Nishikori charges into the 4th round

Nishikori defeats Julien Benneteau
4-6 7-6 7-6 6-3. In a very hard fought match, Nishikori once again showed us promise that he will become a great player soon, by fighting a fiercely contested match. When Nishikori went up the flight of stairs for his interviews, he was visibly tired, dragging himself up after a 3 and a half hour match. In the first and second sets, Nishikori was up a break but lost the lead in the first set and lost the set. In the second set he barely won the set, despite losing his lead. But the third set is where the drama arose. Nishikori was down 2-5 in the third set. But proving his mettle, he clawed his way back into the set and managed to win the tiebreak in elegant fashion. Julien, looking clearly dismayed to have lost his prospect at a 2-1 set lead, lost the 4th set in less than fighting manner.

Gasquet DEMOLISHES Tipsarevic

Gasquet upsets Tipsarevic 6-3, 6-3, 6-1. In a humiliating 97 minute display of sheer destruction, Tipsarevic (9) was defeated by the 17th seed, Richard Gasquet. Throughout the entire match Tipsarevic struggled to find his range on his shots, and never got into his groove, making uncharacteristic unforced errors. Though he started out decently, Tipsarevic was broken in the 6th game of the 1st set, which allowed Gasquet to eventually take the 1st. With the momentum generated, Gasquet was able to take the 2nd and 3rd in dominating fashion. Tipsarevic made 33 unforced errors while Gasquet played some amazing tennis. The 17^th seed banged in six aces and secured 29 out of 41 first serve points to get the better of the world number nine. His forehand worked perfectly for him and he was very aggressive in his approach in the contest. Gasquet launched frequent forays to the net and converted 17 out of 20 net points to assert his authority in the competition.

Ferrer recovers a early deficit to make the 4th Round

David Ferrer defeats Chela 7-5, 6-2, 6-1. After a rocky start to the Australian Open, David Ferrer found his range and quickly dismantled Chela after going down 1-4 in the 1st set. Chela started off extremely strong and the Spanish number 2 had no response. However, Ferrer's fabled indomitable spirit came alive and managed to recover the deficit with some amazing tennis and win the 1st set. Devastated, Chela never recovered and Ferrer easily won the match. However is this match simply an aberration or is it a sign that Ferrer will be a threat to the Australian Open? Ferrer was a semifinalist last year but has faced lots of early scares. At 29, he is known to be one of the hardest working players, constantly trying to keep up his physique. But perhaps his age will start catching with him, or maybe he will fend off the impending doom of his age and make a surprise run here. I predict he won't make the semifinals, but anything can happen.

Hewitt into the 4th Round

Hewitt defeats Raonic 4-6, 6-3, 7-6, 6-3. In a huge upset that nobody expected, Lleyton Hewitt defeated the big serving Canadian wit his signature style of wearing down his opponent shot by shot. Facing break points in the very game of the match, Hewitt composed himself but it was not enough to hold of Raonic, who played jaw-dropping tennis. He served the fastest serves in the entire tournament, typically clocking over 140 mph, or 226 km/h. But Hewitt began to work himself into the match, point by point, causing the Canadian to start asking questions and slowly doubting himself. Hewitt took the 2nd set with ease. However the Canadian used his big serve in the 3rd set to force a tiebreak. It appeared as though the Canadian was nervous as he served in the tiebreak, which allowed Hewitt to take it. The 4th set showed that Raonic still has things to learn, as his shots just stopped working for him, allowing Hewitt to take the match. Hewitt's dream run may come to a halt however, as he faces Djokovic in the next round.

Del Potro Demolishes Lu

Del Potro defeats 6-2, 6-3, 6-0. The scoreline says it all. Del Potro WRECKED Lu. I mean literally WRECKED. If you saw this match live, you know what I mean. Lu never had a chance of getting anywhere in this match against Delpo. This spectacular win puts him in the 4th round of the Australian Open. With form like this, Del Potro remains a huge threat on the men's side of disrupting the Top 4's prolonged dominance in the sport and Del Potro may even break into that Top 4 this year if he can continue such play up consistently throughout the year. Also on the Top 4's tail is Tsonga, who easily dismantled his opponent yesterday without playing near his best. This is going to be one interesting Australian Open indeed. Stay tuned.

Isner loses 5-set marathon against Lopez

Lopez defeats Isner 6-3, 6-7, 6-4, 6-7, 6-1. In a marathon match, John Isner lost to the 18th seed Lopez in another five set encounter. Isner had recently defeated Nalbandian in another 5 set encounter but it appears as though the American's five set luck wore off. With Isner's defeat,  this marks the first time ever that an American has not made the 4th round of the Australian Open. Isner had this to say, "I knew going in today I was the last one left, and I wanted to keep on going, but just didn't happen," Isner said. "It's very ugly, to be honest, to have no one in the round of 16. We've got to try to rectify that next time the big tournaments roll around." However Isner's loss was definitely affected by his previous 5-set encounter, which left him fatigued and injured. Even Lopez could tell, Referring to Isner and his battle with Nalbandian, Lopez said, "The day after you feel tired, it's tough to recover for the next [match]." Apparently after his match with Nalbandian, his coach claims that Isner had a blister on his toe that caused him to bleed incessantly through his sock and it never recovered. "The whole match I wasn't really that sharp, and I wasn't, I don't know, I just didn't really have it out there today," said Isner. Isner will have to find a way to shorten up his matches if he wants to break the top 10, as these marathon matches are what are exhausting him early on in tournaments, leading to depleted performances later on. 

Federer and Nadal ease into the 4th Round

Federer defeats Karlovic 7-6, 7-5, 6-3 and Nadal defeats Lacko 6-2, 6-4, 6-2. Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal blazed into their fourth round with decisive victories over their opponents. Starting with Roger Federer, his three-set victory was harder than his counterpart's. Karlovic's huge serve allowed him to push it to the tiebreak in the first set. However, Roger barely won it with some signature Swiss precision and took the tiebreak 8-6. The second set was no less competitive but Roger still managed to get the break later on and win the 2nd set 7-5. The last set showed a slight drop in the big server's performance, allowing Federer to wrap up the match 6-3 in elegance. Moving on to Nadal, Nadal showed renewed ambition and athleticism in his match where he DESTROYED the little known Lacko. The first set was absolutely one-sided as Nadal blistered through it with 2 breaks of serve. The 2nd set showed some resistance from Lacko, who slightly upped his game but still fell victim to the Spaniard's imperious and vicious top-spin forehand. The last set was almost identical to the first, showing even more dominance from the Spaniard. It appears as though a semifinal clash will be inevitable. The question remains though, who will win? I've predicted Federer in 4 but its starting to look like it might be a 5 set marathon match.