OK now we get onto the men's matches on days 5, 6 and 7 from the 2014 Australian open, which will cover the men's 3rd and 4th round matches. So let's crack on with it....
Right so day 5 started with David Ferrer taking to the court against the Frenchman, Jeremy Chardy, who reached the quarter finals last year. Chardy however was not to be so fortunate this time round as Ferrer moved up the gears and put the Frenchman out of his misery as he won the match in straight sets 6-2, 7-6, 6-2. Tomas Berdych next up continued his fine run of form in Melbourne as he dismissed Damir Dzumhur of Bosnia and Herzegovenia in straight sets 6-4, 6-2, 6-2. Tommy Robredo also progressed to the fourth round after he had a tough four setter against another Frenchman, Richard Gasquet, whom he defeated in 2-6, 6-5, 6-4, 7-6. Fabio Fognini had an impressive win over the American giant, Sam Querrey as he defeated the big Yank in 7-5, 6-4, 6-4. And Kevin Anderson beat yet another Frenchman (quite popular in the draw!) Eduardo Roger-Vasselin after coming from two sets to love down to win in 3-6, 4-6, 6-3, 7-6, 7-5.
And last but not least we had Novak Djokovic who faced off against Denis Istmon of Uzbeikstan, and Nole soon found himself two sets to love up as he was utterly imperious against Istomin who had no answer for him. There was however a glimmer of hope as Istomin managed to break Nole's serve in the third set, but it was short lived as the Serb soon managed to find his way and got the break to win the match in 6-3, 6-3, 7-5. So far Novak is looking ominously good in the tournament and as he is already a four time champion, having won the last three, its going to be hard to see anyone else knock him off his throne in Melbounre any time soon.
Which brings me onto Day 6, starting with Roger Federer who continued his excellent form by breezing past Teymuraz Gabashvili of Russia with an effortless straight set 6-2, 6-2, 6-3 win. This is a great start from Roger however so far he has not been tested yet and as the rounds progress don't get any easier as we got into the second week of the tournament, so with Roger having Stefan Edberg at his side, it remains to be seen what Edberg effect will have on the very best players in the game. But the signs so far for Roger are looking pretty good and with his new coach in Stefan Edberg and a heavier racquet to add that little extra power, they could both make a formidable combination down under.
Andy Murray next faced what potentially could have been his toughest test yet as he played Feliciano Lopez for a place in the 4th round, and given their last encounter at the 2012 US Open, which was a very tense and tight four set battle, this match promised to be just as tough. However it wasn't to be as despite dropping his serve in the opening game, Andy never really looked threatened after that as he took the first set on a tie break 7-2 and after that Andy cruised to victory in sets two and three in just 2 hours and 15 minutes to reach round four in 7-6, 6-4, 6-2. After his shaky performance in the 2nd round, this saw Andy make a confident return to form and he never really looked to be under any threat from Lopez throughout, which sees Andy's draw open up favourably as he will play lucky loser Stephan Robert in round four, for which he is the firm favourite to win, so hopefully Andy can come through this one in straight sets to conserve energy for what lies ahead.
And Rafael Nadal in the late night match on Rod Laver arena was up against yet another Frenchman (yep loads of them!) Gael Monfils, the flashy and talented player whom Rafa faced in the final of Doha at the start of the year. Rafa from the start was in top form and despite a few tight deuce games from Monfils, Rafa never was in any threat from the Frenchman, who lacked consistency on his shots, even though he produced some wonderful points for the crowd. After going two sets to love up, Rafa appeared to have a mini battle on his hands as Monfils threatened to break to move ahead in the set, but Rafa averted danger at every point and went on to break Monfils and close out the match with great ease, securing a thumping 6-1, 6-2, 6-3 win. So far it has to be said that Rafa's form has been ominous and to say that he doesn't have a chance of winning the title given his form would be madness as he is got a great chance, although it does all depend on how well the defending champion does. Rafa next up will face Kei Nishikori of Japan, whom I don't think will make a dent on Rafa so I think Spaniard will sail confidently into the last eight.
