Andy Murray may be in the toughest quarter of the Australian Open draw, but his fourth-round opponent constitutes a considerable surprise. Mischa Zverev, who will face Murray on Saturday, is making his first-ever appearance in the last 16 of a slam at 29 years old.
(1) Andy Murray vs. Mischa Zverev
Murray and Zverev will be going head-to-head for the second time in their careers at the ATP level and for the fourth time overall when they battle for a place in the Australian Open quarterfinals on Sunday. All three of their previous meetings have gone the way of Murray, who most recently got the job done 6-2, 6-2 on the clay courts of Munich in 2015.
Looking for his first Aussie Open title and fourth career slam triumph, Murray has advanced so far with straight-set victories over Illya Marchenko, Andrey Rublev, and Sam Querrey. The Scot has won eight of his last 11 tournaments dating back to last summer and is coming off a runner-up performance in Doha, where he fell to Novak Djokovic in three sets.
A fourth-round performance at a major is, of course, already a smashing success for Zverev. In fact, it marks the 29-year-old German’s first such appearance. Finally armed with a clean bill of health, Zverev qualified left and right for ATP tournaments last season and he looks even better in 2017. He punched his ticket to the last 16 in Melbourne by taking out Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, John Isner (came back from two sets down and saved two match points), and Malek Jaziri.
“He played well (at the) end of last year,” Murray said of Zverev. “Obviously (he) has had a good run here. His match against Isner was really tight. I saw a little bit of that one the other day. But, yeah, he’s doing well. He’s been unlucky with injuries, as well; he’s had a number of injuries. (We) grew up in juniors together. We’re the same age. I know him fairly well.
He plays a very different game style to most of the guys now. He’s serve-volleying, coming forward as much as possible…not with the most powerful game. He doesn’t serve [big] but places it well. People say you can’t play that way any more and be successful, but he’s done that the last few months.”
What you really can’t do is have success against Murray as a serve-and-volleyer. Although the world No. 1 can beat just about anyone from the baseline, too, there is nothing he loves more than having a net-charging opponent who gives him a target. No matter how well Zverev serves in this one, passing shots will be whizzing past him on a consistent basis. This as been a great run for Zverev and he won’t go away without a fight, but Murray should roll.
Pick: Murray in 3 losing 12 games or fewer
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Halep, Radwanska, Nole, Cilic, possibly Andy, all going out early, what the hell is going on with this GS ? ….
Hi RC it doesnt look good im afraid, like it when you call me Ali though, my friends in the real world all call me that 😉 ….
OH Andy 🙁 ….
But big congrats to Misha, man those brothers are talented ….
Mischa is so sweet and humble in his speech…very happy for him – he’s a good big brother, too. he says his younger brother inspires him ..
The improvement from Mischa Zverez in the space of 6 months is incredible.
Murray and Djokovic out before the quarters. Unbelievable. So pumped. Love the upsets. Roger please get this done man. ??
Astonishing. This same player lost 61 61 against Nadal 2 weeks ago.
I never thought he could even be close of beating Andy. I’m happy about it, but can’t believe it.
So.. who’s the favourite now??
Wawrinka to beat Nadal in the final.
Stan is tough as nails. But so is Rafa! That would be a cracker.
Picking favourites is as pointless as whistling in the wind.
A Roger v Rafa final would be amazing after so many years.
I would prefer to watch Dimitrov vs Zverev in the final, will be beautiful to watch.
Or another Fedal final, quite unlikely though.
Novak, Murray, and hopefully Roger is next. Go Rafa or Milos
I would like to see your face if Federer wins the Aussie Open
Unbelievable outcome of this match! I thought now that Nole is out Murray would be relaxed and on a mission! He proved me so wrong! I understand Misha was playing great but something must have bothered Andy (someone here mentioned ankle injury the other day) In any case big congrats to Zverev! Amazing stuff!
Are you saying that Djokovic was the only threat in the draw to Murray?
Muzz had rolled his ankle the other day and he seemed ok against Querrey. But today he seemed listless and slow.
Andy Murray got distracted by a passing helicopter during his ball-toss.
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2017/jan/22/andy-murray-crashes-out-of-australian-open-to-inspired-mischa-zverev
Both world number ones out, the most unpredictable GS in ages, although i cant see any player other than Williams winning the womens trophy, we could very well have a brand new champion on the mens ….
Federer will win