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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How is Milos defending that well!!
phewwww
Come on Stan break back! Milos, we know you are talented. Please don’t ruin this…
what.the.HELL
Yes! Well played Milos, kept his head there.
Stanimal beaten in 5 sets. Raonic’s all-round game has improved a lot.
My auto-correct prefers St Animal 🙂
Spot on about Raonic’s game. Ironic that he has displayed results after Ljubicic left.
#Moya
Possible. And maybe some extra motivation from the Ljubicic snub.
Yesss! Bravooooo! Way to go Milos!!!
So proud of you, Milis! Wawa is toast, completely outplayed today!
Ajde Milose!!!
congrats, Novak!
Or Andy Murray. I think his chances just improved dramatically here.
Novak has to beat Nishi first ?
You’d have to say he is a likely bet to do so. Especially after a bad match.
How was he completely outplayed when it went to five sets??
Milos having mental lapses due to lack of experience in these kind of matches.,,otherwise it would have been over in 3 if Milos converted one of those numerous break points!
This will shake Wawa’s confidence and so be it! It’s not like he is getting any younger! I still think he never deserved to beat Rafa in that AO final especially the way he behaved when Rafa got injured! Justice is served!
Players do have lapses, ask Rafa. Its their problem and Stan did play well in set 3 and 4.
Stan was outstanding at FO2015 and he did play well during AO2014 whole tournament. Its Rafa’s bad luck that he had his back injury in the final, cant blame Stan.
Stan was nasty in his behavior in that final because he’s anxious to win. The spectators were even worse! I think Stan has since reconciled with Rafa and all’s well between them.
After they booed Rafa, I’ll never like the AO crowd anymore, same with the FO. Poor Rafa, only the USO crowd loves him, at the other slams they’re so keen to see players beat him. Even at Wimbledon, they cheered when Rosol or Kygrios beat him.
luckystar (AT 8:48 AM),
—After they booed Rafa, I’ll never like the AO crowd anymore, same with the FO. Even at Wimbledon…—
===
.
These were Fedfans in the crowd. Fedfans behave nastily and make a loud noise everywhere.
As for the FO, Fedfans have booed Rafa once – when he played against Sod in 2009. But Fedfans (including journos) keep creating the (false) impression that the French crowd isn’t nice towards Rafa. Every year, before or during the FO, the articles have been published about this!
Well said Lucky!
Lucky gets it.
Rafa beat Raonic in straight sets in Abu Dhabi.
Well I just hope that you not comparing exhos and practise with tournaments. Don’t you? or do you.
Great exho and practise results are everywhere.
#Iverson
Vamos Carlos Moya!
Yup
Vamos indeed! ?
oh well
With this game, Raonic could go all the way without Nadal in the draw.
Hahahahahahahahaha
#Denial
Glad Milos proved everyone wrong! This Stan would stand no chance against Andy anyway! I can’t believe people kept saying he had power, etc. Stan was a shadow of his RG self today and had no answers for this Milios! The guy serving this bad as Stan today deserves to be sent packing!
At the beginning of the AO I said this could happen and changed my mind mainly because of the hope that Stan could beat Novak..
This makes me even more depressed over Rafa who is the only one so far who was able to take Milos down.,,
This Raonic should be able to take Novak-100-UEs-Djokovic down.
Yep!
No chance.
But he has to get past Monfils, then Murray or Ferrer first. Ferrer has a way with Raonic.
Rafa playing like that wont stand a chance against Raonic today – poor serve, poor ROS, no power FH. The Rafa at Abu Dhabi went MIA this AO.
I think Rafa suffered from firstrounditis. He was just cold for a 1st round match against someone like Verdasco. First round matches are usually against easy opponents.
Agree with nadine.
Rafa has to get past the round one first which he couldnt. The Abu Dhabi Rafa would beat Verdasco in straight sets and comfortably. Too bad that Rafa didnt appear to play.
I re-watch Rafa vs Raonic Abu Dhabi match. My goodness, that Rafa and the Rafa at this AO, how can Rafa’s level vary so much? Its really bizarre!
Rafa at Abu Dhabi was serving well, returning well, hitting his FH with authority. He was hitting flat FHs (with follow through across his body) and they were penetrating shots too. The commies said that at 3-3 first set Rafa only lost one point during his service game. He even won a service game in 1 min 34 secs.
