Sam Querrey and Marin Cilic will square off in one of the semifinals of the 2017 Wimbledon Championships semifinals, as they have both had somewhat unexpectedly deep performances to a lesser or greater extent.
Date: Friday, 14th July
Time: 5:00 AM
Venue: All England Club
Online betting odds for fans who bet on tennis:
Sam Querrey +250
Marin Cilic -305
Querrey had never made it past the second round of Wimbledon in 10 appearances in tournament. This year however, he knocked out World No. 1 and No. 1 seed Andy Murray 3-6, 6-4, 6-7, 6-1, 6-1 in the quarterfinals to match his best showing in a grand slam (he reached the semis of the 2015 US Open Men’s doubles) and adding another a second notch to his Big Four tally. “I’m really proud. It’s an exciting moment,” Querrey, who was seeded 24th, said following his shocking ousting of Murray. “Not many people get to play tennis professionally, let alone play at Wimbledon, play on Centre Court, play against Andy Murray. It’s something that few people get to do, so it’s really special.” Appearances notwithstanding, tennis is a cutthroat sport and the American had no qualms about taking advantage of the Scotsman’s sore hip. Hips don’t lie (shout out to Shakira) and Murray’s told an ugly truth. However, Murray conceded that “Sam served great. The end of the fourth set and fifth set, I felt like he hardly missed any first serves.” Now the query for Querrey – as well as people who bet on tennis – is whether he has enough fuel left on the tank to go the distance. Tennis betting upsets do take a lot out of the underdog, after all.
Cilic may not be on the same level as Murray but he is definitely a cut above Querrey. The Croatian defeated Kei Nikishori to win the 2014 US Open and has reached the Wimbledon ¼finals three straight times – including last year when he lost to Roger Federer, but more on that later. It took Cilic 11 tries to reach the Wimbledon semis – one more than Querrey and only two fewer than Jonas Bjorkman – yet the Croatian is much more experienced than the American in the concluding stages of a major tournament. As a matter of fact this will be Cilic’s fourth grand slam semifinal; he lost to Murray at the 2010 Australian Open, to Novak Djokovic at the 2015 US Open – which as mentioned above, he win the previous year. Furthermore, Cilic has a score to settle with Federer, who barring any unforeseen event will be in the final. So that’s two things he has going for him that Querrey lacks. Unlike the American, though, Cilic has not had to face a member of the Big Four yet, seeing as how Gilles Mueller upset Rafael Nadal only to fall to Cilic himself. All things considered, people who bet on tennis should look forward to the Croatian meeting Fed in the final game. Then again, if Querrey has already pulled one tennis betting upset, who’s to say he can’t pull another?
