ANDY MURRAY JOINS DJOKOVIC ON THE AUSTRALIAN OPEN SIDELINES, ROGER FEDERER ESCAPES AGAINST NISHIKORI

Written by: Staff on 22nd January 2017

ANDY MURRAY JOINS DJOKOVIC ON THE AUSTRALIAN OPEN SIDELINES, ROGER FEDERER ESCAPES AGAINST NISHIKORI

epa05741240 Roger Federer of Switzerland celebrates after winning his Men's Singles fourth round match against Kei Nishikori of Japan at the Australian Open Grand Slam tennis tournament in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 22 January 2017. EPA/JULIAN SMITH AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND OUT |

Murray joins Djokovic on the Australian Open sidelines, Federer escapes against Nishikori

By Ricky Dimon

First it was Novak Djokovic. Then it was Andy Murray.

The 2017 Australian Open has been defined by upsets, none bigger than Denis Istomin’s 7-6(8), 5-7, 2-6, 7-6(5), 6-4 round-two shocker against Djokovic. Three days later, Murray crashed out of the season’s first Grand Slam when Mischa Zverev pulled off a stunning 7-5, 5-7, 6-2, 6-4 victory.

Zverev never let the world No. 1 get into any kind rhythm, as he approached the net an incredible 118 times during the three hours and 33 minutes of play.

Mischa Zverev of Germany in action against Andy Murray of Britain during round four of the Men’s Singles at the Australian Open Grand Slam tennis tournament in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 22 January 2017. EPA/DEAN LEWINS

“(It was) definitely the best match of my life, not only because it was a best-of-five set match, (but) it was (also) at a slam,” the veteran German assessed. “I don’t know. It was just incredible…. I believed in myself. I believed in my game. I believed that playing serve-and-volley against him and slicing a lot, trying to destroy his rhythm was going to work–which it did in the end.”

“I didn’t see Novak’s match at all, but I can only comment on my match today,” Murray answered when asked about the currently small margins on the ATP Tour, and therefore plenty of upsets. “Every time it was close points, I put Mischa under pressure. He came up with great stuff. That’s unfortunate for me and great for him. He deserves to be in the next round.”

There is no denying that Roger Federer deserves to be in the next round, as well, because the 17-time major champion had to navigate a draw that included Tomas Berdych and Kei Nishikori just to reach the quarters. After thrashing Berdych in straight sets, Federer held off Nishikori 6-7(4), 6-4, 6-1, 4-6, 6-3 on Sunday night.

Federer dropped the first four games of the match but raised his level dramatically, even battling back to force a tiebreaker in the first set. The four-time Aussie Open champion lost the ‘breaker but took immediate control thereafter by surrendering a combined five games in the second and third sets. Nishikori recovered to take the fourth, but–despite being eight years his opponent’s junior–was the one who faded physically in the fifth.

Roger Federer of Switzerland in action during his Men’s Singles fourth round match against Kei Nishikori of Japan at the Australian Open Grand Slam tennis tournament in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 22 January 2017. EPA/LUKAS COCH

“I felt great in the fifth, I must say, Federer stated. “Great energy. Even deep into the fourth I thought, ‘Yeah, fifth, here we go, no problem for me. I’m feeling good about my chances.’ I was playing positive tennis; I was playing offensive. I was playing way better than the first [two] rounds.”

“Physically I’m okay,” Nishikori said. “Really disappointed to lose like this. (I) started really well. He was playing good tennis, I think, especially in the middle, second and third sets. I maybe had some chance in (the) fifth set, but he was way too strong.”