9 John Isner (USA) v No. 13 Milos Raonic (CAN)

No. 12 Novak Djokovic (SRB) v No. 24 Kei Nishikori (JPN)

 

A quick look at the quarterfinalists…

 

Player	Country	Age	ATP Rank	Best Wimbledon Performance	Best Grand Slam Performance	Grass Court Titles
(1) Roger Federer	SUI	36	2	W 03-07, 09, 12, 17	20 titles	18
(2) Rafael Nadal	ESP	32	1	W 08, 10	17 titles	4
(5) Juan Martin del Potro	ARG	29	4	SF 13	W US Open 09	0
(8) Kevin Anderson	RSA	32	8	QF 18	RU US Open, 17	0
(9) John Isner	USA	33	10	QF 18	QF US Open 11, Wimbledon 18	3
(12) Novak Djokovic	SRB	31	21	W 11, 14-15	12 titles	4
(13) Milos Raonic	CAN	27	32	RU 16	RU Wimbledon 16	0
(24) Kei Nishikori	JPN	28	28	QF 18	RU US Open 14	0

 

 

• Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, who boast 13 Wimbledon titles between them, make up 3 of the 8 men through to the quarterfinals here this year – it is the first time since 2015 Roland Garros that all 3 of the trio have made the last 8 at the same Grand Slam. If all 3 emerge victorious from their battles against No. 24 seed Kei Nishikori, No. 8 seed Kevin Anderson and No. 5 seed Juan Martin del Potro, respectively, it will be the first time that all 3 of them have reached the semifinals at the same major since 2012 Roland Garros.

 

• Federer and Nadal have shared the last 6 Grand Slam titles between them, and both enter the quarterfinals in imperious form – they have each dropped just 36 games in their first 4 matches at this year’s Wimbledon. For top seed Federer, it is the 4th-lowest number of games he has dropped in a Wimbledon campaign through to the last 8, while No. 2 seed Nadal – who has reached his first Wimbledon quarterfinal since 2011 – has never been so dominant here before this stage, having never dropped so few games in reaching the quarterfinals here.

 

• With 3 Europeans, 2 North Americans, one African, one Asian and one South American through to the quarterfinals here this year, it is the 2nd time in the Open Era that 5 continents have been represented in the last 8 of the men’s singles at Wimbledon. The only previous occasion that players from 5 continents reached the last 8 here is 1981, when 3 North Americans (Jimmy Connors, Tim Mayotte and John McEnroe), 2 Australasians (Peter McNamara and Rod Frawley), one African (Johan Kriek), one Asian (Vijay Amritraj) and one European (Bjorn Borg) reached the quarterfinals.

 

 

1 ROGER FEDERER (SUI) v NO. 8 KEVIN ANDERSON (RSA)

Head-to-head: Federer leads 4-0

2013     Paris-1000                     Hard (I)             R32      Federer             64 64

2014     Indian Wells-1000          Hard (O)           QF        Federer             75 61

2015     Rome-1000                   Clay (O)            R16      Federer             63 75

2015     Cincinnati-1000              Hard (O)           R16      Federer             61 61

 

A 5th meeting for the pair – but their first on grass or at a Grand Slam. All 4 of their previous meetings have come at Masters-1000 level, with Federer winning in straight sets on all 4 occasions.

 

Federer and Anderson are 2 of the 5 players aged 30 or over to reach the quarterfinals of the men’s singles here this year – equalling the Open Era record for most 30-somethings through to the last 8 at a Grand Slam. There were also 5 men aged 30 or over in the quarterfinals here last year. The record for most 30-somethings into the semifinals of the men’s singles at a Grand Slam in the Open Era is 3 – at Roland Garros in 1968 and 2017, and at the 2017 Australian Open.

 

Federer is looking to reach his 16th Grand Slam semifinal since turning 30 and extend his Open Era record for most Grand Slam semifinals reached after turning 30. Ken Rosewall (13) and Jimmy Connors (11) are the only men to have reached 10 or more semifinals at a major after their 30th birthdays.

 

Possible semifinal head-to-heads

	Isner	Raonic
Federer	5-2	11-3
Anderson	3-8	1-1

 

                         FEDERER                                       v                                     ANDERSON

 

                               36                                          Age                                          32

                                2                                    ATP Ranking                                    8

                               98                                         Titles                                          4

                            336-52                     Career Grand Slam Record                      63-36

                             95-11                            Wimbledon Record                             16-9

                          1161-253                             Career Record                              298-211

                            176-25                        Career Record – Grass                          34-24

                              29-3                                  2018 Record                                 27-10

                              12-1                            2018 Record – Grass                             4-1

                             30-20                         Career Five-Set Record                         10-10

                               10                        Comebacks from 0-2 Down                         2

                           428-229                      Career Tiebreak Record                       175-146

                              12-5                           2018 Tiebreak Record                          20-10

 

Road to the Quarterfinals

FEDERER	Time		Time	ANDERSON
d. Dusan Lajovic 61 63 64 d. Lukas Lacko 64 64 61	1:19 1:30	1st round 2nd round	1:56 2:39	d. (Q) Norbert Gombos 63 64 64 d. Andreas Seppi 63 67(5) 63 64
d. Jan-Lennard Struff 63 75 62	1:34	3rd round	2:07	d. No. 25 Philipp Kohlschreiber 63 75 75
d. No. 22 Adrian Mannarino 60 75 64	1:45	Round of 16	3:29	d. Gael Monfils 76(4) 76(2) 57 76(4)
total time on court	6:08	(IBM time)	10:11	total time on court

 

• Defending champion FEDERER is bidding to reach his 13th Wimbledon semifinal and extend his record for most semifinal appearances at Wimbledon in the Open Era. He took sole ownership of the record, ahead of Jimmy Connors, last year.

 

Most Wimbledon semifinal appearances (Open Era)

Player	No. of appearances
Roger Federer	13??
Jimmy Connors	11
Boris Becker	9
Novak Djokovic John McEnroe Pete Sampras	8?? 8 8

 

• Federer is also bidding to reach his 44th Grand Slam semifinal and extend the record he broke at 2012 Wimbledon for the most Grand Slam semifinal appearances.

 

Most Grand Slam semifinal appearances (Open Era)

Player	No. of appearances
Roger Federer	44??
Novak Djokovic	32??
Jimmy Connors	31
Ivan Lendl Rafael Nadal	28 28??

 

• Wimbledon is Federer’s most successful Grand Slam event in terms of titles and matches won. It is his 2nd-most successful Grand Slam in terms of semifinals reached after the Australian Open, where he has reached the last 4 on 14 occasions.

 

Grand Slam	Titles won	Win-loss record	Semifinals reached
Australian Open	6	94-13	14
Roland Garros	1	65-16	7
Wimbledon	8	95-11	13??
US Open	5	82-12	10

 

• If he wins in straight sets today, Federer will have won 35 consecutive sets at Wimbledon and will break the record for longest streak of consecutive sets won at Wimbledon. By winning his opening 4 matches here in straight sets, in addition to his 20 consecutive sets won here last year, he improved to 32 consecutive sets won at Wimbledon – the 2nd-longest streak of consecutive sets won here in history. Federer holds the current record for most consecutive sets won here, having won 34 straight sets between the 3rd round in 2005 and the final in 2006.

 

• Federer has advanced to the Wimbledon quarterfinals without dropping a set for the 8th time. He has dropped just 36 games en route to the quarterfinals here this year. He has dropped 36 games or fewer in his opening 4 matches here on 4 previous occasions – in 2004 (34 games dropped), 2006 (36), 2007 (28) and 2014 (32).

 

• Federer is bidding to extend his streak of 81 consecutive games won on serve at Wimbledon. He has not lost a game on serve since being broken by Tomas Berdych in the 8th game of the first set in the semifinals last year. He faced his first break point of 2018 Wimbledon in the 6th game of the first set of his victory against Adrian Mannarino in the round of 16, having previously not faced a break point since the 4th game of the first set of the final last year. Pete Sampras holds the record for most consecutive games won on serve here, having won 118 straight games on serve between the 3rd round in 2000 and the 2nd round in 2001.

