Familiar foes Roger Federer and Tomas Berdych are on a collision course for the Australian Open quarterfinals. They will be favored on Monday in their respective fourth-round matchups, relatively surprising ones against Marton Fucsovics and Fabio Fognini.
(25) Fabio Fognini vs. (19) Tomas Berdych
Berdych and Fognini will be squaring off for the fifth time in their careers and for the first time in three years when they battle for a place in the Australian Open quarterfinals on Monday. The head-to-head series is all tied up at two wins apiece, although their only previous hard-court result is telling: Berdych dominated 7-5, 6-0, 6-0 at the 2011 U.S. Open. These two veterans faced each other twice on clay thereafter, with Fognini cruising 6-4, 6-2 at the 2013 Monte-Carlo Masters before Berdych prevailed 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(2) two seasons later in Rome.
General consensus was that this portion of the bracket would produce a showdown between Juan Martin Del Potro and David Goffin. Not so fast. Berdych, who was coming off four-set victories over Alex de Minaur and Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, crushed Del Potro 6-3, 6-3, 6-2 on Saturday night. Goffin fell to Julien Benneteau, whom Fognini outlasted 3-6, 6-2, 6-1, 4-6, 6-3 during third-round action. This is an especially sudden and much-needed success for Berdych, who plunged way outside the top 10 in 2017 and began this season with a Doha first-round loss to Jan-Lennard Struff. But this is a clearly resurgent Czech, and on a relatively fast hard court he should have an edge against Fognini.
Pick: Berdych in 4
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Marton Fucsovics vs. (2) Roger Federer
There is still a long way to go, but so far this fortnight Federer Rafael Nadal are looking like they have interest in staging a second consecutive Australian Open final between the two all-time greats. Both sailed into the fourth round with 12 consecutive sets won–Federer doing so at the expense of Aljaz Bedene, Jan-Lennard Struff, and Richard Gasquet. Although Stuff and Gasquet accounted themselves particularly well, neither one brought nearly enough to seriously compete with Federer’s current form.
Up next for the second-ranked Swiss on Monday is a first-ever meeting with Fucsovics. The 25-year-old Hungarian may have been unknown to many in the tennis world prior to this tournament, but not to Federer. They actually trained together for a week in Switzerland a few offseasons ago. Aside from being a great experience, that may actually be bad news for Fucsovics–after all, he will bring no secrets to the table like her perhaps did against Sam Querrey in the second round. The world No. 80, who upset Querrey 6-4, 7-6(6), 4-6, also has wins over Radu Albot (7-5 in the fourth set) and Nicolas Kicker (6-3, 6-3, 6-2). It is safe to say that, like Fucsovic’s training session with Federer, this will be nothing more than a valuable learning experience for a player who had never won a Grand Slam main-draw match prior to this fortnight.
Pick: Federer in 3 losing 11-14 games
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who ya got?
Fed in straights losing 8-10 games and Berdych in four
Same.
There are 8 people out there who think Fucsovic will win?!?!
Ramara, now there are 12 of them out there who are backing Fuscovics to win, not 8!
These 12 are the same 12 guys (Gang of 12) found drinking the left over NY wine & beer and found intoxicated on the wayside!
Gang of 12, raise your hands now (if you can) and identify yourself fully (and don’t worry if your pants drop when you raise your hands)!lol
Marton being a young gun who hits hard and fights tough, can provide a tough fight to “FEDdy the GOAT”!lol
Marton being 11 years younger than “FEDdy the GOAT” should be more durable in the Aussie heat than the oldies like Gasquet! Besides he now knows a few (or may be all) tricks and secrets of “FEDdy the GOAT” by practicing with him a few seasons ago for a week or so.
Marton’s current form on HARD is good. Won 8 out of last 10.
So, Marton is not to be taken lightly. That is when BIG UPSETS happen…and you go crying home saying…mommy a young bully(marton) stole all my pocket money!lol
Marton has a good future. I expect him to be in the top 30 in a year or 2.
Inspite of the above advantages of Marton, if “FEDdy the GOAT” is NOT either TIRED from playing 3 matches this week in the HOT Aussie sun and if he is NOT having any BACK issues, then “FEDdy the GOAT” should win in 3 or 4 sets after a few close sets!
Fed ML for sure. -2.5 sets “FEDdy the GOAT”(90% sure)
Fed has not played ANY matches in “hot Aussie sun” this week. His delicate Swiss complexion burns too easily for that.
Fed is gonna cruise
Might well be the correct outcome. Berdych seems to be in great shape but The Fog can be pesky – if he doesn’t have one of his epic meltdowns, lol! But the surface clearly favores Berdych.
I’m a closet Fog fan, btw. I think that he is able to come up with strokes of genius once in a while, and he’s always very entertaining. I wonder how he’s coping with being a new dad. But I also like Berdych as a person. He’s had an incredibly entertaining and witty Twitter account. So, I wish both of them well. Their journey will most likely end in the quarters anyways. I don’t believe that whoever wins the upcoming match will be able to beat Fed, although Berdych has probably a slightly better chance.
Who are those 8 people???…..Berd in 3 (he looks like a new person this past week!); and Fed in 3…..and kudos to both Dtrov and Kyrios for a great match and first class sportsmanship!!!
Berdych in 4, He is actually playing quite well currently.
Federer in 3
Fed in straights, losing 8-10 games. Berdych in 4.
Roger got a day match this time. Is everyone happy now?! 😂
Every dog has its day ! 🙂
Roger weighs in on his day match scheduling…
https://twitter.com/JBImpressions/status/955219063172628481