Australian Open Quarter-Finals Preview: Heading For a Federer Vs Nadal Final?

Following Andy Murray's shock defeat in the 4th round, the draw of the 2009 Australian Open has been partly blown open for the quarter-finals. What will this mean for the eight players left competing for a space in the semi-finals and beyond?

SportsBettingReview.co.uk previews the four upcoming matches to see who has what it takes to progress:

Andy Roddick vs Novak Djokovic

In what is arguably the match of the quarter-finals, former World Number One Andy Roddick will meet current World Number Three and Australian Open defending champion, Novak Djokovic.

After an inconsistent display in the 2008 Grand Slam tournaments, with his best performance being a quarter-finals appearance in the US Open (where he was defeated by Djokovic in four sets), seventh seed Andy Roddick has shown good form so far in 2009, making the finals of the ATP Doha and posting impressive victories over his Australian Open opposition to reach the quarter-finals.

Third seed Novak Djokovic had a brilliant 2008 season, capturing the Australian Open title and making the semi-finals at both the US Open and the French Open. His form in early 2009, however, must have been of some concern to the 21-year-old Serb, being upset in the first round of the Brisbane International by Ernests Gulbis and the semi-finals of the Medibank International by Jarkko Nieminen. However, Djokovic has regained consistency to reach the quarter-finals after consecutive four set victories in the fourth and third round.


Djokovic will go into this match as favourite to win, but with his recent slip-ups and with Roddick finding his form again, this match could easily go Roddick's way if the Serb shows any inconsistency in his game. This match looks set to be a potentially thrilling and close encounter.

Prediction: Djokovic in four sets

Roger Federer vs Juan Martin del Potro

This quarter-final match sees 8th seed Juan Martin del Potro take on 2nd seed Roger Federer.

20-year-old and World Number Six del Potro has made a great start to 2009, winning the Heineken Open in Auckland in the run up to the Australian Open. This followed a superb 2008, where the Argentinian made the quarter-finals at the US Open, won four consecutive ATP titles, and made the Top 10 for the first time in his career. Now, he will face former World Number One Federer for a chance to earn a place in the semi-finals.

After breezing through his first three matches, Roger Federer had a scare in the fourth round, having to come from two sets to love down to defeat 20th seed Tomas Berdych in a tough encounter. The Swiss champion showed strong resolve to post the victory, and the match will have given Federer confidence in his ability to recover from challenging situations.

The World Number Two holds a 3-0 head to head record over del Potro, and in spite of his near loss in the last round, the Swiss master looks set to progress to the semi-finals without too much trouble.

Prediction: Federer in straight sets

Fernando Verdasco vs Jo-Wilfried Tsonga

14th Seed Fernando Verdasco is the surprise entry in this year's Australian Open quarter-finals, after a brilliant five set win over Andy Murray in the fourth round. Here, he will be meeting last year's Australian Open Finalist, 5th Seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

Verdasco has shown impressive form in the tournament so far, seeing off his first three opponents in straight sets and then defeating Murray, who had previously held a 5-1 head-to-head record against him.


Fifth seeded Tsonga has also shown great form of late, seeing off ninth seed James Blake in an impressive straight sets win in the fourth round. Not only this, but Tsonga showed some brilliant form in late 2008, winning the Paris Masters by recording victories over the likes of David Nalbandian, James Blake, Andy Roddick and Novak Djokovic, who Tsonga also defeated again two weeks later in the Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai.

The two have not met before in an ATP Tournament, so it will undoubtedly be an interesting matchup. The 23-year-old Frenchman Tsonga will be looking to go one step closer to matching his Finals appearance at last year's Australian Open, and in spite of Verdasco's strong display against Murray, Tsonga still looks favourite to take the match in a tightly contested encounter that could easily go to five sets.

Prediction: Tsonga in four sets

Rafael Nadal vs Gilles Simon

World Number One Rafael Nadal has stormed into the quarter final of this year's Australian open without dropping a single set as of yet. Here, the 22-year-old Spaniard will be met by one of only a handful of competitors who have beaten him in recent times: sixth seed Gilles Simon.

Nadal looks set for an appearance in the Final after the major threat to his chances in his half of the draw, Andy Murray, was eliminated in the fourth round by fellow quarter-finalist and Spaniard Fernando Verdasco.


Still, the World Number One cannot overlook the potential threat of the sixth seeded Frenchman, who not only dispatched of Nadal in the semi-finals of last year's ATP Madrid, but has also seen an even more recent victory over World Number Two Roger Federer.

Gilles Simon has shown some very good form in late 2008, making the semi-final at both the ATP Lyon and ATP Shanghai (where he defeated Federer in the round robin stages), and the final of the ATP Madrid where, as already mentioned, he defeated Nadal in the semi finals.

Nadal defeated Simon in the third round of last year's Australian Open in straight sets and holds a 2-1 advantage over the Frenchman in head-to-head encounters. Given Gilles Simon's massive improvement in form of late, however, it would not be a huge surprise if this match was much closer than this previous encounter, or if the Frenchman even managed to take a set against Nadal.


However, in spite of the potential threat of the 24-year-old to Nadal's Australian Open title hopes, it doesn't look as if anything can stop Nadal from reaching the final at this point, and on current form, Nadal looks favourite to take this match convincingly in straight sets.

Prediction: Nadal in straight sets

Visit SportsBettingReview.co.uk for the latest tennis betting news, recommended bookmakers and free bets, as we continue to cover the Australian Open 2009 until its conclusion.