Melbourne, Australia (Sports Network) - Four-time champion Roger Federer and
two-time runner-up Andy Murray were a pair of fourth-round winners Monday at
the Australian Open. The amazing Federer will appear in his 35th consecutive
Grand Slam quarterfinal on Wednesday.
The second-seeded former world No. 1 Federer, who has yet to drop a set
through four matches, got past 13th-seeded Canadian slugger Milos Raonic 6-4,
7-6 (7-4), 6-2, while the third-seeded Murray, who has also won 12 straight
sets here, whipped 14th-seeded Frenchman Gilles Simon 6-3, 6-1, 6-3 at
Melbourne Park. The reigning U.S. Open and Olympic champion Murray will now
play in his fourth straight Aussie quarter.
Federer struck 14 aces, while Raonic swatted 19 in a losing effort. The super
Swiss broke Raonic on three occasions, while the Canadian loser, who piled
up 41 unforced errors compared to only 12 by the winner, was unable to break
the 17-time Grand Slam king and reigning Wimbledon winner on Monday.
The 22-year-old Raonic missed out on another chance to become the first
Canadian man to reach a Grand Slam quarterfinal in the Open Era.
Meanwhile, Murray drilled 12 aces and broke Simon a whopping 12 times en route
to another Aussie quarter.
Federer's quarterfinal opponent will be seventh-seeded 2008 Aussie Open
runner-up Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, while Murray will encounter capable Frenchman
Jeremy Chardy, who stunned former U.S. Open champion Juan Martin del Potro on
Saturday. Federer is 8-3 lifetime against Tsonga, including a win in an
Aussie semifinal in 2010.
Tsonga handled ninth-seeded fellow Frenchman Richard Gasquet 6-4, 3-6, 6-3,
6-2 to reach his fourth Aussie Open quarterfinal, while Chardy landed in his
first career Grand Slam quarter by taking out 21st-seeded Italian Andreas
Seppi 5-7, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 on Day 8 of the fortnight. The 25-year-old Chardy has
already beaten three seeds en route to the round of eight.
The other quarterfinal matchups will pit world No. 1 Novak Djokovic against
fifth-seeded Tomas Berdych and fourth-seeded David Ferrer versus 10th-seeded
fellow Spaniard Nicolas Almagro on Tuesday.
Djokovic has won three of the last five Aussie Open titles, including the last
two. The five-time Grand Slam champion beat Rafael Nadal in last year's
Melbourne finale, which was the longest-ever final in Grand Slam history, and
is trying top become the first men's three-peat Aussie champ in the Open Era.
The Sports Network