Right OK so now its time for a look at the men's action at the Australian open and I will cover days 7 and 8 which saw some fun and dramatic matches take place, so let's give them a look....
So to start with Day 7 we had first up Rafael Nadal take on the South giant, Kevin Anderson in a 4th round clash. Rafa had suffered a real scare in the 2nd round which he battled through against the American, Tim Smyczek, but since then has recovered his good form against Dudi Sela in the 3rd round. And in this match Rafa continued that form as despite a tight first set, Rafa broke to take the lead and after that he never really looked back as he broke the giant fella twice in the 2nd set and got the key break in the 3rd to close out the match with a straight forward straight set 7-5, 6-1, 6-4 win. At the start of the tournament Rafa (in his usual style) downplayed his chances in the tournament and did not see himself as one of the favourites and for once we had to agree with him given his rusty form at the very start of the season in Abu Dhabi and Doha. But here Rafa is really starting to hit his stride and is looking dangerous again and the grand slams often bring out the best in him and I think its safe to say that Rafa is now a top contender to win the title, so the rest of the draw should now beware as Rafa's back.
Next up we had Tomas Berdych who took on one of the home crowd favourites, Bernard Tomic who made the last 16 a few years back and made it here again. But Berdych proved to be too good for the young Aussie as Berdych's experience and powerful game saw him come through as he dismissed the Aussie in straight sets 6-2, 7-6, 6-2. However all was not lost for the Aussies just yet as the last man standing, Nick Kygrios went out to play Federer's conqueror, Andreas Seppi in what turned into a real epic tussle as both guys hammered it out on the Hisense Arena. But it was Seppi who made the better start and he took a two sets to love lead, leaving Kygrios sure to be on the end of a stinging defeat. But Nick had other ideas as he started to fight back in the 3rd set and he worked his way into the match and broke to take the 3rd set to push the match into a 4th and he went on to take it on a tiebreak. Nick then inspired and fired up by the crowed went on to break Seppi to go 4-1 up and looked sure to have the win in hand, but Seppi soon broke back and scores become level pegged until 7-6 when Seppi finally wilted on serve with three match points, Kygrios went flat on his back in delight after a line call had been confirmed as out and with that he had reached the quarter finals of his home slam after a dramatic 5-7, 4-6, 6-3, 7-6, 8-6 epic result. This result really proved that Nick Kygrios is one to watch out for and he is one dangerous player to take on in any tournament but especially in the slams where the young guy seems to already have a big match mentality and going into the quarter finals he will be tough to beat.
And Nick will go on to face the winner of the next match which was a highly anticipated match between Andy Murray and Grigor Dimitrov. Dimitrov pulled off a big upset last year at Wimbledon when he routed Andy in straight sets to end his title defence and there was some speculation as to how Andy had lost the match so badly. But this time there was no such danger as Andy from the get go showed his grit and determination as despite going a break down, he quickly wrestlted it back from Dimitrov and went on to take the first set with a break of his own. In the 2nd set Andy went a break up twice but squandered the lead both times at 3-2 and 6-5, which saw Dimitrov fight his way impressively into the match and he clinched the 2nd set on a tiebreak to level. In the 3rd set Andy regrouped and he managed to finally break Dimitrov again to go 5-3 and he served it out to take the two sets to one lead. However in the 4th set it was Dimitrov who stamped his authority early on as he broke Andy to move ahead until it was 5-2, where Andy was serving to make it 5-3 he had to save a set point and went on to save it to force Dimi to serve it out. From here Dimitrov was unable to do so and Andy broke again to get back on serve and from here, Andy reeled off the next couple of games as he broke Dimi again and finally served out the match from a 5-2 deficit and he sealed his place in the last eight after an exhaustive and epic 6-4, 6-7, 6-3, 7-5 result.
Well there was no doubt that this was one of the best matches of the tournament so far as both players played some high quality tennis for the crowd and they both played some great points that wowed the spectators. The match also had plenty of twists and turns with both men trading breaks of serve at different points and in the 4th set Dimitrov looked sure to push the match into a decider. However in his last few big matches in slams, Dimitrov has had chances to take a lead or level things against three of the big four (his match with Andy at Wimlbedon last year notwithstanding) and blown those chances. And this shows that Dimitrov is still a work in progress when it comes to his mental strength and stamina in the slams, which no doubt will improve over the time but he still has some way to go but regardless of that he was very impressive in this match. As for Andy well he really showed that in this match that he means business this year and he responded incredibly well to Dimitrov's stern resistance. It was also great to see Andy being tested in the tournament as his first three rounds were pretty comfortable wins overall so it was good that he faced Dimi at this stage and it will stand him in good stead for his next match against Nick Kygrios but more on that in a bit.
