As Sally so graciously pointed out below, my picks were right for the Wimbledon quarterfinals (Well, except for Rainer Schuettler and Arnaud Clement who haven’t finished their match yet)! I’m amazed at myself.

The most impressive of the three completed matches was Rafael Nadal’s pounding of Andy Murray. I knew it was coming. I think a lot of us knew it was coming, and since I’m not British, I wasn’t forced by birth into rooting for lost causes.

Three lop-sided sets later (6-3, 6-2, 6-4), Murray was wiping his brow and Rafa was looking like a dominant front-runner to win Wimbledon.

On the other side of the bracket, Roger Federer continued his impressive style, winning in straight sets over Mario Ancic. Prior to the match, reporters were touting Ancic’s position as the last man to beat Federer at Wimbledon. That was in 2002. Riiiiight. That was so far from being a factor in this match that it was a non-factor. It had nothing to do with it at all, and the results (6-1, 7-5, 6-4) proved it.

Two things to note about the top two players, though.
1) While Federer hasn’t dropped a set in the tournament (Rafa only dropped one against Ernest Gulbis), Rafa is playing his way into dominating form. That scary type of domination where he’s untouchable; the same type that led him to another French Open title a few weeks ago.
2) Federer has to face down Marat Safin in the semis. Safin is on his last hurrah (until the next one comes six years from now…), and players who think their last chance is at hand can be really dangerous. Even if there wasn’t that factor, Marat is the real deal. This isn’t his first time at a grass court hoedown, and Federer could have some trouble with the big-serving Safin. However, Rafa is going to have an unknown player who is unfamiliar with this type of stage. That player - Clement or Schuettler - will have also been on the court longer, been through more stress because of rain delays and generally will probably be less on point.

Speaking of Safin, how about his comeback against Feliciano Lopez? Safin lost the first set 6-3 but a long rain break helped the Russian regroup his commonly scattered concentrations and won the next three sets 7-5, 7-6, 6-3 to set up his date with God Roger in the semis.

Ultimately, I think we see Rafa and Roger in the final again. I want Roger to win this title. I’m cursed with being a realist, however, and I’m well aware that Rafa is playing with pocket aces.

Venus Williams is another step closer to defending her 2007 Wimbledon title. In one of the most crazy, convuluted Wimbledons in recent memory, Williams became the first woman into the semifinals after dispatching Tamarine Tanasugarn 6-4, 6-3. ‘

Elena Dementieva, the highest remaining seed at number five, managed to come through a tough quarterfinal match to set up a meeting with Venus in the semis. Dementieva blew Nadia Petrova away with a 6-1 first set, but Petrova bounced back and won a tiebreak second set. The swing set went to Dementieva with two breaks at 6-3.

On the other half of the draw, Jie Zheng is already up a set on Nicole Vaidisova, winning it 6-2. You know, the further Zheng moves in the tournament, the better it makes Ana Ivanovic’s loss to her look. Don’t get me wrong. It doesn’t justify it or make it ok. It’s just that when you start out with something so horrible as the beating Ivanovic took from a relative no-name, it doesn’t take a whole lot to make it look a little better.

Agnieszka Radwanska or Serena Williams in the bottom quarter?