 

• In his 2nd round victory against Lukas Lacko, Federer recorded a streak of 35 consecutive points won on serve from the 10th game of the first set through to the 6th game of the 3rd set – it tied Nicolas Mahut’s record of 35 straight points won on serve, which he recorded during his defeat to John Isner in the 1st round here in 2010.

 

• By contesting his 103rd match in the 1st round here, Federer set the record for most matches played at Wimbledon in the Open Era, ahead of Connors. Connors is the only other man to have played 100 matches at one Grand Slam event in the Open Era – at both Wimbledon (102) and the US Open (115). Federer is contesting his 107th match at Wimbledon today – equalling his tally of matches played at the Australian Open. He has played 94 matches at the US Open and 81 at Roland Garros.

 

• By reaching his 16th quarterfinal here, Federer extended his Open Era record for the most quarterfinals reached at Wimbledon, ahead of Connors (14) and Boris Becker (11). He has a 12-3 win-loss record in Wimbledon quarterfinals.

 

• By reaching his 53rd Grand Slam quarterfinal, Federer extended his Open Era record for most Grand Slam quarterfinal He took sole occupancy of 1st place on the list, ahead of Connors, by reaching the quarterfinals at 2014 Wimbledon. He has not lost before the last 8 at a major since the 2015 Australian Open, when he fell to Andreas Seppi in the 3rd round. (NB He did not contest 2016-18 Roland Garros or the 2016 US Open)

 

• Last year here, Federer became the first man in history to win 8 Wimbledon titles, defeating Marin Cilic in the final. He did not a drop a set en route to the title – it was the 2nd time that he had won a Grand Slam title without dropping a set, having also achieved the feat at the 2007 Australian Open. At 35 years 342 days, he also became the oldest man in the Open Era to win the Wimbledon title.

 

• Federer is bidding to become the 2nd player in history to win 9 Wimbledon singles titles. Martina Navratilova, who won 9 women’s singles titles here, is the only player to have achieved the feat. (see Preview page 1)

 

• Federer is also bidding to close the gap on Rafael Nadal at the top of the list for most men’s singles titles won at one Grand Slam event. Nadal, who won his 11th Roland Garros title this year, and Federer are the only 2 men to have won a Grand Slam event on 8 or more occasions. (see Preview page 1)

 

• At 36 years 341 days, Federer is bidding to become the first man in the Open Era to win 5 Grand Slam titles after turning 30. He is one of 3 men to have won 4 Grand Slam titles in the Open Era after his 30th birthday, alongside Rod Laver and Ken Rosewall. (see Preview page 10) (NB age calculated at the end of the tournament)

 

• Federer is making his 20th consecutive Wimbledon appearance this year, having made his debut here in 1999. He is the first man in the Open Era to make 20 straight Wimbledon appearances. He has also tied Connors’ Open Era record for most total appearances at Wimbledon.

 

• Federer is contesting his 73rd Grand Slam By contesting his 71st Grand Slam the 2017 US Open, he set the record for most Grand Slam appearances in the Open Era, ahead of Fabrice Santoro.

 

• Federer warmed up for Wimbledon by winning his 98th Tour-level title at Stuttgart, defeating Milos Raonic in the final. He also reached the final at Halle, but fell to Borna Coric. The defeat ended his 20-match winning streak on grass – he had not lost on the surface since falling to Tommy Haas at 2017 Stuttgart.

 

• Federer won his 20th Grand Slam title at the Australian Open this year, extending his lead at the top of the all-time list for most Grand Slam men’s singles titles and taking sole ownership of 4th place on the all-time list for most Grand Slam singles titles – men or women – ahead of Helen Wills Moody. 4 of the 6 Grand Slam champions who started the men’s main draw here reached the quarterfinals.

 

• Also in 2018, Federer won the title at Rotterdam (d. Grigor Dimitrov) and reached the final at Indian Wells-1000 (l. Juan Martin del Potro). He fell to Thanasi Kokkinakis in his opening match at Miami-1000. He skipped the clay court season – including Roland Garros – to prepare for the grass court season.

 

• Federer holds the Open Era record for the most career grass court titles with 18 titles on the surface. In addition to 8 titles at Wimbledon, his other 10 titles were won at Halle in 2003-06, 2008, 2013-15 and 2017 and at Stuttgart this year.

 

• Federer is the most successful active player on grass with a 176-25 career win-loss record.

 

• Federer has won all 6 of his last 5-set matches. He has not lost a 5-set match since falling to Raonic in the semifinals here in 2016. He has a 30-20 win-loss record in 5-set matches overall.

 

• Federer is seeded No. 1 at a Grand Slam for the first time since the 2012 US Open and for the first time at Wimbledon since 2010. It is the 7th time overall that he has been No. 1 seed at Wimbledon.

 

• Federer will remain at 2 when the new rankings are released on Monday 16 July regardless of his result here, after Nadal secured the post-Wimbledon No. 1 ranking by reaching the round of 16.

 

• Federer is the only former Wimbledon boys’ singles champion through to the quarterfinals from the 6 who started the main draw here this year. He defeated Irakli Labadze to win the boys’ title here in 1998. He is one of just 4 boys’ singles champions who have gone on to win the men’s singles title.

 

• Federer is coached by former world No. 3 Ivan Ljubicic, who reached the 3rd round here in 2006-07 and 2011, and Severin Luthi.

 

• ANDERSON is bidding become the first South African man to reach the semifinals at Wimbledon since Kevin Curren in 1983. (NB Curren was competing under the flag of USA when he finished runner-up here in 1985)

 

• Anderson is bidding to become the 6th South African man in history to reach the semifinals at Wimbledon. Brian Norton (1921, 1923), Louis Raymond (1924), Eric Sturgess (1949, 1951), Cliff Drysdale (1965-66) and Curren are the only South African players to have reached the semifinals of the men’s singles at Wimbledon.

 

• Anderson is bidding to become the 7th South African man in history to reach multiple Grand Slam semifinals. (see table overleaf)

 

South African men in multiple Grand Slam semifinals (all-time)

Player	Grand Slam semifinals reached
Eric Sturgess	10 (1947-52 Roland Garros; 1948 US Championships; 1949, 1951 Wimbledon; 1950 Australian Championships)
Cliff Drysdale	5 (1965-66 Roland Garros; 1965-66 Wimbledon; 1965 US Championships)
Brian Norton	3 (1921, 1923 Wimbledon; 1923 US Championships)
Kevin Anderson??	2?? (2017 US Open; 2018 Wimbledon??)
Kevin Curren	2* (1983 Wimbledon; 1984 Australian Open)
Johan Kriek	2* (1980 US Open; 1981 Australian Open)
Wayne Ferreira	2 (1992, 2003 Australian Open)

*Curren and Kriek both reached further Grand Slam semifinals while representing USA

 

• If Anderson wins today and reaches the semifinals here for the first time on his 10th Wimbledon appearance, he will go joint-4th on the list for most attempts before reaching the semifinals at Wimbledon in the Open Era. Kei Nishikori and John Isner will also go joint-4th on the list if they win their quarterfinals today.

 

Most attempts before reaching semifinals at Wimbledon (Open Era)

Player	No. of attempts
Jonas Bjorkman	13
Marin Cilic Tommy Haas	11 11
Kevin Anderson?? John Isner?? Kei Nishikori?? Sam Querrey Rainer Schuettler	10?? 10?? 10?? 10 10

 

• By reaching the quarterfinals here for the first time, Anderson has become the first South African man to reach the Wimbledon quarterfinals since Wayne Ferreira in 1994 and the 14th South African man in history to reach the last 8 here.

 

• By reaching his 3rd Grand Slam quarterfinal, Anderson equalled Cliff Drysdale in 3rd place on the list for most Grand Slam quarterfinal appearances by a South African man in the Open Era. Johan Kriek (who reached 6 Grand Slam quarterfinals while competing under the flag of South Africa) and Ferreira (5 Grand Slam quarterfinal appearances) are the only South African men in the Open Era to have reached the last 8 at a major more often.

