It's crunch time at Wimbledon! As far as the ladies' singles go, China will be hoping they can "do a Spain" and end their long wait for a Grand Slam title in the shape of Zheng Jie. As for the men, the big question for most tennis fans is: Can Rafael Nadal match his footballing counterparts? Or will it be Andy Murray's turn to bring back some long last glory to British tennis and end up meeting Roger Federer in the final? Will Federer even make the final?

Either way, it is a mouth-watering set-up on the Wimbledon stage today. Federer, Nadal, Murray, Marat Safin, Mario Ancic, Feliciano Lopez, Rainer Schuettler and Arnaud Clement will all be battling it out. Could there be any more variety on show? I guess you could say that Marcos Baghdatis or Mikhail Youzhny may have added something, but it is what it is.

But before we delve deeper into men's side, let's say three cheers for Zheng Jie of China. She's not only the first wildcard to reach a Grand Slam semi-final of the ladies' singles, she's also the first Chinese woman in the last four of a Grand Slam. Wow! And I believe that if anyone can defeat Serena (besides Serena herself), Zheng is the one.

As for the other semi between Venus Williams and Elena Dementieva, the question is who will fold first mentally - and I think so far, Russians have shown a tendency to be highly fickle in that department, so I'm going with Venus. Oh, the possibilities - I'm ready to watch some action now! But back to men, let's look at the quarter-final line-up and evaluate the chances of the eight players on show...

Federer v Ancic: Will Ancic's marathon match with Fernando Verdasco take its toll or will he show the same grit as he showed in that match? I think Federer may have a little too much for Ancic. Winner: Federer.

Safin v Lopez: Before I comment on the upcoming quarters match, I must vent my spleen a bit on Safin. I have to admit, I was surprised - no, I was stunned - by Safin's demeanor against Novak Djokovic in their match. I was expecting almost all through the match that Safin would explode in anger, frustration or both whenever he lost an easy point, but boy was I in for a big surprise.

He kept his cool and got into the head of Djokovic. The Serb didn't play too badly, except maybe in the third set, but I think what got his goat was the fact that, like me, he expected Safin to implode and that never happened. Anyway, as for this quarter-final, Lopez has a couple of good victories under his belt, especially the last one with Baghdatis, but I think Safin is capable of taking care of business. Winner: Safin in a tight finish.

Schuettler v Clement: Schuettler defeated Tipsarevic and Blake on his way, while Clement won over Cilic and Bjorkman. I would like to think that Schuettler will win over Clement but, given the fact that Germany lost to Spain in Euro 2008 - an absurd comparison, I know, but it's kind of a sign - I'm backing Clement.

Nadal v Murray: Murray has kep his head with wins over Gasquet, Haas and that old fox Santoro (God I love that guy, he makes the best players look ordinary with his game) while, in my opinion, Nadal has not really been battle-tested so far. The Spaniard looks to be the fittest player on the circuit and his reputation alone gives him a one-set lead over opponents - but you know what? I like Andy's chances here.

I'm not sure if Murray can keep his head and focus but, if he can, he has a decent chance. I know I'm being a little ambiguous with my prediction here, but this is the toughest one to call. In my mind, whoever wins the first set will take the match and the honours.

So there it is. Hopefully I'll be correct in predicting all of them - yes, modesty is my middle name. If that doesn't happen, I'll cry in my towel until I go to sleep. I'll be back after the men's quarters and women's semis are done to let you know how I fared!