Commercial Content, 21+

The 2022 Championships at Wimbledon continue on Wednesday with two more quarterfinal matches on the men’s side.

First up is a re-match between Rafael Nadal and Taylor Fritz, followed by a showdown between surprise package Cristian Garin and the mercurial Nick Kyrgios. 

Let’s take a look at the odds for Wednesday’s two Wimbledon quarterfinals:

The last men’s player to win a calendar Grand Slam was Rod Laver back in 1969 (he also did it in 1962), but that streak is in jeopardy as Rafa Nadal is three wins away from making it 3-for-3 in 2022.

Nadal is a tennis immortal, so it shouldn’t be surprising that he’s on this run, but he is also 36 years old and has been battling a serious foot injury all year so the fact he’s in this spot is incredible. 

But as the odds suggest, a match with American Taylor Fritz is far from a sure thing for Rafa. Not only is Fritz one of just three players to beat Nadal in his 37 matches this season, but the grass should be a bit of a field-leveler against Nadal.

While the price on Fritz to pull the upset pre-match is too short to be interesting, he is an interesting live-betting option should he go down in the match. Should that happen, he’ll be a big price and we know that he’s got the game to find his way back into the match. And while Rafa’s ability to play deep into matches is the stuff of legend at this point, he is still battling a serious foot injury at age 36. With a win (in a Masters 1000 final, no less) over Nadal already in his pocket, Fritz should have the confidence and composure for the moment, even if he does fall behind.

For a pre-match bet, the Over 38.5 games certainly looks appealing as we know that Nadal will grind out a couple of long sets, while Fritz has such a good serve that he’ll be able to win some cheap points and games.

Over 38.5 games -135 (BetMGM)

There are a few surprise names in the Wimbledon Quarterfinals, but of the eight competitors who reached the final eight on the men’s side, Cristian Garin’s sticks out the most.

Known throughout his career as a clay-court specialist, Garin entered Wimbledon in poor form and was staring down a near impossible Round 1 matchup with second-favorite Matteo Berrettini. In a harbinger of things to come, Berrettini was forced to withdraw from the tournament due to Covid-19, setting Garin up with a matchup against lucky loser Elias Ymer.

On paper, it looked like an easy win for Garin, but there was no reason to be confident that the Chilean would see it through. Just a few weeks prior, he was considering taking time off from the sport due to poor form and a lack of inspiration.

Garin would dispatch Ymer in straight sets and then do the same thing to another lucky loser, Hugo Grenier, two days later. Garin’s luck was supposed to run out in Round 3 against No. 29 seed Jenson Brooksby, but the American was well off the pace and Garin rolled in a four-set vanquish. All of a sudden, the 26-year-old was into the fourth round of a Grand Slam for the second time in his career.

A run to the Round of 16 in a Grand Slam already made Wimbledon a rousing success for Garin and you could have excused him for wilting as a +450 underdog against grass-court dynamo Alex de Minaur in Round 4. Instead, Garin played the match of his life and came back from two sets down to defeat the tireless Aussie in a fifth-set tiebreaker.

Another heavily-favored Aussie, Nick Kyrgios, is now all that stands in the way of Garin and a trip to the semifinals at Wimbledon.

Objectively speaking, Kyrgios is one of the most talented men’s players on the planet and his game is perfectly suited for grass courts. With his toolset, Kyrgios should be among the favorites to win at Wimbledon every year. And this year it looks like he could, finally, realize his potential.

A five-set thriller against World No. 227 Paul Jubb was not the start Kyrgios fans envisioned, but the polarizing Aussie backed it up with a rout of Filip Krajinovic in Round 2, setting up a tantalizing contest with Stefanos Tsitsipas in the Round of 32. Kyrgios would outplay and outwit the Greek in four sets to take one of the most bizarre matches you’ll ever watch. But such is the Kyrgios experience. It’s equal parts mesmerizing and maddening.

For all of the theatrics, Kyrgios’ level against Tsitsipas was stupendous. On sheer tennis, he was levels above the World No. 6. That got tongues wagging that Kyrgios, should he keep the dramatics in his pocket, could actually win this thing — especially since he had a favorable path to the semifinals, starting with a match against Brandon Nakashima in the Round of 16.

Kyrgios would need every bit of five sets to defeat Nakashima, a rising American talent with a steady game, but he was able to stay composed and overcome a shoulder issue to outlast Nakashima.

While plenty of pundits walked away from Kyrgios’ victory over Nakashima impressed with his composure, the betting market seems a bit skeptical. Garin just closed as a +450 against Alex de Minaur in Round 4 and while de Minaur is a great player on the grass, he is not even close to Kyrgios in terms of sheer talent, so it would be a little surprising to see Garin close at a shorter price against Kyrgios.

Then again, Kyrgios isn’t the picture of dedication and plays a very light schedule, so it is reasonable to wonder if he can hold up under the rigors of Grand Slam tennis, especially against a player like Garin, whose best asset may be his stamina and relentlessness. But whether or not that edge comes into play remains to be seen. Unlike de Minaur, Kyrgios is not going to sit back on the baseline and get into long rallies on the baseline with Garin. However, if the Chilean can nab a set early and drag Kyrgios deep into the match, then the scales may tilt a little bit towards the underdog.

And Kyrgios has made a habit of getting out of the gates slowly. The powerful Aussie has dropped the opening set in three of his four matches in this tournament and lost six out of his last nine first sets overall.

Over the course of a best-of-5, Kyrgios’ talent and outrageous serve should win out, but taking him on in the opening set seems a worthwhile wager considering his track record.

Garin to win the first set +200 (BetMGM)