Tantalizing prospects as we approach week 2 of the Australian Open
The biggest upset of the Australian open has been the shocking exit of Rafael Nadal in the first round, on Sunday Stainslas Wawrinka who pundits predicted could spring a surprise crashed out to Milos Raonic in five sets.
Now that we have arrived at the quarter final stage we are gradually heading into the final rounds of the Australian and the exciting matchup we might get to witness.
1) A Novak Djokovic vs Roger Federer potential semi-final showdown
These two warriors have contested in the last two grand slam finals and Djokovic came out victorious on both occasions. Federer recently recorded 300 grand slams wins but he would definitely want to add more slams to his collection and he knows he has to seize any opportunity he gets. This year would probably be the last year where he can still compete at a high level.
At age 34 father time is finally catching up with him and Wimbledon would probably be his best chance at winning a slam nevertheless he would fancy a chance of pulling an upset over Novak Djokovic whose form has not been so convincing in this tournament as his 6-1 7-5 7-6(6) third round victory over Andreas Seppi and 6-3, 6-7(1), 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 victory over Giles Simon showed that there are cracks in his armor and that he can lose a match.
However it would be foolish to count Djokovic out as he is the hottest player in the world of tennis at the moment and we know he can always step up his game when it matters most, he has dealt comfortably with pressure in the past and the only tournament where the pressure seems to catch up with him is the French Open which is the only grand slam title that has eluded him so far.
If these match eventually takes place I would pick Djokovic in four sets as Federer in recent times loves to play shorter rallies and can’t stand up to Djokovic in a grueling match-up.
2) Can Murray pose an upset?
Andy Murray sits at the number 2 position on the ATP ranking but given all the hype before the tournament and during the tournament you will be forgiven if you did not know this.
Murray passed the test he has faced so far with flying colours, he did not let his father-in-law health condition get to him as he swiftly dispatched Bernard Tomic 6-4, 6-4, 7-6 (7-4) to reach the quarter finals for the 7th straight year and it will be foolish to bet against him losing to David Ferrer in the quarter finals.
Murray would definitely fancy his chances of going all the way this time around.
3) Can anyone stop Serena ‘the moving train’ ?
A semi-final exit at the U.S Open was the only thing that prevented Serena from completing the calendar slam and her form so far has been imperious obliterating everything in her path so far as her 6-2, 6-1 thrashing of Margarita Gasparyan in under an hour showed.
It is obvious that there is only one thing on Serena’s mind a 22nd gram slam title which would keep her tied with Steffi Graf for the most slam titles in the Open era.
Williams’ 6-4 6-1 victory over Maria Sharapova on Rod Laver Arena on a warm Tuesday, sends her into a seventh Australian Open semi-final – where she will face Agnieszka Radwanska – and she has won the title every time she has reached this stage in Melbourne.
Can Agnieszka Radwanskaa pull off an unlikely upset, only time will tell as Serena has been the most dominant player in the Australian open so far and only a collapse in her game plan would give her opponents an opportunity to exploit.
by: Adekunle Adedayo
