Wednesday in Melbourne, we’ll see four extremely appealing quarter-final match-ups. We have everything from a world number one, to a player who had never won a match at a major prior to this event, to a 19-time major champion.
Roger Federer vs. Tomas Berdych
This will be Roger Federer’s 52nd quarter-final at a major. That is astounding. In his 51 previous major quarter-finals, he is 42-9. Two of those losses were to his opponent on Wednesday. For Tomas Berdych, this is his 17th quarter-final at a major. However, he’s just 7-9 in his previous major quarter-finals. Roger leads their overall head-to-head 19-6, which includes their last eight meetings. Berdych’s last win came in his last major quarter-final win over Roger, at the 2012 US Open. While Federer has dominated Berdych of late, their matches are often close. Just last year in Miami, Federer needed to save two match points to squeeze out a win in a final set tiebreak. Roger has been in terrific form thus far in Australia, both at the Hopman Cup and in Melbourne, where he hasn’t dropped a set. Berdych though also arrives at this match in strong form. Last year at this same event, it was the victory over Berdych that helped a returning Federer believe he could win the tournament. Roger lost just ten games that day. I think this one will be much closer, as Federer is yet to be tested at this event, but Roger should prevail in the end.
Simona Halep vs. Karolina Pliskova
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This quarter-final will see the two top seeds in their quarter facing off. Halep barely survived her first week in Melbourne, having to overcome an ankle injury as well as save match points in an almost four-hour match. Despite her ankle still not being fully recovered, Halep dropped just five games in her fourth round win over Naomi Osaka. Pliskova hadn’t dropped a set in this tournament until her last round against Barbora Strycova, where she battled back from a set down to soundly win the last two sets. Halep has a 5-2 record against Pliskova, with Karolina’s only victories coming in Fed Cup. That’s an interesting stat: Pliskova has only prevailed over Halep in a team event representing her country. However, I think Halep is feeling a lot of pressure to back up her number one ranking in her first major since getting that crown. Pliskova’s penetrating groundstrokes on these fast hard courts will put Halep under even more pressure. Considering Karolina’s current form, and Simona’s ankle issue, I’m picking Pliskova to come out the winner in a tight three setter.
Madison Keys vs. Angelique Kerber
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It’s official: Angelique Kerber is back. She’s successfully put her bitterly disappointing 2017 behind her by going undefeated thus far in 2018. Her easy victory over Maria Sharapova in the third round made a statement. And her tough, entertaining battle with Su Wei Hsieh on Monday revealed the return of her grit. Kerber is 5-1 lifetime against Keys, with Madison’s only victory coming in their only grass court match. That being said, no one in the women’s draw has looked as good or as won as easily as Keys. Madison has talked about feeling no wrist pain for the first time in a long time, and these court conditions are great for her game. And let’s not forget Keys was a finalist at the last Grand Slam event. This should be a great match between one of the best offensive players and one of the best defensive players on tour. I’m looking for the more experienced and versatile Kerber to find a win to pull this one out. If Keys is not at the top of her game, she does not possess a plan B.
Hyeon Chung vs. Tennys Sandgren
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Here is one of the most surprising pair of male major quarterfinalists in recent memory. This has been the breakout tournament in the career of Chung. He not only defeated fellow Next Gen’er Alexander Zverev for his first top five win, but then stunned a 12-time major champion by taking out Novak Djokovic in straight sets. Chung thrilled the Aussie night crowd with his sensational defense-to-offense, outdoing the style of his opponent and a man he idolized. Meanwhile Sandgren came out of nowhere to make his first major quarterfinal after never before winning a match at a Grand Slam event. Tennys is the lowest-ranked quarterfinalist at the Australian Open in over two decades. And the 26-year-old beat two top 10 seeds to get here: a hampered Stan Wawrinka in straight sets, and the number five seed Dominic Thiem in five. Both men are coming off the biggest wins of their lives just two days ago, and now they have the biggest opportunity of their careers before them. They actually just played each other for the first time a few weeks ago, with Chung taking a three set win in Auckland. I suspect we’ll see the same result here, and Chung will be the player to advance to his first major semifinal.
Australian Open 2018 Day 10 schedule (All times GMT)
Rod Laver Arena
midnight
KERBER, Angelique (GER) [21] vs KEYS, Madison (USA) [17]
Not before 2am
SANDGREN, Tennys (USA) vs CHUNG, Hyeon (KOR)
Not before 4am
HALEP, Simona (ROU) [1] vs PLISKOVA, Karolina (CZE) [6]
8.30am
BERDYCH, Tomas (CZE) [19] vs FEDERER, Roger (SUI) [2]
MOLIK, Alicia (AUS) / PHILIPPOUSSIS, Mark (AUS) vs HANTUCHOVA, Daniela (SVK) / IVANISEVIC, Goran (CRO)
MCENROE, John (USA) / MCENROE, Patrick (USA) vs IVANISEVIC, Goran (CRO) / PHILIPPOUSSIS, Mark (AUS)