 

• By reaching the quarterfinals here this year, Anderson has recorded his best Wimbledon result. His previous best performances here were reaching the round of 16 in 2014 (l. Andy Murray), 2015 (l. Novak Djokovic) and last year, when he fell to Sam Querrey in 5 sets. He has a 2-4 win-loss record in 5-set matches at Wimbledon and a 10-10 win-loss record in 5-set matches overall.

 

• Anderson reached his first Grand Slam final at the 2017 US Open, losing to Rafael Nadal in 3 sets. He was the first South African in a Grand Slam singles final since Curren at the 1984 Australian Open and the oldest first-time finalist at a major since Niki Pilic at 1973 Roland Garros. At No. 32, he was also the lowest-ranked Grand Slam finalist since
  38 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga at the 2008 Australian Open. This is his 37th appearance at a major.

 

• In Grand Slam play in 2018, Anderson reached the round of 16 at Roland Garros, where he surrendered a 2-0 lead against Diego Schwartzman before losing in 5 sets. He also fell to Kyle Edmund in 5 sets in the 1st round at the Australian Open.

 

• Prior to coming here, Anderson competed at Queen’s, where he fell to Leonardo Mayer in the 1st round.

 

• Anderson’s best result in 2018 is winning the title at New York, defeating Querrey in the final. He also reached the final at Pune (l. Gilles Simon) and Acapulco (l. Juan Martin del Potro), the semifinals at Madrid-1000 (l. Dominic Thiem) and the quarterfinals at Indian Wells-1000 (l. Borna Coric) and Miami-1000 (l. Pablo Carreno Busta).

 

• Anderson is bidding to end a 6-match losing streak against Top 5 opposition. His last victory against a Top 5 opponent came against No. 3 Murray in the round of 16 at the 2015 US Open – which is also the only occasion he has defeated a Top 5 player at a major. He has a 1-11 win-loss record against Top 5 opposition at the majors and a 9-26 win-loss record against Top 5 opposition overall.

 

• Anderson is bidding to defeat a Top 5 player on grass for the 2nd time on his 7th attempt. His only victory against a Top 5 player on grass came against No. 4 Stan Wawrinka in the 2nd round at 2015 Queen’s. The highest-ranked player he has defeated at Wimbledon is No. 15 Fabio Fognini in the 3rd round in 2014.

 

• Anderson is bidding to record 5 straight Tour-level match-wins on grass for the first time in his career. By reaching the quarterfinals here, he has recorded 4 consecutive grass court match-wins at Tour-level for the 2nd time, having previously achieved the feat by reaching the final at 2015 Queen’s (l. Murray).

 

• Wimbledon is Anderson’s 3rd-strongest Grand Slam in terms of matches won. He has 16-9 win-loss record here – compared to 19-8 at the US Open, 17-9 at Roland Garros and 11-10 at the Australian Open.

 

• Anderson reached a career-high ranking of No. 7 in May this year. He plays here one place lower at No. 8.

 

• Anderson has won 4 career titles, all of which have come on a hard court. In addition to his victory at New York this year, he won at 2011 Johannesburg (d. Somdev Devvarman), 2012 Delray Beach (d. Marinko Matosevic) and 2015 Winston-Salem (d. Pierre-Hugues Herbert).

 

• Anderson received travel grants from the Grand Slam Development Fund to play junior events in 2004.

 

• Anderson is coached by Brad Stine.

 

 

2 RAFAEL NADAL (ESP) v NO. 5 JUAN MARTIN DEL POTRO (ARG)

 

Head-to-head: Nadal leads 10-5

2007     AMS Miami                               Hard (O)           R16      Nadal                60 64

2007     Roland Garros                         Clay (O)           R128    Nadal               75 63 62

2007     Queen’s                                    Grass (O)          R32      Nadal                64 64

2009     Indian Wells-1000                      Hard (O)           QF        Nadal                62 64

2009     Miami-1000                               Hard (O)           QF        Del Potro          64 36 76(3)

2009     Montreal-1000                           Hard (O)           QF        Del Potro          76(5) 61

2009     US Open                                  Hard (O)           SF        Del Potro          62 62 62

2011     Indian Wells-1000                      Hard (O)           SF        Nadal                64 64

2011     Madrid-1000                              Clay (O)            R16      Nadal                w/o (hip)

2011     Wimbledon                              Grass (O)         R16      Nadal               76(6) 36 76(4) 64

2011     Davis Cup (WG-FR)                   Clay (I)             R4        Nadal                16 64 61 76(0)

2013     Indian Wells-1000                      Hard (O)           FR        Nadal                46 63 64

2013     Shanghai-1000                          Hard (O)           SF        Del Potro          62 64

2016     Rio Olympic Tennis Event          Hard (O)           SF        Del Potro          57 64 76(5)

2017     US Open                                  Hard (O)           SF        Nadal               46 60 63 62

2018     Roland Garros                         Clay (O)            SF        Nadal               64 61 62

 

A 16th meeting for the 2 players, who most recently met just 5 weeks ago in the semifinals at Roland Garros. It is their 6th Grand Slam meeting in total, with Nadal having won 4 of their previous 5 meetings at the majors. Del Potro’s only victory against Nadal at the Grand Slams came at the 2009 US Open – his 62 62 62 semifinal victory is Nadal’s worst Grand Slam defeat in terms of games won.

 

Nadal has also won their 2 grass court meetings – including a 4-set victory in the round of 16 here in 2011.

 

Nadal is facing a Top 5 opponent on grass for the first time since he fell to No. 2 Novak Djokovic in the final here in 2011. He has a 5-3 win-loss record against Top 5 opposition on grass, with his only other defeats against Top 5 opponents on the surface coming against No. 1 Roger Federer in the finals here in both 2006 and 2007.

 

Del Potro is bidding to record his 10th victory against a world No. 1 and become the 7th man to record 10 victories against No. 1-ranked players since world rankings were introduced – after Boris Becker (19 victories against world       No. 1s), Nadal  (19), Djokovic (12), Andy Murray (12), Andre Agassi (10) and Federer (10).

 

Del Potro holds the record for most victories against No. 1-ranked players by a player never to have been ranked           No. 1. He has a 9-12 win-loss record against world No. 1s and a 1-6 win-loss record against world No. 1s at the majors, with his only victory against a world No. 1 at a Grand Slam coming against Federer in the final at the 2009 US Open.

 

Nadal and Del Potro are in 3rd and 4th place, respectively, on the list for most Tour-level match-wins in 2018. They are also 2 of the 6 players to have won multiple Tour-level titles in 2018.

 

2018 Tour-level match-wins

Player	Win-loss
Dominic Thiem Alexander Zverev	36-11 36-11
Rafael Nadal	34-2
Juan Martin del Potro	32-7
Roger Federer	29-3

 

Possible semifinal head-to-heads

	Djokovic	Nishikori
Nadal	25-26	10-2
Del Potro	4-14	6-2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                           NADAL                                         v                                     DEL POTRO

 

                               32                                          Age                                          29

                                1                                    ATP Ranking                                    4

                               79                                         Titles                                         22

                            241-34                     Career Grand Slam Record                      88-33

                             47-10                            Wimbledon Record                             21-8

                           907-187                              Career Record                              416-163

                             65-18                         Career Record – Grass                          39-16

                              34-2                                  2018 Record                                  32-7

                               4-0                             2018 Record – Grass                             4-0

                             19-11                         Career Five-Set Record                           7-9

                                3                         Comebacks from 0-2 Down                         2

                           220-140                      Career Tiebreak Record                       150-103

                               5-1                            2018 Tiebreak Record                           13-5

 

Road to the Quarterfinals

NADAL	Time		Time	DEL POTRO
d. Dudi Sela 63 63 62 d. Mikhail Kukushkin 64 63 64	1:50 2:23	1st round 2nd round	1:50 1:35	d. Peter Gojowczyk 63 64 63 d. Feliciano Lopez 64 61 62
d. Alex de Minaur 61 62 64	2:02	3rd round	2:24	d. Benoit Paire 64 76(4) 63
d. Jiri Vesely 63 63 64	1:53	Round of 16	4:24	d. Gilles Simon 76(1) 76(5) 57 76(5)
total time on court	8:08	(IBM time)	10:13	total time on court

 

• Two-time Wimbledon champion NADAL is bidding to reach his 28th Grand Slam semifinal and equal Ivan Lendl in 5th place on the list for most Grand Slam semifinal appearances in the Open Era.

