Melbourne, Australia (Sports Network) - Novak Djokovic and David Ferrer were
quarterfinal winners Tuesday at the Australian Open.
The top-seeded Djokovic recovered from his five-set marathon in the fourth
round and claimed a 6-1, 4-6, 6-1, 6-4 victory over Tomas Berdych after the
fourth-seeded Ferrer had rallied from a two-set and a break deficit to top
fellow Spaniard Nicolas Almagro, 4-6, 4-6, 7-5, 7-6 (7-4), 6-2.
Djokovic needed just over five hours to dispose of Stanislas Wawrinka on
Sunday, but had to play about half that long to continue his domination of
Berdych. The three-time Aussie Open champ improved to 12-1 lifetime against
the fifth-seeded Czech star. Djokovic broke serve six times and only once had
his serve broken.
Ferrer was also facing an opponent he has completely owned and faced plenty of
adversity on Tuesday, but still managed to stay perfect in 13 all-time
meetings with Almagro.
The 10th-seeded Almagro was making his first quarterfinal appearance at the
Aussie Open, but has been in the quarters at Roland Garros on three separate
occasions, including last year.
Almagro converted on both of his break opportunities in the first two sets
while also taking advantage of 24 unforced errors by Ferrer over that span to
take a seemingly comfortable two-set advantage.
Ferrer failed to convert on two chances to break his opponent in the first two
sets.
Each player held serve in the third set until Ferrer's return of an Almagro
volley went long to allow his compatriot to take a 4-3 advantage.
Almagro then capped the ensuing game with a powerful ace down the line, and
after staying alive by holding his serve, Ferrer took advantage of three of
unforced errors by his opponent to return the favor and even the set at five
games apiece.
After Ferrer held serve again, Almagro began to unravel a bit as he committed
several mistakes to allow Ferrer to earn his second break of the set and stay
alive.
With the score tied at four games apiece in the fourth set following a pair of
breaks by each player, Almagro battled back from a 40-15 hole in the fifth to
earn his third break of the set when a Ferrer return went long, giving Almagro
a chance to again serve for the match.
But he failed to convert for the second time despite overcoming a 30-0 hole to
force a deuce.
The two again traded breaks before Almagro suffered a leg injury while Ferrer
took the tiebreak, 7-4.
Almagro received some treatment before the start of the final set, but he was
obviously hurting and Ferrer took advantage by controlling the action in the
decisive set with five aces and nine winners.
The Sports Network