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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Milos is ready to face Stan in terms of the level of his game, but most likely not in terms of his mental strength. I think Milos will come close but won’t be able to win. Still do not think this one will go to 5. Although I would love to see Milos wining this one
Stanimal in 4
Ferry in 4
Andy in 3
Giving a Bernie a set and saying Murray wins in four and in taking Stan to take a tough four set contest and I’m picking a tough four set win for Ferrer though I do think john has a good chance as well but I give Ferrer a slight edge due to head to head and matchup in general. It is Isner though so he has a pretty good chance against everyone especially when he’s playing well which he is.
CryBaby, Ferru and Muzza in four.
I think Stan will get it done in 4 sets against Raonic.
I am picking Ferrer in 4 sets over Isner.
I am expecting Murray to come out strong against Tomic and win in 3 sets.
just written 2 posts which disappeared so hope i am not going to be reduplicating their meaning…
milos will be a tough test for stan as everyone says he is playing very good tennis..i hope stanimal shows up, if he does, then he wins..
want to see a nole-stan final..could be awesome…
I saw some of Raonic and he is looking very good right now. So I expect this to be a competitive match. Stan will have to be ready. I picked Stan to win in my bracket and still believe that he will get it done.
I would like to see either a Novak/Stan final or Novak/Murray. But Stan has the better chance until Murray proves me wrong.
nny, yes i think stan has the better chance of winning if he gets to the final…and it could be a great one…
I think Murray in 3 6-3 6-0 6-1
that’s some beatdown!
Voted Murray in 3 with a tb
Stan over Milos in 5
Ferrer over Isner in 5
I dunno, I think both matches will involve a several TB’s.
Stan in four; Murray in four; Ferrer in four.
Stanimal in some trouble after dropping opener. Then he had a break and lost it. Crap!!
Milos Raonic in 3 at this rate! Changing my vote
2 late!
Let’s go Raonic! Oh I need this for my embarrassing bracket.
Raonic is completely outplaying Stan so far. He’s been volleying a lot and going to the net aggressively. Stan doesn’t have the answers. He had a good start to the second set with a break, then broken back and now broken again.
There goes my prediction.
Oh dear, Stsn in trouble now. This Raonic is for real? He said he’s ready to make a push at the slams, maybe this AO for a start?
Raonic had that decisive 64 64 win over Fed in Brisbane. The thought did cross my mind that this was his year to win a GS, he might be hard to beat, ect…
But I picked Stan.
Yes, Stan in big trouble. Raonic seems to know exactly what he wants to do here. Stan has been scrambling on defense so much and that seems so out of character.
What is going on here?
Maybe Raonic is ready to made a real run for it here.
Get Stan an espresso triple shot!
Milos a wizard at the net today
Well sheeit.
Raonic friggin destroying stan. That stupid mental lapse from Stan at start of second when he was up 2-0 and played his worst game of the match. He didn’t even play that bad when he got broken at 2-2 besides his horrible last miss when Raonic got the killer break. This’ll be huge for Raonic. Stan isn’t done yet I’m not counting him out. I saw him come back from two sets to love down against gasquet at the French once so he has it in him. C’mon Stan don’t give up. ALLEZ!!
Tomic might surprise us at this rate, but you have to say Raonic has been playing very well of late. And Stan really needs good days to keep winning against in form opponents. Winning ugly isn’t his thing.
In order for Stan to win he needs to start serving better and making short work of his service games to put pressure on Milos and hope the big guy starts to drop his level a little or have one break in concentration to allow Stan just one break also Stan needs to clean up his forehand a lot. Also if he does find a way to break then he needs to keep it up not lose the lead like last set if he hadn’t done that he prob would be at one set all right now.
I’ve rarely seen Stan recover mid match. He usually starts well in order to win big matches.
Man its nice to see Raonic consistently serve and volley.