 

Most Grand Slam semifinal appearances (Open Era)

Player	No. of appearances
Roger Federer	44??
Novak Djokovic	32??
Jimmy Connors	31
Ivan Lendl Rafael Nadal	28 28??

 

• Nadal is bidding to reach his 6th Wimbledon semifinal – and his first since he finished runner-up in 2011 – and move into joint-9th place on the list for most Wimbledon semifinal appearances in the Open Era, alongside Bjorn Borg, Stefan Edberg and Goran Ivanisevic.

 

• Wimbledon is Nadal’s least successful Grand Slam event in terms of matches won, his joint-least successful Grand Slam in terms of semifinals reached and his 3rd most successful Grand Slam in terms of titles won.

 

Grand Slam	Titles won	Win-loss record	Semifinals reached
Australian Open	1	55-12	5
Roland Garros	11	86-2	11
Wimbledon	2	47-10	6??
US Open	3	53-10	6

 

• By reaching his 35th Grand Slam quarterfinal, Nadal has taken sole ownership of 5th place on the list for the most Grand Slam quarterfinal appearances in the Open Era, ahead of Ivan Lendl. Roger Federer (53 Grand Slam quarterfinals), Jimmy Connors (41), Novak Djokovic (41) and Andre Agassi (36) are the only players in the Open Era to have reached the last 8 at a major more often.

 

• By reaching his 4th consecutive Grand Slam quarterfinal, Nadal has recorded his longest streak of Grand Slam quarterfinal appearances since he reached 11 consecutive Grand Slam quarterfinals between the 2009 US Open and 2012 Roland Garros.

 

• Nadal is one of the 5 players aged 30 or over to reach the quarterfinals of the men’s singles here this year – equalling the Open Era record for most 30-somethings through to the last 8 at a Grand Slam. There were also 5 men aged 30 or over in the quarterfinals here last year. The record for most 30-somethings into the semifinals of the men’s singles at a Grand Slam in the Open Era is 3 – at Roland Garros in 1968 and 2017, and at the 2017 Australian Open.

 

• Nadal has advanced to the Wimbledon quarterfinals without dropping a set for the first time. He has dropped just 36 games en route to the quarterfinals here this year – the lowest number of games he has ever dropped in his opening 4 matches. The lowest number of games he has dropped in reaching the quarterfinals at a Grand Slam is 19 – at 2012 Roland Garros.

 

• Last year here, Nadal reached the round of 16 where he lost to Gilles Muller 63 64 36 46 15-13. This is his 13th appearance at Wimbledon and his 53rd Grand Slam overall.

 

• Nadal is bidding to win Roland Garros and Wimbledon in the same year for the 3rd time and equal Borg’s all-time record of 3 back-to-back titles in Paris and London. Borg achieved the feat in 3 consecutive years (1978-80), while Nadal won Roland Garros and Wimbledon back-to-back in 2008 and 2010. (see Preview page 2)

 

• Nadal is looking to win his 18th Grand Slam title and close the gap on Federer at the top of the all-time list for most Grand Slam men’s singles titles. He is one of 4 Grand Slam champions to reach the quarterfinals here from the 6 that started the men’s main draw.

 

• Nadal is a 2-time Wimbledon champion. He defeated Federer to win his first Wimbledon title in 2008 and won the title for a 2nd time in 2010 (d. Tomas Berdych). He also reached the final here in 2006-07, losing to Federer on both occasions, and 2011 (l. Djokovic).

 

• Since finishing runner-up here in 2011, Nadal has lost to players ranked No. 100 or lower on 4 of his 5 appearances at Wimbledon – to No. 100 Lukas Rosol in 2012, No. 135 Steve Darcis in 2013, No. 144 Kyrgios in 2014 and No. 102 Dustin Brown in 2015.

 

• At 2018 Roland Garros, Nadal became the 2nd player in history to win 11 titles at any Grand Slam event, defeating Dominic Thiem in straight sets in the final. Margaret Court is the only other player in history to have won 11 titles at one Grand Slam event, winning the Australian title on 11 occasions between 1960 and 1973.

 

• Elsewhere in Grand Slam play this year, Nadal reached the quarterfinals at the Australian Open, where he retired in the 5th set of his match with Marin Cilic due to a right leg injury.

 

• Prior to coming here Nadal withdrew from Queen’s in order to recover after the clay court season. It is the 2nd consecutive year that he has not played a grass court warm-up event before Wimbledon.

 

• Nadal became the first player in the Open Era to win 11 Tour-level titles at 3 different events by winning his 11th titles at both Monte Carlo-1000 (d. Kei Nishikori) and Barcelona (d. Stefanos Tsitsipas) earlier this year alongside his 11th title at Roland Garros.

 

• Also in 2018, Nadal won the title at Rome-1000 (d. Alexander Zverev) and reached the quarterfinals at Madrid-1000 (l. Thiem). With 4 Tour-level titles in 2018, he is top of the list for most Tour-level titles won this year.

 

• By reaching the round of 16 here Nadal ensured that he will remain at No. 1 when the new rankings are published on Monday 16 July. He returned to world No. 1 for the first time since July 2014 in August last year. Since then, he has remained at No. 1 for all but 6 weeks, when he was overtaken by Federer. He dropped to No. 2 after Federer won the title at Stuttgart, but returned to No. 1 after Federer failed to retain his title at Halle.

 

• 4 of Nadal’s 79 career titles have come on grass – in addition to his 2 Wimbledon titles, he also lifted the trophy at 2008 Queen’s (d. Djokovic) and 2015 Stuttgart (d. Viktor Troicki).

 

• Nadal is on a 3-match losing streak in 5-set matches. He has not won a 5-set match since defeating Grigor Dimitrov in the semifinals at the 2017 Australian Open. He has a 6-3 win-loss record in 5-set matches at Wimbledon and a 19-11 win-loss record in 5-set matches overall.

 

• Nadal is coached by Carlos Moya, who reached the round of 16 here in 2004, and Toni Nadal.

 

• DEL POTRO is bidding to reach the semifinals here for the 2nd time and equal his best Wimbledon performance.

 

• Del Potro is bidding to become the 2nd Argentinian player – man or woman – to reach the Wimbledon semifinals on multiple occasions, after Gabriela Sabatini, who reached the semifinals of the women’s singles here in 1986 and 1990-92. Sabatini and David Nalbandian, who finished runner-up here in 2002, are the only other Argentinian players to have reached the semifinals here.

 

• Del Potro is bidding to reach his 6th Grand Slam semifinal and claim sole ownership of 2nd place on the list for most Grand Slam semifinal appearances by an Argentinian man, ahead of Nalbandian. (see table overleaf)

 

Most Grand Slam semifinal appearances by an Argentinian man (all time)

Player	No. of appearances
Guillermo Vilas	12
Juan Martin del Potro	6??
David Nalbandian	5
Jose Luis Clerc Guillermo Coria Enrique Morea	2 2 2

 

• Del Potro is bidding to reach the semifinals at consecutive Grand Slam events for the first time in his career. He reached the semifinals at 2018 Roland Garros this year, defeating Marin Cilic in the quarterfinals before falling to today’s opponent in the last 4. By reaching the quarterfinals here, Del Potro has reached the quarterfinals at consecutive Grand Slam events for the first time since he reached the quarterfinals at both the Australian Open and Roland Garros in 2012.

 

• By reaching the quarterfinals here for the 2nd time, Del Potro has become the 3rd Argentinian man to reach the quarterfinals at all 4 Grand Slams on multiple occasions after Guillermo Vilas and Nalbandian.

 

• By reaching his 12th Grand Slam quarterfinal, Del Potro extended his lead over Nalbandian in 2nd place on the Open Era list for most Grand Slam quarterfinal appearances by an Argentinian man. Vilas, who reached the last 8 at a major on 19 occasions, is the only Argentinian man to have reached more Grand Slam quarterfinals than Del Potro.

