Australian Open Day 9 previews and picks: Nadal vs. Berdych and Murray vs. Kyrgios

Ricky Dimon of the Grandstand and Pete Ziebron of Tennis Acumen preview and pick the two men’s singles matches on Tuesday at the Australian Open. Tomas Berdych is looking to upset nemesis Rafael Nadal while Nick Kyrgios hopes to continue his magical run at the expense of Andy Murray.

(7) Tomas Berdych vs. (3) Rafael Nadal

Ricky: How many people are going to fall into the trap and pick this one to be extremely competitive–if not pick Berdych to win altogether? I already know a lot of people are…and I’m expecting more and more to do so before the match starts. The Czech’s style is one that should trouble Nadal and his form at this Australian Open has been scary. But…but…we’ve seen this story before and we know how the story ends. Berdych is 0-17 in his last 17 matches against Nadal and on more than a few occasions he was playing incredible tennis prior to meeting the Spaniard. The best among a plethora of examples is Wimbledon in 2010, when Berdych took Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer to the woodshed in consecutive rounds then promptly lost to Nadal in straights in the championship. It doesn’t help the underdog that Nadal has dominated two matches since his second-round scare against Tim Smyczek. Berdych knows he can’t beat Nadal. HOW MANY TIMES must Nadal beat him before everyone else figures out the same thing? Nadal 6-4, 6-4, 6-4.

Pete: Berdych, my pre-tournament dark horse selection, comes into his quarterfinal match against Nadal having not dropped a set through the first four rounds. Berdych is appearing in his fifth consecutive Australian Open quarterfinal and he hopes to at least equal last year’s semifinal berth with a win. However, the Czech has dropped 17 consecutive matches to Nadal and has only managed to win three of 40 sets played in those contests. Nadal’s five-set, second-round thriller against Smyczek seems like long ago and now the Spaniard will seek to continue the form he showed against Kevin Anderson in the round of 16, when he cruised to a straight-set win. Berdych will manage to stay with Nadal early on and have opportunities to do damage, but it will be business as usual once again for Nadal in this lopsided matchup. Nadal 5-7, 6-3, 6-4, 6-3.

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(6) Andy Murray vs. Nick Kyrgios

Ricky: Murray and Kyrgios have no such extensive head-to-head history, of course, since the Aussie is really in just his second season on tour. In their only previous encounter, Kyrgios was still in a twilight zone after Wimbledon and got clobbered by Murray 6-2, 6-2 in Toronto. It won’t be so lopsided this time around with the youngster in outstanding form and enjoying circus-like crowd support. But Kyrgios has been tested physically throughout this tournament and mentally he has had plenty to think about (minor controversy over his on-court antics, for example). His awesome run this fortnight has been predicated on winning free points in the most important moments. He won’t win many of those against the Scot. Murray 7-6(6), 7-5, 6-1.

Pete: At the ripe age of 19, Kyrgios finds himself in his second quarterfinal in the last three majors. The Aussie has been able to meander his way through a tricky draw, finally steadying his game late in his first-round match and then escaping yet again in the round of 16 as he staged a dramatic, five-set victories in both. Murray, a three-time Australian Open finalist, has taken a much more efficient route into this quarterfinal. The Brit had not been threatened in the tournament until the fourth round, when Dimitrov nearly took him to a fifth set. The battle-tested Kyrgios will feed off of the boisterous crowd at Rod Laver Arena, but it will certainly not be nearly enough against the experience and craftiness of Murray, who will relish this particular challenge and gladly play the villain role. Murray 6-2, 6-7(5), 6-2, 6-4.

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