Now get onto Day 8 which kicked off with Kei Nishikori taking on David Ferrer in their much anticipated clash and their previous matches have been pretty close encounters all won by Nishikori. However Kei this time had little trouble in getting past Ferrer, which in itself was a real surprise as the Japanese No.1 and World No.5 dismissed the dogged Spaniard in straight sets with a convincing 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 win. Its good to see that Kei's good form from last year has continued into this season as his progress in the tournament so far has been pretty self assured and confident and no doubt he will be a serious danger to the other top guys left in the draw and he too can't be far away from winning his maiden major title. After that we had the defending champion, Stan Wawrinka face his first stern challenge of the tournament as he played his nemesis last year at the French open, Guillermo Garcia-Lopez in his last 16 encounter as the Swiss player needed four tight sets to battle past the Spaniard but he eventually came through in 7-6, 6-4, 4-6, 7-6. This has been quite an impressive result so far for Stan, as a first time major champion he has handled the pressure and the expectations well that must come with being one but from here the challenges will only get tougher especially as Stan will next face Kei Nishikori in the quarter finals, who defeated him last year in a five set epic, so we will wait and see what happens this time.
Next up we had Milos Raonic, the big serving Canadian who took on Feliciano Lopez in what looked to be a very promising encounter as both men possess impressive serves. And the match itself was quite a battle as Raonic and Lopez really went at it in trying to get that win to reach the first quarter final at the Australian open. But in the end it was Raonic who made the final 8 as he made his 3rd grand slam quarter final by beating Lopez in five sets 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, 6-7, 6-3. I must admit since Raonic came on the tour I've not been overly impressed with him as a player to watch as he only really possessed a great serve and not much else, but it has to be said that Raonic is now starting to develop his game and a few extra shots to it, as he is become a decent returner and volleyer and with that it will stand his game in good stead for the future.
And last of all we had Novak Djokovic, the four time champion in Melbourne take on a surprise opponent in the 4th round, Gilles Muller of Luxembourg. However as predicted despite a good and plucky effort from Muller, Djokovic never lost control of the match and he soon secured a break in each set, which was all he needed to eventually seal the deal and his place in the quarter finals with a comfortable 6-4, 7-5, 7-5 result. Well Nole so far has done exceptionally well in what is after all his best and most successful grand slam as he has got into the quarter finals without even dropping a set, which shows just how good and consistent a server he is, not to mention the rest of his game that goes with it. So Novak will next play Milos Raonic in what promises to be quite an encounter although their last slam meeting at the French Open last year was a pretty easy win for Djokovic in straight sets. But I think Raonic is definitely improving as a player and this could be a tight match, he won't win it but I think he can push Novak to a 4th set before he goes out.
So that's it for now and Day 9 lies ahead which will feature some more great tennis on play with Rafa taking on Tomas Berdych in their quarter final clash but the bad news for Tomas is that Rafa is on a 16 match winning streak against him and it is unlikely that Berdy is going to snap it tomorrow given Rafa has recovered his good form in the tournament. However I think it could still be quite a close and entertaing match and I will bet that Rafa will go through in four sets to the semi final. As for Andy Murray's match against Nick Kygrios its a bit harder to predict as although Andy has played Nick once on the tour and beat him convincingly last year in Toronto (6-2, 6-2) this is a grand slam match and its Kygrios's home soil and with that in mind the young Aussie will surely be fired up to try and win the match with the full crowd of the Rod Laver arena right behind him. But despite that I still think Andy will come through and win this one as he is the more experienced and fitter player of the two, but it won't be easy and I can see Kygrios push this match into a 4th set at least unless he is too fatigued from the effort of his previous matches but time will tell. So I think Andy will win this one in four or maybe five sets, or if Kygrios's win it will be in five, but I'll go with Andy and I could be wrong but we will soon find out!
Right so that's it for now and I will be back soon with more results once the quarter final matches on both sides of the net are done.
Bye for now.
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