 

• By defeating Benoit Paire in the 3rd round to record his 20th Wimbledon match-win, Del Potro claimed sole ownership of 1st place on the list for most Wimbledon match-wins by an Argentinian man. He has a 21-8 win-loss record at Wimbledon, ahead of Nalbandian (19-8) and Vilas (15-11).

 

• By defeating Paire in the 3rd round, Del Potro recorded his 87th Grand Slam match-win and claimed sole ownership of 2nd place on the list for most Grand Slam match-wins by an Argentinian man, ahead of Nalbandian. Vilas (139 Grand Slam match-wins) is the only Argentinian man to have won more matches at the majors.

 

• Del Potro’s best Wimbledon performance is reaching the semifinals in 2013, when he lost to Novak Djokovic 75 46 76(2) 67(6) 63. At 4 hours 43 minutes, it is the longest Wimbledon semifinal in history

 

• Del Potro’s best Grand Slam performance is winning the 2009 US Open (d. Roger Federer) in his only appearance in a major final to date. He is one of 4 Grand Slam champions to reach the quarterfinals here from the 6 that started the men’s main draw.

 

• Last year here, Del Potro reached the 2nd round, defeating Thanasi Kokkinakis before falling to Ernests Gulbis in straight sets.

 

• Also in Grand Slam play in 2018, Del Potro reached the 3rd round at the Australian Open (l. Tomas Berdych). He is competing at his 6th consecutive Grand Slam event here – his longest streak of Grand Slam appearances since he appeared at 9 straight majors in 2011-13.

 

• Del Potro did not compete at a Wimbledon warm-up event after withdrawing from Queen’s due to a groin injury. It is the 2nd consecutive year he has not contested a warm-up event prior to playing at Wimbledon. Just 7 different men in the Open Era have won the Wimbledon title without playing a warm-up event on grass. (see Preview page 7)

 

• Del Potro’s best result in 2018 is winning the title at Indian Wells-1000 where, as No. 6 seed, he defeated Federer to win his first Masters-1000 title. He also won the title at Acapulco (d. Kevin Anderson), reached the final at Auckland (l. Roberto Bautista Agut) and the semifinals at Miami-1000, where his defeat to John Isner ended a 15-match winning streak, and Roland Garros.

 

• Wimbledon is Del Potro’s 2nd-strongest Grand Slam in terms of matches won. He has a 21-8 win-loss record here, compared to 29-8 at the US Open, 19-9 at the Australian Open and 19-8 at Roland Garros.

 

• Del Potro has won 22 career singles titles, but has never won a title on a grass court. Michael Stich, Andre Agassi and Djokovic are the only 3 men in the Open Era to have won their first grass court titles at Wimbledon, in 1991, 1992 and 2011 respectively.

 

• Del Potro underwent left wrist surgery in March 2014 and made his comeback in January 2015. He contested 2 events in 2015 before having further surgery on his left wrist. He made his return from a 3rd wrist surgery at 2016 Delray Beach.

 

• Del Potro reached a career-high ranking of No. 4 in January 2010 and plays here at the same ranking. He dropped out of the Top 1000 in early 2016 prior to his return from wrist surgery at Delray Beach in February 2016.

 

• Del Potro helped Argentina to its first Davis Cup title in November 2016, when the team defeated Croatia 3-2 in the Final in Zagreb. Del Potro won both of his singles rubbers, including coming from 0-2 down for the first time in his career against Cilic in the 4th rubber to win in 5 sets. He has a 16-6 win-loss record in the competition overall.

 

• Del Potro is a 2-time Olympic medallist in men’s singles. He won a bronze medal at the 2012 Olympic Tennis Event in London, defeating Djokovic in the bronze medal match after falling to Federer in the semifinals. He then won a silver medal at the 2016 Olympic Tennis Event in Rio, defeating today’s opponent in the semifinals before falling to Andy Murray in the gold medal match.

 

• Del Potro was a member of the ITF 14 and under South American team in Europe in 2001 and 2002, funded by the Grand Slam Development Fund.

 

• Del Potro is coached by Sebastian Prieto.

 

9 JOHN ISNER (USA) v NO. 13 MILOS RAONIC (CAN)

Head-to-head: Isner leads 3-1

2012     Toronto-1000                 Hard (O)           QF        Isner                 76(9) 64

2013     Cincinnati-1000              Hard (O)           R16      Isner                 76(5) 64

2015     Miami-1000                   Hard (O)           R16      Isner                 67(3) 76(6) 76(5)

2016     Cincinnati-1000              Hard (O)           R32      Raonic              76(5) 76(5)

 

A 5th meeting for the 2 players, but their first at a Grand Slam or on grass. Isner leads their head-to-head 3-1, but Raonic won their most recent meeting nearly 2 years ago. Of the 9 sets they have contested, 7 have gone to a tie-break.

 

Isner and Raonic are in 1st and 2nd place, respectively, for most aces served at this year’s Wimbledon. Isner has served 135 aces here so far, while Raonic has served 117 aces.

 

Possible semifinal head-to-heads

	Federer	Anderson
Isner	2-5	8-3
Raonic	3-11	1-1

 

                            ISNER                                         v                                        RAONIC

 

                               33                                          Age                                          27

                               10                                   ATP Ranking                                   32

                               13                                         Titles                                          8

                             68-40                      Career Grand Slam Record                      73-27

                              14-9                             Wimbledon Record                             24-7

                           379-231                              Career Record                              308-139

                             43-22                         Career Record – Grass                          41-18

                             20-11                                 2018 Record                                  20-7

                               4-0                             2018 Record – Grass                             9-1

                              9-17                          Career Five-Set Record                           9-6

                                2                         Comebacks from 0-2 Down                         1

                           378-234                      Career Tiebreak Record                       189-117

                             22-18                          2018 Tiebreak Record                           11-5

 

Road to the Quarterfinals

ISNER	Time		Time	RAONIC
d. (Q) Yannick Maden 62 76(4) 75 d. (Q) Ruben Bemelmans 61 64 67(6) 67(3) 75	2:05 3:46	1st round 2nd round	1:31 2:38	d. (WC) Liam Broady 75 60 61 d. John Millman 76(4) 76(4) 76(4)
d. Radu Albot 63 63 64	1:36	3rd round	2:32	d. (Q) Dennis Novak 76(5) 46 75 62
d. No. 31 Stefanos Tsitsipas 64 76 (8) 76(4)	2:06	Round of 16	2:31	d. Mackenzie McDonald 63 64 67(5) 62
total time on court	9:33	(IBM time)	9:12	total time on court

 

• ISNER is bidding to reach the semifinals here for the first time and record his best Grand Slam result.

 

• If Isner reaches the semifinals on his 41st Grand Slam appearance, he will go 2nd on the list for most attempts before reaching the semifinals at a Grand Slam in the Open Era.

 

Most attempts before reaching first Grand Slam semifinal (Open Era)

Player	No. of attempts
Sam Querrey	42
John Isner??	41??
Mark Woodforde	38
Colin Dibley	37
Nicolas Kiefer Stan Wawrinka	35 35

 

• If Isner wins today and reaches the semifinals here for the first time on his 10th Wimbledon appearance, he will go joint-4th on the list for most attempts before reaching the Wimbledon semifinals in the Open Era, Kevin Anderson and Kei Nishikori will also go joint-4th on the list if they win their quarterfinals today. (see table overleaf)

Most attempts before reaching semifinals at Wimbledon (Open Era)

Player	No. of attempts
Jonas Bjorkman	13
Marin Cilic Tommy Haas	11 11
Kevin Anderson?? John Isner?? Kei Nishikori?? Sam Querrey Rainer Schuettler	10?? 10?? 10?? 10 10

 

• Isner is also looking to become the 23rd American man to reach the Wimbledon semifinals in the Open Era. He would become the 43rd American man to reach a Grand Slam semifinal in the Open Era. He is the only American man left in this year’s Wimbledon men’s singles draw – USA had the most men in the singles draw here this year, with 14.

