You would think winning points returning serve on Wimbledon’s grass courts would be a tougher task on average than normal.

Not so for the eight men who booked their spots into the quarter-finals.

An Infosys ATP Beyond The Numbers comparison of the 2018 season leading into The Championships and the performance of the eight quarter-finalists through the first four rounds shows that overall return performance is improving at SW19 for the players that are still alive in the tournament.

Return Points Won vs. First Serve

Roger Federer and Milos Raonic have shown the biggest improvement with return points won at Wimbledon against first serves with an eight percentage point jump over their 2018 season average leading into The Championships.

Wimbledon Quarter Finalists: Return Points Won vs. First Serve

Six of the eight players all improved in this category, with only Juan Martin del Potro (-2 percentage points) and Kei Nishikori (-4 percentage points) faring worse against their 2018 season average.

Rafael Nadal only improved one percentage point, which seems like a nominal gain for one of the best returners in our sport. But when you compare his metrics against the field, you see that he is actually leading the tournament with return points won against first serves at 40 per cent (84/209).

The majority of play in 2018 for these eight players has been on hard courts and clay courts, where conventional wisdom says it should be easier to win more return points than on grass. Two possible explanations are that Wimbledon’s pristine grass courts are not as hard to return on as we think, and/or these eight players have currently uncovered an improved vein of good form returning this year.

Return Points Won vs. Second Serve

Novak Djokovic and Juan Martin del Potro have shown the biggest improvement with return points won against second serves at Wimbledon, with Djokovic improving a substantial nine percentage points the past week and a half against his 2018 average.

Wimbledon Quarter Finalists: Return Points Won vs. Second Serve

Out sport may need a timely paradigm shift of just how successful players can really be winning points when returning serve at Wimbledon.

It hasn’t been the same for Mike Bryan at Wimbledon this fortnight. The American is playing without his twin brother Bob (hip injury) for the first time at the All England Club.

But with countryman Jack Sock, Mike has forged ahead, and he even secured himself some history on Tuesday. Bryan/Sock advanced to the semi-finals, beating Indian Divij Sharan and Artem Sitak of New Zealand 7-6(4), 7-6(5), 6-7(3), 6-4.

With the win, Mike Bryan guaranteed that he will return to No. 1 in the ATP Doubles Rankings on Monday, when the new rankings are released. He will become the oldest No. 1 in the history of the ATP Rankings and ATP Doubles Rankings. Mike will be 40 years, 78 days old on Monday.

Daniel Nestor previously held the record. He was 40 years, five days old when he was last No. 1 on 9 September 2012.

Mike Bryan isn’t finished at SW19 yet, either. The seventh seeds will next face Dominic Inglot of Great Britain/Franko Skugor of Croatia. Inglot/Skugor, the 15^th seeds, beat Dutchman Robin Haase and Robert Lindstedt of Sweden 6-3, 6-7(2), 7-6(1), 6-4.

Frederik Nielsen of Denmark and Brit Joe Salisbury stopped 14^th seeds Ben McLachlan of Japan and German Jan-Lennard Struff from reaching their second Grand Slam semi-final of the season (Australian Open) 7-6(6), 4-6, 7-6(2), 7-6(4). Nielsen/Salisbury will meet 13^th seeds Raven Klaasen of South Africa and Michael Venus of New Zealand, who beat fifth seeds Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares 6-7(5), 7-6(5), 5-7, 7-6(4), 6-4.

For years, John Isner’s results at Wimbledon read like stuck vinyl: first round, second round, second round, first round, second round, third round, third round, third round, second round. Ten years, and not one trip to the fourth round at the All England Club.

He had his high moments: Namely 2010, when he won that match against France’s Nicolas Mahut 70-68 in the fifth. But there have been far more disappointments than triumphs at SW19 for Isner.

The past three years, he lost in the fifth set. In 2015, he fell 12-10 to Marin Cilic; in 2016, he lost 19-17 to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga; and last year, Isner led Israel’s Dudi Sela two sets to one but lost 6-7(5), 7-6(5), 5-7, 7-6(5), 6-3.

“This tournament, since that long match, has sort of been a house of horrors for me. I’ve lost a lot of close ones since that match in 2010, a lot of very, very close ones,” Isner said.

“There was certainly some doubt. When you have left this tournament the last nine, 10 years pretty disappointed with my result, gone home sort of hanging my head a little bit. But not the case this year.”

The ninth seed has built upon what had been his best start to a season, which was highlighted in April with his first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title at the Miami Open presented by Itau.

Isner has continued his aggressive return strategy, and he’s also been quick to attack the net on the London grass. During his fourth-round match against Greece’s #NextGenATP star Stefanos Tsitsipas, Isner charged forward 33 times, winning almost 70 per cent of his tries (22/33).

“When I find myself in a good place on the court mentally, not getting frustrated when I miss a chance, things just generally turn out well for me. That was the case (on Monday),” Isner said.

Read More: SW19 QF Preview: Federer, Nadal Look To Keep Marching Onwards

His thundering serve, as always, has helped. The 6’10” right-hander hasn’t been broken yet, having erased all six break points he’s faced. He leads the Wimbledon field with 134 aces.

“I’ve always told myself, ‘Just keep doing what you do, keep giving myself more chances.’ I want to keep coming to this event feeling good, playing well. That was the case this year. I’ve made good on that,” Isner said.

He has more than a standing chance of advancing to his first Grand Slam semi-final as well. Isner leads his FedEx ATP Head2Head series against Raonic 3-1.

“It’s going to come down to a few points here and there. It’s strength on strength, for sure. He serves exceptionally well. He does other things very well, too. He attacks well. He looks for his forehand a lot, which is effective on this surface,” Isner said. “If one of us gets a crack, a few chances, we’re going to have to take it.”