RICKY DIMON’S PREVIEW AND PICKS FOR NISHIKORI VS. FERRER AND DJOKOVIC VS. MULLER ALL FROM THE 2015 AUSTRALIAN OPEN

Written by: Staff on 25th January 2015

RICKY DIMON'S PREVIEW AND PICKS FOR NISHIKORI VS. FERRER AND DJOKOVIC VS. MULLER ALL FROM THE 2015 AUSTRALIAN OPEN

epaselect epa04580552 Novak Djokovic of Serbia celebrates after winning his third round match against Fernando Verdasco of Spain at the Australian Open Grand Slam tennis tournament at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia, 24 January 2015. EPA/DAVID CROSLING AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND OUT |

Nick Kyrgios isn’t the only unseeded player still alive at the Australian Open. Two others will be in action on Monday, with Gilles Muller and Guillermo Garcia-Lopez looking to continue their runs to the second week by pulling off fourth-round upsets. But there is bad news for both: they are going up against the two most recent champions of this event.

(1) Novak Djokovic vs. Gilles Muller

After a combined 26 years on the ATP Tour, Djokovic and Muller will be going head-to-head for the first time in their careers. Djokovic’s projected opponent in the last 16 was either Roberto Bautista Agut or John Isner, but Muller took care of both seeds with little trouble. Those four-set victories were preceded by a competitive three-setter against Pablo Carreno Busta. At 31, the Luxembourgian is already up to a career-high ranking of 42nd in the world and he will climb to no worse than No. 36 next week.

Novak Djokovic of Serbia in action against Fernando Verdasco of Spain in their third round match at the Australian Open Grand Slam tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, 24 January 2015. The Australian Open tennis tournament runs from 19 January until 01 February 2015. EPA/Filip Singer

Although Djokovic has never gotten a look at Muller’s huge serve, he is obviously no stranger to facing left-handers so he should not feel too uncomfortable. Plus in this form (17-1 in his last 18 matches and 28-2 in his last 30) and at this tournament (he is a four-time champion), it really should not matter who is on the other side of the net and with which hand they wield their weapon. Djokovic advanced to the last 16 by disposing of Aljaz Bedene, Andrey Kuznetsov, and Fernando Verdasco in nine total sets with just a single tiebreaker. Count on the competitiveness early before arguably the best returner in the game gets a read on Muller’s serve and seizes complete control.

Pick: Djokovic in 3 with one tiebreaker

(9) David Ferrer vs. (5) Kei Nishikori

Ferrer and Nishikori will be squaring off for the 10th time in their careers when they collide in round four of the Australian Open on Monday. Nishikori has taken control of the head-to-head series with four consecutive wins dating back to the start of 2014 and he now leads it 6-3. Interestingly, all of the world No. 5’s victories have come in final sets while each one of Ferrer’s triumphs has come in straights. Their one previous encounter at this event was dominated by the Spaniard 6-2, 6-1, 6-4 in 2013, also in the fourth round. They most recently met at last fall’s World Tour Finals, where Ferrer filled in for Milos Raonic as an alternate but went down to the Japanese star 4-6, 6-4, 6-1.

Kei Nishikori of Japan serves against Ivan Dodig of Croatia during their second round match of the Australian Open tennis tournament at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia, 22 January 2015. The Australian Open tennis tournament runs from 19 January until 01 February 2015. EPA/JULIAN SMITH AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND OUT

David Ferrer of Spain in action against Gilles Simon of France in their third round match at the Australian Open Grand Slam tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, 24 January 2015. The Australian Open tennis tournament runs from 19 January until 01 February 2015. EPA/Made Nagi

Nishikori’s recent hot streak against Ferrer can be attributed to not only his overall improvement in form under coach Michael Chang, but also to mostly consistent health. This fortnight’s No. 5 seed is now better able to withstand grueling matches, of which he has not had any in Melbourne. Ivan Dodig and Steve Johnson were somewhat competitive, but Nishikori finished them in four. Ferrer is coming off a four-set win over Gilles Simon that lasted three hours and 37 minutes. The Doha champion has turned in an outstanding start to this season, but current trends indicate he will not have the edge in what is sure to be an extended battle.

Pick: Nishikori in 5

Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand.

Topics: Atp, AusOpen, Australian Open, David Ferrer, Gilles Muller, Kei Nishikori, Melbourne, Novak Djokovic, Ricky Dimon, Tennis

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10sBalls_com says:

January 25, 2015 at 6:01 pm

-@Dimonator PREVIEW AND PICKS FOR NISHIKORI VS. FERRER AND @DjokerNole VS. MULLER ALL FROM THE 2015 #AusOpen http://t.co/yJcCmk02Bf #idemooo