Six are against the fulfillment of the dream at Wimbledon

Roger Federer (Tim Ireland / AP Photo)

In eight days of tournament at Wimbledon, the peloton went from 128 to 8 players. The failure of Marin Cilic, finalist last year, in the second round of Argentina Guido Pella was a surprise. The fact that Alexander Zverev (ATP 3), Grigor Dimitrow (6), Dominic Thiem (7) and David Goffin (9) failed four other top ten players was less unexpected. Although Dimitrow reached the semifinals on Wimbledon in 2014, he had the misfortune to face Stan Wawrinka in the first round this year. Not only does Roger Federer say that Dimitrov's defeat does not surprise him, "because I know what Stan can do."

The first meeting since 2008?

With Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, there are only two players left The first four rounds of no loss overall have survived. The likelihood that they will end up in Sunday's final and thus constitutes the seventh major title since their returns a year and a half ago is great. It would be the first meeting of both on the turf since the legendary final ten years ago, in which the Spaniard dethroned Federer at Wimbledon.

But at least Nadal does not seem to bother the new edition. For him, he said after his Monday win against Czech Jiri Vesely, it would be great to be back in the final here. "But if you ask me if I want to play against Roger over there, I have to tell you: I would prefer a simpler opponent … All the rest would be stupid of me."

Federer and Nadal always separate two opponents, the first in quarterfinals on Wednesday

The quarterfinals of Wimbledon:

Federer (1) – Anderson 8): Roger Federer lost the lead in the world rankings after losing to Halle in Final against Borna Coric at Rafael Nadal But given the eight titles here and dominance on the turf, the organizers still overtook him at Wimbledon.Federer thanked the confidence with four easy victories.He has now won 32 sets Wimbledon has not lost to fourth-round opponent Kevin Anderson in four games, so the starting point is clear: anything but a Federer victory would be a big surprise. 32 years old has used a good draw to qualify for his first Grand Slam final at the & # 39; s US Open & # 39; last year. In addition, he has never pbaded the quarterfinals in his long career in major. At Wimbledon he is in his last eight for the first time. He says: "It will be a huge challenge to play against Roger here, but I'm looking forward to it."

Nadal (2) – Del Potro (5): Nadal – Del Potro is at least on paper the hit quarterfinals – not just because it's the duel between Number 1 and 4 in the world ranking list. The Argentinian had successively defeated Nadal and Federer at the US Open in 2009 and won the first major title. But three wrist operations call into question the continuation of his career. Now, at the age of 30, Del Potro seems ready to keep the promise of his talent and to reach the top. Although he gave up on participating in the Australian Open early in the year to rest, he has already improved to eight positions in the standings. He won in March, among others, the Masters 1000 tournament of Indian Wells in the final against Federer and failed five weeks ago at Roland Garros only in the semifinal against Nadal. The 32-year-old Majorcan won Wimbledon in 2008 and 2010, but since 2012 has never pbaded the fourth round on Church Road. His conquerors were Lukas Rosol (ATP 100), Steve Darcis (135), Nick Kyrgios (144), Dustin Brown (102) and Gilles Muller (26). Now Nadal looks fit and ready for the next shot.

Isner (9) – Raonic (13): The meeting between the American John Isner, 33, and the Canadian Milos Raonic, 25, becomes a duel for two of the top five players this season. Isner has already reached a quarter-final Grand Slam (at the US Open in 2011), but he wrote 2010 at Wimbledon with the longest match tennis history. His first-round match against Frenchman Nicolas Mahut lasted 11:05 hours, lasted three days and ended with Isner's 70-68 win in the fifth set. The American measures 2.08m and is mounted on lap only by Croatian Ivo Karlovic by three inches. He uses this lever to serve the services. In the first half of the season, he averaged 19.7 aces per game. For comparison, his opponent Raonic brings him to 16, Roger Federer to 9.1. Milos Raonic is considered a more versatile tennis player, was at Wimbledon two years ago after a semifinal win against frail Federer but also once reached the final but failed here at Andy Murray. The Canadian is repeatedly stopped by injuries. He already had hip, back, leg problems. And last fall, he had to undergo a wrist operation, after which he finished the season early and that also embarrbaded him in the first months of this year.

Djokovic (12) – Nishikori (24): Novak Djokovic won three wins at Wimbledon in 2011, 2014 and 2015, beating Roger Federer twice in the final. But since the 31-year-old Serb won in 2016 at Roland Garros and thus completed his collection of Grand Slam titles, he is expecting his 13th victory in Major. But obviously, Djokovic finds old security with his old / new coach Marian Vajda. In the shadow of Federer and Nadal he made on the way to the quarterfinals only against the British Kyle Edmund one sentence. After the sovereign victory over young Russian Karen Khachanov, he said: "For a month and a half, my level is close to the one I would like to reach and that I have played in my time." His successes have clearly shown the organizers is superior to his rankings (12 instead of 21). He won 13 of 15 games against Kei Nishikori, but suffered one of his most surprising defeats in the semifinal of the US Open 2014. Even the 28-year-old Japanese is ranked much more down at its best time (28 instead of 4). He struggled with wrist problems in the fall and had to finish the season earlier.