Weeded out on grass

The Wimbledon misfortunes of the U.S.A. continued yesterday, as Caty McNally and Coco Gauff lost in doubles to an unseeded Russian pair, Veronika Kudermetova (yep, another "-ova") and Elena Vesnina. The latter two will go on to play a pair of additional "-ovas," Katerina Siniakova and Barbora Krejcikova, from the Czech Republic. The Czechs just won the French Open.

In women's singles, Angie Kerber, the 2018 Wimbledon champion, took out Karolina Muchova in straight sets. Otherwise, the results were "chalk," as the gamblers say, with the higher seeds advancing: Ash Barty, Karolina Pliskova, and Aryna Sabalenka. -Ova and -enka wiill compete in one semifinal, Barty and Kerber in the other.

Today, however, we have men's singles quarterfinal showdowns. Here's who's going, with the betting favorite in bold:

Russia (25) Karen Khachanov vs. Canada (10) Denis Shapovalov

Serbia (1) Novak Djokovic vs. Hungary Marton Fucsovics

Italy (7) Matteo Berrettini vs. Canada (16) Felix Auger-Aliassime

Switzerland (6) Roger Federer vs. Poland (14) Hubert Hurkacz

Hurkacz earned his way into the quarters by winning his suspended match against 2-seed Daniil Medvedev, who I'm sure is talking to himself today. The possibility of an all-Russia final is now gone, but the Canadians are in different brackets and could theoretically play each other for the big trophy. But of course, that ain't gonna happen.

I wouldn't bet on any of the underdogs winning outright today, but FAA and Khachanov seem likely to keep their matches close. With the two gorillas in the other matches, to me the only questions are how many sets it will take.