World No.1 Rafael Nadal has made the quarter-finals where he’ll go up against No.9 ranked American Mart Fish, Wednesday June 28th, as Nadal is attempting to complete the prized Roland Garros-Wimbledon double for the third time in his career. Wimbledon oddsmakers have Rafael Nadal as a -900 moneyline favourite to beat Marty Fish who is listed as a +500 underdog. Be sure to get your 2011 Wimbledon Odds: Rafael Nadal vs Marty Fish Quarter Final Predictions in early.
Rafael Nadal had an MRI scan confirm that he had not suffered a foot injury during a gruelling four-set, 7-6, 3-6, 7-6, 6-4 win over Juan Martin del Potro in Monday's fourth round. The defending champion won his 18th successive match at Wimbledon. "Yesterday after the match I went to take an MRI at a London hospital. During the match I thought I had something serious but as the match went through the pain got better and thankfully the tests don't show an injury. Nadal has won the Wimbledon title in his two most recent appearances in 2010 and 2008 and finished runner-up in 2007 and 2006. To retain No. 1 spot in the South African Airways ATP Rankings on Monday, Nadal must win the Wimbledon title and No. 2 Novak Djokovic must not advance beyond the semi-finals. Under any other scenario Djokovic will rise to No. 1 for the first time in his career.
“He’s playing fantastic,” Nadal said of Fish. “I saw him a little bit against Robin Haase. He's playing at a very, very high level. He’s a very dangerous player, so I will try my best to be very competitive on Wednesday. I need be at my hundred percent. If not, it’s gonna be impossible against him. So I have to recover.”
Marty Fish prevented a repeat of last year’s final as he defeated 2010 runner-up Tomas Berdych 7-6(5), 6-4, 6-4. The American hit 42 winners to just 12 unforced errors and converted two of his seven break point opportunities to overcome Berdych in two hours and 22 minutes. Fish has been dominant on serve throughout The Championships, winning 64 of his 65 games to reach the last eight. The 29-year-old Fish is into a Grand Slam quarter-final for the third time after reaching the last eight at the 2007 Australian Open (l. to Roddick) and the 2008 US Open (l. to Nadal). The No. 1 American has reached four ATP World Tour grass-court finals, winning one of his five career titles at Newport (d. O. Rochus) last year. “I've had good success on grass in my career, but just never here,” said Fish. “This is obviously a huge tournament for me. Suits my game probably better than any other tournament for me Grand Slam wise. So I felt like maybe it's one of those ones that I really wanted to do well at. To be in the quarterfinals feels great. I'll have another tough one, for sure.
“You can't go out there thinking you can't win,” said Fish. “But I've never been past this spot in a Grand Slam. Past this spot is where I want to be, where you set your goals for. So game-plan-wise we'll come up with something. A lot of it's mental. So half the battle is walking out there believing you can win, and I'll definitely do that.”
Head to Head: Nadal leads Fish 5-0
2008 US Open NY, U.S.A. Hard Q Nadal, Rafael 3-6, 6-1, 6-4, 6-2
2007 Wimbledon Great Britain Grass R128 Nadal, Rafael 6-3, 7-6(4), 6-3
2006 ATP Masters Series Madrid Spain Hard R32 Nadal, Rafael 6-4, 6-2
2006 London / Queen's Club England Grass R32 Nadal, Rafael 7-6(1), 6-1
2006 ATP Masters Series Indian Wells CA, U.S.A. Hard R32 Nadal, Rafael 6-1, 6-4
Rafael Nadal vs Marty Fish
When: Wednesday June 29, 7:03 AM ET
Pick: Nadal -900
Point-Spreads.com recommends you check out Wimbledon Odds before the Rafael Nadal vs Marty Fish match.
The Bottom Line: Should be a great match with Nadal winning, if his foot problem doesn’t come back to haunt him. Be sure to get your 2011 Wimbledon Odds: Rafael Nadal vs Marty Fish Quarter Final Predictions in early.