As for a quick sum up of the remaining day 6 matches:
Jo Wilfried-Tsonga took down his fellow compatriot, Gilles Simon in straight sets scoring a 7-6, 6-4, 6-2 victory over Simon to book his place in the 4th round with Roger Federer, which will be a rematch of their quarter final from last year, which was an epic in itself that went the distance and saw Roger prevail, so that promises to be a cracker.
Grigor Dimitrov also racked up a very impressive win over the 11th seed, Milos Raonic, the big serving Canadian, as the Bulgarian beat Raonic in a very tough four set 6-3, 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(12-10) battle.
And lastly Kei Nishikori of Japan dismissed the American player, Donald Young with a straight thrashing in 7-5, 6-1, 6-0.
And so we leap onto day 7, which sees the tournament now at the half-way mark, and first up on court Novak Djokovic faced the flashy and charismatic Italian player, Fabio Fognini, in what promised to be an intruiging clash. However Nole was more than up to the task of dealing with the Italian as he swept him aside with ruthless effiency, which at times left the Italian really frustrated, swearing, growling, mumbling and at one point even throwing his racquet at Djokovic. And in the end Nole put the struggling Italian out of his misery as secured an emphatic straight set victory in 6-3 6-0, 6-2. David Ferrer on the Hisense arena took on another unorthodox player, Florian Mayer of Germany, who Ferrer beat from a set down but ended the match strong to reach the quarter finals for the fourth year running with a 6-7, 7-5, 6-2, 6-1 victory. Tomas Berdych also continued his great form as he beat his rival, the giant Kevin Anderson from South Africa with a straight set win, and Berdych dropped just seven games to win in 6-2, 6-2, 6-3. This so far is pretty formidable performance from Berdy and he is dangerous and with David Ferrer up next, he might have his first test, but given how he has played, I think Berdych has an excellent chance to reach his first semi final in Melbourne.
And lastly we had what promised to be a cracking match between Stan Wawrinka and Tommy Robredo, although it was the Spaniard, Robredo, who has the winning record of 7-1 over Stan. But Stan right from the start put in a solid and confident performance as he took the first with ease with a break, and although he got tight serving for a two set load and let Robredo push play to a tiebreak in the 2nd, Stan still manage to nab the lead to go two sets up. The third set again went to a tiebreak, with both players having break point opportunities, but in the end it was Stan that sealed the deal and made into his second quarter final in Melbourne with a solid 6-3, 7-6, 7-6 scoreline.
Although it was a pretty decent match, it never really caught fire and I half expected Robredo to at least push the match into a fourth set, but in the end it wasn't to be and Stan deserves nothing less than his place in the last eight. And this will see a rematch of last year's encounter with Novak and Stan as they will be set to do battle again on Rod Laver arena in what promises to be a cracker. But whether or not Stan can replicate the form he showed a year ago in the amazing match he and Nole had remains to be seen and could be doubtful, especially as Novak has beaten Stan with ease in their last two matches. Also last year Stan's performance really took Novak by surprise as it was a bolt out the blue and no one could have predcited it, but this year Nole will be fully expecting Stan to give his all and he will be well prepared for him. However it is on one of the biggest stages in tennis and Stan no doubt will be motivated to win and he goes into the quarter finals in great form so hopefully he will be able to come up with something special again. Although I can't see Stan defeat Novak, so for me I think Nole will emerge victorious once again, and this time maybe in four sets as I think it will be tough for Stan to push the defending champ all the way once more, but we'll see.
Right so that's it for now and next up I will cover the remaining 4th round and quarter final matches over days 8 and 9. But so far it has to be said that the ladies matches have actually proved to be more exciting than the men's, which have been a bit disappointing and yet to catch fire, but I'm sure over the next couple of days that will all change as we get into the business end of the tournament.
So until the next one bye the now!
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