 

• Isner is bidding to defeat 2 seeded players at the same Grand Slam for the 2nd time. The only occasion where he has achieved the feat is at the 2009 US Open, where he defeated No. 28 seed Victor Hanescu in the 1st round and 5 seed Andy Roddick in the 3rd round. By defeating No. 31 seed Tsitsipas in the round of 16, he recorded his first victory against a seeded player at Wimbledon. He has an 8-23 win-loss record against seeded players at the Grand Slams.

 

• By reaching the quarterfinals here, Isner has equalled his best Grand Slam performance. He also reached the quarterfinals at the 2011 US Open (l. Andy Murray). He is one of 2 active American men – alongside Querrey – to have reached multiple Grand Slam quarterfinals

 

• By reaching the quarterfinals for the first time on his 10th appearance here, Isner entered the Open Era list in joint-5th place for most attempts before reaching the quarterfinals at Wimbledon. Anderson and Nishikori also reached the quarterfinals here for the first time on their 10th appearance.

 

• By defeating Stefanos Tsitsipas in the round of 16, Isner ended a 3-match losing streak against Top 50 opposition. He had previously not defeated a Top 50 player since defeating No. 47 Pablo Cuevas in the 3rd round at Madrid-1000 this year.

 

• Having won 22 tie-breaks this year, Isner is top of the list for most tie-breaks won in 2018. He has also contested the most tie-breaks this year, and has a 22-18 win-loss record in tie-breaks in 2018 overall.

 

• Isner is bidding to record his 9th consecutive Tour-level match-win on grass and record his longest streak of grass court match-wins at Tour-level. Following his 2nd round finish here last year (l. Dudi Sela), he won the title at 2017 Newport (d. Matthew Ebden) in his last grass court event. The only other occasion where he has recorded 8 consecutive matches on grass is in winning the title at 2012 Newport through to a quarterfinal finish at the 2012 Olympic Tennis Event.

 

• Isner is one of the 5 players aged 30 or over to reach the quarterfinals of the men’s singles here this year – equalling the Open Era record for most 30-somethings through to the last 8 at a Grand Slam. There were also 5 men aged 30 or over in the quarterfinals here last year. The record for most 30-somethings into the semifinals of the men’s singles at a Grand Slam in the Open Era is 3 – at Roland Garros in 1968 and 2017, and at the 2017 Australian Open.

 

• Wimbledon is Isner’s 3rd-most successful Grand Slam in terms of matches won. He has a 14-9 win-loss record here, compared to 24-11 at the US Open, 17-10 at Roland Garros and 13-10 at the Australian Open.

 

• Isner’s 64 36 67(7) 76(3) 70-68 1st round defeat of Nicolas Mahut at 2010 Wimbledon played over 3 days set the record for the longest tennis match in history in terms of number of games and duration. The match lasted 11 hours 5 minutes and totalled 183 games. The final set alone lasted 8 hours 11 minutes. In comparison, the fewest games played through 7 rounds to win a Grand Slam Open Era men’s singles title is 147, by Guillermo Vilas at the 1977 US Open.

 

• Isner’s 5-set victory against Ruben Bemelmans in the 2nd round here, where he saved 2 match points, was his first 5-set match-win at Wimbledon since defeating Mahut in 2010. He has a 2-4 win-loss record in 5-set matches here and a 9-17 win-loss record in 5-set matches overall.

 

• Isner’s best grass court performances are winning 3 career grass court titles – at Newport in 2011 (d. Oliver Rochus), 2012 (d. Lleyton Hewitt) and 2017. He was also a semifinalist at 2013 Newport (l. Hewitt) and a quarterfinalist at the 2012 Olympic Tennis Event held at the All England Club (l. Roger Federer).

 

• In Grand Slam play in 2018, Isner reached the round of 16 at Roland Garros (l. Juan Martin del Potro), but fell in the 1st round at the Australian Open (l. Ebden).

 

• Isner’s best result in 2018 is winning his first Masters-1000 title as at Miami-1000 (d. Alexander Zverev). At 32 years 11 months, he became the oldest first-time Masters-1000 champion and, at No. 17, the lowest-ranked Miami champion since No. 18 Jim Courier in 1991. He also reached the quarterfinals at Houston (l. Steve Johnson), Madrid-1000 (l. Alexander Zverev) and Lyon (l. Cameron Norrie).

 

• Prior to winning the title at Miami-1000, Isner won just two Tour-level matches in 2018 – in USA’s Davis Cup World Group first round victory against Serbia (d. Dusan Lajovic) and in a 2nd round finish at Delray Beach (d. Albot,
  Peter Gojowczyk). He lost his opening match at all other Tour-level events he contested prior to Miami-1000.

 

• Isner is one of the 17 players who started the men’s singles draw not to have played a grass court event prior to Wimbledon this year. In the Open Era, just 7 men have won the title here without playing a warm-up event on grass – most recently Novak Djokovic in 2015.

 

• Isner has played Davis Cup for USA since 2010 and has a 15-11 win-loss record in singles. He has won both rubbers he has played this year as USA recorded victories against Serbia and Belgium. USA travels to Croatia in the World Group semifinals on 14-16 September.

 

• Isner is coached David MacPherson and Rene Moller.

 

• RAONIC is bidding to reach his 4th Grand Slam semifinal and take sole ownership of the record for the most Grand Slam semifinals reached by a Canadian player – man or woman – in history.

 

Canadian players in Grand Slam semifinals (all-time)

Player	Grand Slam semifinals reached
Milos Raonic	4?? (2014, 2016, 2018?? Wimbledon; 2016 Australian Open)
Eugenie Bouchard	3 (2014 Australian Open; 2014 Roland Garros; 2014 Wimbledon)
Carling Bassett-Seguso	1 (1984 US Open)
Robert Powell	1 (1908 Wimbledon)

 

• Wimbledon is Raonic’s most successful Grand Slam event in terms of matches won. He has a 24-7 win-loss record here, compared to 23-8 at the Australian Open, 14-6 at Roland Garros and 12-6 at the US Open.

 

• By reaching his 8th Grand Slam quarterfinal, Raonic extended his record for the most Grand Slam quarterfinals reached by a Canadian player – man or woman – in history. Carling Bassett-Seguso (4), Eugenie Bouchard (4), Robert Powell (3) and Helen Kelesi (2) are the only Canadian players to have reached multiple Grand Slam quarterfinals.

 

• By reaching his 4th Wimbledon quarterfinal, Raonic sole ownership of the record for most quarterfinal appearances at Wimbledon by a Canadian player in history, ahead of Powell, who reached the last 8 here in 1908, 1910 and 1912.

 

• Raonic has lost in the quarterfinals here on one previous occasion – last year, where he fell to eventual champion Roger Federer in straight sets.

 

• Raonic reached the quarterfinals here for the 4th time after defeating Mackenzie McDonald in his 100th Grand Slam match in the round of 16.

 

• Raonic’s best Grand Slam performance is reaching the final here in 2016, where he fell to Andy Murray 64 76(3) 76(2). He became the first Canadian man to reach a Grand Slam final.

 

• Raonic warmed up for Wimbledon by reaching his first Tour-level final since 2017 Istanbul at Stuttgart (l. Federer). He also reached the 2nd round at Queen’s, where he gave a walkover to Feliciano Lopez due to a right shoulder injury.

 

• At the Grand Slams in 2018, Raonic fell in the 1st round at the Australian Open (l. Lukas Lacko). He missed Roland Garros due to a knee injury.

 

• Also in 2018, Raonic reached the semifinals at Indian Wells-1000 and the quarterfinals at Miami-1000, losing to Juan Martin del Potro on both occasions. He also reached the 3rd round at Monte Carlo-1000, where he gave a walkover to Marin Cilic due to a right knee injury, and Madrid-1000 (l. Denis Shapovalov).

 

• Raonic has won just one of his last 8 matches against Top 10 opposition, with his only win in that time coming against No. 4 Grigor Dimitrov in the 2nd round at Madrid-1000 this year. He has a 27-57 win-loss record against Top 10 players overall, and a 3-11 win-loss record against Top 10 players at the majors.

 

• Raonic is bidding to record his 10th Tour-level match-win on grass in 2018. Only Federer (12 Tour-level grass court match-wins) has recorded more Tour-level match-wins on grass than Raonic this year.