He varied his return positions and put Raonic under pressure when serving and so Rafa beat Raonic in straight sets. Raonic wasnt playing poorly there; that Rafa would be able to deal with this Raonic at the AO.
Rafa truly missed a good opportunity to go far this AO, maybe the difference was an exho vs a slam and Rafa was nervous at a slam and hence couldnt play his best tennis.
No maybe about it.
#BetweenTheEars
@ lucky, 3:40 PM,
To some degree Rafa was always vulnerable in the first rounds…I guess having Verdasco who was determined to go for broke was the worst draw Rafa could get in the first round…I remember people around me who follow tennis saying how Rafa was unlucky to get Verdasco in the first round and all of them foreseeing a tough match…I must admit was so thrilled about Rafa’s draw (and Verdasco’s lousy game as of late) that I completely neglected the fact that Verdasco could and would be motivated to play his best against Nadal…
I completely agree with your take on the match vs Milos in Abu Dhabi…
Yeah, Rafa missed a great opportunity in this AO…
I disagree! Rafa in quarters is different than Rafa in early rounds! He already beat Milos in the BO3 final, he would be mentally ready to do so in BO5!
I think Fed has the best chance to win here as long as Kei takes care of Novak.
I’m not very impressed with Murray so far, esp when a guy playing aggressive tennis could get a set from him. Unless Murray raise his aggression, he’ll be wasting energy doing all the running and retrieving.
Well, the British commies all think it’s as good as a W/O for Murray. We shall see.
Tomic is too laid back to beat a determined Murray, I think.
Yeah too bad Tomic is such a laid back fella. If not for the rise of Kygrios, Tomic would still be wandering in the wilderness.
I happen to think Tomic is an intelligent player, his game is very much like Murray’s but his attitude is very much like Fognini.
There is no match preview thread for Murray vs Tomic.
yes there is
it’s ok this preview
?
This performance against Raonic says nothing about how he would have fared againsnt Murray. He was punishing the ball well enough to blow Murray off the court . The only question would have been how aggressive Murray would turn up.
Anyway, he is out which is a pity.
I agree with Luckystar that stan did extremely well at FO2015 and was a worth GS winner. He beat djokovic in AO 2014 so in that sense he deserved that title but yeah we know rafa was not there in the final so there was a question mark but he proved himself in FO 2015. He is a phenomenal ball striker has the belief to beat anyone out there.
Milos will have a tough time against Monfils and then Murray will be too much for him. Now rooting for Murray of course, lol!
Murray is not looking that hot against Tomic and didn’t look that hot in the previous round.
Agreed.
Murray playing like this is no match for Fed should they meet in the final. I really think only Novak and a top form Rafa could beat the Fed here.
yeah…
Only Nole can stop Roger now.
A top form Rafa could beat a top form Roger anywhere.
#Moot
Milos has better chance of beating Fed than Andy!
Agree about that.
I wouldn’t write this Milos out against anyone atm.
Welcome to the bizarro world.
Ferrer won in straight sets over Isner. Good job Ferrer! He needs to conserve energy to match Murray in the running dept.
Ferrer looking very good out there but also Isner was no challenge in this match. Lousy performance from American but all the credit to Ferry for his devoted and focused game! Well done!
It really depends on Murray and whether he would be determined to fight through, as I do expect Ferry to put up a fight. However Andy is tougher mentally and should win it…
Isner didn’t care about tennis yesterday
I would give all tenngranders a treat if Kei and Birdman win their matches tomorrow. lol
Kei has the chance of his life! I hope his injury is no longer an issue. It’s hard to see Novak raising his level that much considering he struggled in both matches…Seppi could have taken a set if he was mentally stronger…
still, his chances of raising his level are higher than not raising it….
vr, Tapas and sangria for me.
Thank you in advance VR.
It may happen, I’m hoping Berdych gets his slam when Rafa is not there. Its time for Berdych to win one before the likes of Kei and Raonic make their moves to win one. Berdych is not young, may not have many chances left.
Andy is having to work for the win. Rusedski was so dismissive about Tomic before the match saying Murray would be licking his lips at the prospect of playing Tomic because he would walk all over him.
I love the auto-correct version of some names:
Rosol – Aerosol
Stanimal – St Animal
Tomic – Atomic
🙂 🙂 🙂
I prefer:
PhenomeNadal