Ricky Dimon of The Grandstand and Joey Hanf of The Tennis Nerds preview and pick three of the men’s singles matches on Monday at the Australian Open. Stan Wawrinka and David Ferrer are among those aiming for spots in the quarterfinals.
(13) Milos Raonic vs. (4) Stan Wawrinka
Ricky: There have not been too many absolute thrillers at the Australian Open. This should be one. Wawrinka won the whole thing in 2014 and has not lost to anyone except Novak Djokovic in Melbourne since 2012. Quite simply he is at his best Down Under. Raonic, meanwhile, is in amazing form to begin 2015. He beat Roger Federer for the Brisbane title and so far this fortnight has not dropped a set in wins over Lucas Pouille, Tommy Robredo, and Viktor Troicki. Something has to give in this one, because Wawrinka has been similarly dominant. The Swiss is sweeping the head-to-head series 4-0, but two contests have been extremely competitive. A high-quality five-setter is likely in store, with a slight edge going to Wawrinka given his history of Melbourne success. Wawrinka 7-6(6), 5-7, 6-4, 6-7(4), 9-7.
Joey: Raonic is playing very well, and he would be the first person to tell you that. On the court AND in interviews the last two weeks, the Canadian has been incredibly confident. He even seems to be returning well, which has always been the big man’s struggle. Wawrinka cruised through the first few rounds and hasn’t even gotten to his best level yet. He’ll need to shift up a gear or two to beat Raonic, which i believe he’ll do. Tiebreakers are imminent, and I still don’t trust the Sleeve’s backhand return in big moments. An epic ‘breaker to finish? Why not? Wawrinka 7-6(5), 6-7(3), 6-4, 7-6(10).
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(8) David Ferrer vs. (10) John Isner
Ricky: One of Isner’s goals in 2015 was to finish the year in the top 10. The man who prevented him from doing so was Ferrer. Isner came within one set of accomplishing the feat but lost to the Spaniard 6-3, 6-7(6), 6-2 at the Paris Masters, thus keeping Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the 10th spot. This is, for obvious reasons, a bad matchup for the big man. One of the best returners in the game, Ferrer is dominating the head-to-head series 6-1. When he gets Isner’s huge serve back in play, the 33-year-old obviously has a massive edge from the baseline. But Ferrer has underwhelmed so far this season and Isner is arguably playing the best tennis of his career. Expect something similar to Paris, with the underdog putting forth a spartan effort before Ferrer grinds him down. Ferrer 7-6(6), 6-7(5), 6-7(4), 6-3, 6-3.
Joey: Big John did incredibly well to come back and beat Lopez in the third round. Midway through the second set, that one looked like it was going to be another Isner slam loss. But he stayed tough and even broke with some regularity against a great server. Ferrer has also been playing extremely well, and his new racket (Babolat Pure Drive) is one of the easiest rackets to generate pace with. He’s used that to good effect, and it’s really helping his forehand. Isner has yet to face a break point in the entire tournament, and he could realistically continue that streak and still lose this match. However, I’m taking the American in a slight upset. Isner 7-6(5), 7-6(4), 7-6(6).
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(16) Bernard Tomic vs. (2) Andy Murray
Ricky: Tomic has done well to reach the fourth round and finish as the last Australian man remaining in the draw. He went on a brief mental vacation in a four-set win over Simone Bolelli on Thursday but turned in a no-nonsense performance against John Millman two days later. The competition, however, gets better–by a heck of a lot. Murray has mostly cruised through three matches and he is almost always at his best in this event. Unless extracurricular factors get in the way (Murray’s wife is due to give birth soon and his wife’s father collapsed while coaching Ana Ivanovic on Saturday), the second-ranked Scot should roll. Murray 6-3, 7-6(5), 6-2.
Joey: Tomic made headlines when he essentially tanked a match in Sydney because he heard that he had a good draw in Melbourne. Well, he did! He has gotten to the fourth round fairly smoothly but hasn’t played much competition in the process. Murray has been extremely efficient in his matches and I think he’s a little better in every aspect in the game, except for the serve. I’ll be generous and give Bernie a set, but if he loses the first this could be one-way traffic. Murray 6-7(3), 6-4, 6-3, 6-0.
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Good job, Andy! Playing well on key points!
I got this one right predictin Andy in 3!
Funny though when I was typing my predictions yesterday I had to correct it two times because although I predicted Wawa to win my fingers kept typing Milos in 5 ?
Sad to see Stan lost. Big win for Raonic though. I will be rooting for Monfils in the quarters lol. Not because Raonic beat Wawrinka but because monfils is awesome. If Raonic loses though that’ll be pretty stupid from him lol. Just after beating Stan and all.
so stan is out. and apparently, if your comments are to be believed, because stan not stanimal, turned up for the first 2 sets. murray must be feeling happy….another nolandy final doesn’t fill me with joy. i really don’t enjoy that mirror image match up.
that’s assuming nole gets through…he will have to up his game a lot…bet fed is feeling perky…
just read on the site which cannot be named that stan has been ill for a while…if true, and not excuses, that is a bummer….
Nah those sniffles were just crybaby tears.
#MirkaWasRight
As for “crybaby”, this word always reminds me that Mrs. Mirka couldn’t keep her mouth shut during the Fed-Waw match at the 2014 WTF and called Waw ‘crybaby’ after he complained about that.
Mrs. Mirka’s husband should have been fined for that (according to the ATP Rulebook, pages 177 & 178). It happened more than a year ago, but maybe it would still be possible to fine?
Not unlike yourself, for which YOU were “fined” here.
#BrokenRecordsAreEverywhere
Fines are somewhere.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CZlyUlYWIAAp6mD.jpg
Pot and kettle…
https://tenngrand.com/contact/#comment-76955
#TwoToTango
#DoYou????
he was fine the last 3 sets. still lost.
that! 🙂
True. Just the crucial miss down the line pass to give Milos the break for 4-2 was the key miss for Stan. Other than that he played well last three sets. And the fact that he lost a break lead in both the first two sets makes it even sadder. For me at least cuz I’m a Stan fan.
ANOTHER GAME FOR MILOSH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wUaMzsNKR7Q
Do you???
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TtZ5aBx2bCk
…or don’t you.
Glad Murray won, Shocked Stan lost, hope Monfils takes out Raonic, and really sad Isner lost. Just couldn’t get it together. Hopefully next time!
Ferrer is a nightmare for him
Not recently, their last 3 hard court matches Murray has won in straights.
Isner
My bad
haha. Ferrer is the opposite of a nightmare for the Muzz.
True, what do you think the score will be?
Isner would most likely be top 10 with the win.
reusable
…if it had been played in God’s country.
I had another minor surgical procedure on lower back so won’t be posting that much today. But I did want to check out the results.
I finally went to sleep after Stan was broken. I figured that was the end. No excuses for him. He came back from two sets down to even it up. But raonic was too good in the end. Now I am not rooting for monfils to win.
Sorry I AM rooting for monfils to win!