 

• Raonic has won all 3 of the 5-set matches he has contested at Wimbledon – defeating David Goffin and Federer in 2016 and Alexander Zverev last year. He has a 9-6 win-loss record in 5-set matches overall.

 

• Raonic is seeded here at No. 13 – his lowest seeding at Wimbledon since he was seeded No. 17 in 2013. He has been seeded at every Grand Slam he has contested since 2011 Roland Garros.

 

• Raonic has won 8 career titles. All of his Tour-level titles have come on a hard court, but he has reached 3 grass court finals – at Queen’s and Wimbledon in 2016, losing to Murray on both occasions, and at Stuttgart this year (l. Federer). Michael Stich, Andre Agassi and Novak Djokovic are the only 3 men in the Open Era to have won their first career grass court titles at Wimbledon, in 1991, 1992 and 2011 respectively.

 

• Raonic reached a career-high ranking of No. 3 in November 2016. He dropped to No. 40 in February this year – his lowest ranking since February 2011 – but plays here at No. 32.

 

• Raonic was born in Montenegro but moved to Canada in 1994. He started playing tennis age 8.

 

• Raonic is coached by 2001 Wimbledon champion Goran Ivanisevic.

 

 

12 NOVAK DJOKOVIC (SRB) v NO. 24 KEI NISHIKORI (JPN)

Head-to-head: Djokovic leads 13-2

2010     Roland Garros                         Clay (O)           R64      Djokovic          61 64 64

2011     Basel                                        Hard (I)             SF        Nishikori           26 76(4) 60

2014     Miami-1000                               Hard (O)           SF        Djokovic           w/o (left groin)

2014     US Open                                  Hard (O)           SF        Nishikori          64 16 76(4) 63

2014     Paris-1000                                Hard (I)             SF        Djokovic           62 63

2014     ATP World Tour Finals               Hard (I)             SF        Djokovic           61 36 60

2015     Rome-1000                               Clay (O)            QF        Djokovic           63 36 61

2015     ATP World Tour Finals               Hard (I)             RR       Djokovic           61 61   

2016     Australian Open                       Hard (O)           QF        Djokovic          63 62 64

2016     Miami-1000                               Hard (O)           FR        Djokovic           63 63

2016     Madrid-1000                             Clay (O)            SF        Djokovic           63 76(4)

2016     Rome-1000                               Clay (O)            SF        Djokovic           26 64 76(5)

2016     Toronto-1000                            Hard (O)           FR        Djokovic           63 75

2016     ATP World Tour Finals               Hard (I)             SF        Djokovic           61 61

2017     Madrid-1000                              Clay (O)            QF        Djokovic           w/o (right wrist)

2018     Madrid-1000                             Clay (O)            R64      Djokovic           75 64

2018     Rome-1000                               Clay (O)            QF        Djokovic           26 61 63

 

A 16th meeting between the pair, their 4th at a Grand Slam but their first on grass. Nishikori is bidding to end a                  12-match losing streak against the Serb, having not defeated him since the 2014 US Open. Djokovic leads their Grand Slam head-to-head 2-1.

 

Djokovic and Nishikori are the 41st pair in history to play at least one match at all 4 Grand Slams, and the 2nd pair to have completed a set of Grand Slam meetings here this year, after Richard Gasquet and Gael Monfils met in the 1st round. Nishikori is the 5th player that Djokovic has met at all 4 majors – after Roger Federer, Andy Murray, Rafael Nadal and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. In contrast, Djokovic is the first player that Nishikori has faced at each of the Grand Slams.

 

Nishikori is bidding to defeat Djokovic at a Grand Slam for the 2nd time and become the 7th player to defeat the Serb on multiple occasions at a major.

 

Most Grand Slam match-wins against Djokovic

Player	No. of wins
Rafael Nadal	9
Roger Federer	6
Stan Wawrinka	3
Tomas Berdych Andy Murray Kei Nishikori?? Marat Safin	2 2 2?? 2

 

                        DJOKOVIC                                      v                                      NISHIKORI

 

                               31                                          Age                                          28

                               21                                   ATP Ranking                                   28

                               68                                         Titles                                         11

                            248-41                     Career Grand Slam Record                      76-32

                             62-10                            Wimbledon Record                             17-8

                           805-172                              Career Record                              351-164

                             85-18                         Career Record – Grass                          36-22

                              22-9                                  2018 Record                                  20-9

                               8-1                             2018 Record – Grass                             5-1

                              28-9                          Career Five-Set Record                          17-6

                                4                         Comebacks from 0-2 Down                         2

                           223-132                      Career Tiebreak Record                        109-76

                               5-8                            2018 Tiebreak Record                           10-3

 

 

 

 

Possible semifinal head-to-heads

	Nadal	Del Potro
Djokovic	26-25	14-4
Nishikori	2-10	2-6

 

Road to the Quarterfinals

DJOKOVIC	Time		Time	NISHIKORI
d. Tennys Sandgren 63 61 62 d. Horacio Zeballos 61 62 63	1:33 1:31	1st round 2nd round	2:37 2:43	d. (Q) Christian Harrison 62 46 76(3) 62 d. (LL) Bernard Tomic 26 63 76(7) 75
d. No. 21 Kyle Edmund 46 63 62 64	2:54	3rd round	1:37	d. No. 15 Nick Kyrgios 61 76(3) 64
d. Karen Khachanov 64 62 62	1:46	Round of 16	3:28	d. (Q) Ernests Gulbis 46 76(5) 76(10) 61
total time on court	7:44	(IBM time)	10:25	total time on court

 

• Three-time Wimbledon champion DJOKOVIC is bidding to reach his 8th Wimbledon semifinal and equal John McEnroe and Pete Sampras in joint-4th place on the Open Era list for the most semifinal appearances here.

 

Most Wimbledon semifinal appearances (Open Era)

Player	No. of appearances
Roger Federer	13??
Jimmy Connors	11
Boris Becker	9
Novak Djokovic John McEnroe Pete Sampras	8?? 8 8
Ivan Lendl Andy Murray	7 7

 

• Djokovic is bidding to reach his 32nd Grand Slam semifinal and take sole ownership of 2nd place on the list for the most Grand Slam semifinal appearances in the Open Era, ahead of Jimmy Connors.

 

Most Grand Slam semifinal appearances (Open Era)

Player	No. of appearances
Roger Federer	44??
Novak Djokovic	32??
Jimmy Connors	31
Ivan Lendl Rafael Nadal	28 28??

 

• Djokovic is bidding to record his 63rd Wimbledon match-win today and equal Pete Sampras in 4th place on the list for most Wimbledon match-wins in the Open Era.

 

Most matches won at Wimbledon (Open Era)

Rank	Player	Wimbledon win-loss
1.	Roger Federer	95-11
2.	Jimmy Connors	84-18
3.	Boris Becker	71-12
4.	Pete Sampras	63-7
5.	Novak Djokovic	62-10

 

• Djokovic is also bidding to record his 806th Tour-level match-win and equal Stefan Edberg in 8th place for most Tour-level match-wins in history. Only Roger Federer (1161 Tour-level match-wins), Connors (1156), Ivan Lendl (1069), Guillermo Vilas (940), Nadal (907), McEnroe (881) and Andre Agassi (870) have recorded more Tour-level match-wins.

 

• Wimbledon is Djokovic’s 2nd-most successful Grand Slam event in terms of titles won, his joint-2nd-most successful in terms of matches won and his 3rd-most successful Grand Slam in terms of semifinals reached. (see table overleaf)

 

 

Grand Slam	Titles won	Win-loss record	Semifinals reached
Australian Open	6	61-8	6
Roland Garros	1	63-13	8
Wimbledon	3	62-10	8??
US Open	2	62-10	10

 

• By reaching his 10th Wimbledon quarterfinal, Djokovic has equalled Andy Murray in 4th place on the Open Era list for most Wimbledon quarterfinal appearances. Only Federer (16 Wimbledon quarterfinal appearances), Connors (14) and Boris Becker (11) have reached the last 8 here more often in the Open Era.

 

• By reaching his 41st Grand Slam quarterfinal, Djokovic has equalled Connors in 2nd place on the list for the most Grand Slam quarterfinal appearances in the Open Era. Federer heads the list with 53 appearances in the last 8 at a major.

 

• Djokovic is one of the 5 players aged 30 or over to reach the quarterfinals of the men’s singles here this year – equalling the Open Era record for most 30-somethings through to the last 8 at a Grand Slam. There were also 5 men aged 30 or over in the quarterfinals here last year. The record for most 30-somethings into the semifinals of the men’s singles at a Grand Slam in the Open Era is 3 – at Roland Garros in 1968 and 2017, and at the 2017 Australian Open.

 

• Last year here, Djokovic reached the quarterfinals, where he retired with a right elbow injury while trailing Tomas Berdych 76(2) 2-0. He has lost in the quarterfinals on one other occasion – in 2009, when he fell to Tommy Haas. This is his 14th consecutive appearance at Wimbledon and his 54th Grand Slam overall.

 

• Djokovic is bidding to win his 4th Wimbledon title and move into joint-6th place on the list for most Wimbledon titles won in history (see Preview page 3). He defeated Nadal to win his first Wimbledon title in 2011, and won back-to-back titles in 2014-15, defeating Federer in the final on both occasions. He also reached the final here in 2013 (l. Murray).

 

• Djokovic is looking to win his 13th Grand Slam title and take sole ownership of 4th place on the all-time list of Grand Slam men’s singles title winners. He is currently tied with Roy Emerson on 12 major titles, behind Federer (20), Nadal (17) and Sampras (14). (see Preview page 3)

 

• In Grand Slam play in 2018, Djokovic reached the quarterfinals at Roland Garros (l. Marco Cecchinato) and the round of 16 at the Australian Open (l. Hyeon Chung).

 

• Djokovic warmed up for Wimbledon by reaching the final at Queen’s, where he fell to Marin Cilic in 3 sets despite holding a match point in the 2nd set. It was just the 2nd time since 2010, when he last appeared at Queen’s, that he had contested a grass court warm up event prior to Wimbledon – he also competed at Eastbourne in 2017, where he won his 4th career grass court title (d. Gael Monfils).

 

• Elsewhere in 2018, Djokovic reached the semifinals at Rome-1000 (l. Nadal) and the 3rd round at Monte Carlo-1000 (l. Dominic Thiem). It is the first season that he has failed to win a Tour-level title prior to Wimbledon since 2006.

 

• Djokovic dropped out of the Top 20 for the first time in more than 11 years earlier this year, dropping to No. 22 – his lowest ranking since October 2006 – in May. He plays here at No. 21.

 

• Djokovic has won 8 of his last 9 five-set matches. He has a 7-1 win-loss record in 5-set matches at Wimbledon, with his only defeat coming against Ancic in 2006, and has a 28-9 win-loss record in 5-set matches overall.

 

• Djokovic has played Davis Cup for Serbia since 2004 and has a 34-10 overall win-loss record in the competition. Serbia will play India in the World Group play-offs in Kraljevo on 14-16 September.

 

• Djokovic reunited with former coach Marian Vajda ahead of the 2018 clay court season.

 

• NISHIKORI is bidding to become the first Japanese man to reach the semifinals at Wimbledon since Jiro Satoh in 1933.

 

• Nishikori is bidding to reach his 3rd Grand Slam semifinal and equal Kimiko Date in 2nd place on the list for most Grand Slam semifinal appearances by a Japanese player – man or woman – in history. (see table overleaf)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Japanese players in Grand Slam semifinals (all-time)

Player	Grand Slam semifinals reached
Jiro Satoh	5 (1931, 1933 Roland Garros; 1932 Australian Championships; 1932-33 Wimbledon)
Kimiko Date	3 (1994 Australian Open; 1995 Roland Garros; 1996 Wimbledon)
Kei Nishikori	3?? (2014, 2016 US Open; 2018 Wimbledon??)
Zenzo Shimizu	2 (1920-21 Wimbledon)
Ichiya Kumagai	1 (1918 US Championships)
Kazuko Sawamatsu	1 (1973 Australian Open)

 

• If Nishikori wins today and reaches the semifinals here for the first time on his 10th Wimbledon appearance, he will go joint-4th on the list for most attempts before reaching the Wimbledon semifinals in the Open Era. Kevin Anderson and John Isner will also go joint-4th on the list if they win their quarterfinals today.

 

Most attempts before reaching semifinals at Wimbledon (Open Era)

Player	No. of attempts
Jonas Bjorkman	13
Marin Cilic Tommy Haas	11 11
Kevin Anderson?? John Isner?? Kei Nishikori?? Sam Querrey Rainer Schuettler	10?? 10?? 10?? 10 10

 

• Wimbledon is Nishikori’s weakest Grand Slam in terms of match-wins. He has a 17-8 win-loss record here, compared with 23-8 at the Australian Open, and 18-8 at both Roland Garros and the US Open.

 

• By reaching the quarterfinals for the first time on his 10th appearance here, Nishikori entered the Open Era list in joint-5th place for most attempts before reaching the quarterfinals at Wimbledon. Kevin Anderson and John Isner also reached the quarterfinals here for the first time on their 10th appearance.

 

• By reaching the quarterfinals here, Nishikori has become the 2nd Japanese player – man or woman – to complete the set of Grand Slam quarterfinal appearances, after Date.

 

• By reaching the quarterfinals, Nishikori has also become the 4th Japanese man in history to reach the quarterfinals at Wimbledon – and the first since Shuzo Matsuoka in 1995. Zenzo Shimizu (1920-21), Satoh (1931-33) and Matsuoka are the only other Japanese men to have reached the last 8 here.

 

• By reaching his 8th Grand Slam quarterfinal, Nishikori extended his record for most Grand Slam quarterfinal appearances by a Japanese player – man or woman. At 2017 Roland Garros, he took sole ownership of the record by reaching his 7th Grand Slam quarterfinal, ahead of Date and Satoh, who both reached the last 8 at a major on 6 occasions.

 

• By reaching the quarterfinals here, Nishikori has recorded 4 straight Tour-level match-wins on grass for the first time. His previous longest streak was 3 consecutive grass court match-wins, which he had achieved on 5 previous occasions.

 

• Last year here Nishikori reached the 3rd round (l. Roberto Bautista Agut). This is his 34th Grand Slam overall.

 

• Nishikori’s best Grand Slam performance came at the 2014 US Open, when he became the first Asian male to contest a Grand Slam final after defeating three Top 10 players – Milos Raonic, Stan Wawrinka and today’s opponent – in consecutive matches before falling to Marin Cilic in the title match.

 

• At the Grand Slams in 2018, Nishikori reached the round of 16 at Roland Garros (l. Dominic Thiem) but missed the Australian Open due to a wrist injury.

 

• Also in 2018, Nishikori reached the final at Monte Carlo-1000 (l. Nadal), the semifinals at New York (l. Anderson) and the quarterfinals at Rome-1000 (l. today’s opponent). He also won the title at the Dallas Challenger (USA) (d. Mackenzie McDonald).

 

• Prior to coming here, Nishikori competed at Halle where he fell in the 2nd round (d. Matthias Bachinger, l. Karen Khachanov).

 

• Nishikori has won 11 career singles titles – most recently at 2016 Memphis (d. Taylor Fritz). He has never won a grass court title. Michael Stich, Andre Agassi and today’s opponent are the only 3 men in the Open Era to have won their first career grass court titles at Wimbledon, in 1991, 1992 and 2011 respectively.

 

• Nishikori is the highest-ranked Japanese man in ATP World Tour Rankings history (since 1973). He had the nickname ‘Project 45’ as a major goal was to get him to No. 45 in the rankings, which would be one spot better than the highest by any Japanese man (Matsuoka). He reached a career-high ranking of No. 4 in March 2015 after reaching the final at Acapulco. He fell to No. 39 in April this year – his lowest ranking since October 2011 – but plays here at No. 28.

 

• Nishikori is coached by Dante Bottini and Michael Chang, who reached the quarterfinals here in 1994.

 

 

******All statistics courtesy of ITF/Grand Slam Media