Australian Open 2012: Men Guaranteed to Fail on Day 8

Day 8 at the Australian Open promises to produce an upset or two. The first Grand Slam tournament of 2012 has already proved too much for some of tennis' top-ranked stars and has provided a solid platform the sport's next great ones.

Before the action heats up in the quarterfinal round, let's find out which players on the men's side are destined to fail. 

Lleyton Hewitt 

Hometown hero Hewitt will face off against the No. 1-ranked tennis player in the world, Novak Djokovic, in the fourth round. As expected, Djokovic has been near flawless during his first three matches of the tournament, winning all nine of his sets thus far.

The 30-year-old Australian Hewitt hasn't made it to the quarterfinals of the Aussie Open since he made a run to the final of the event in 2005. 

David Ferrer (5)

The favored Spaniard will fall unexpectedly in the fourth round on Day 8 to Frenchman Richard Gasquet. Gasquet took down the No. 9-ranked Janko Tipsarevic in straight sets in the third round, while the No. 5-ranked Ferrer took a few extra games against 27th-ranked Argentine, Juan Ignacio Chela.

Ferrer made it all the way to the semifinals at last year's tournament, but he failed to get past the third round in the two years prior. The 25-year-old Gasquet will enter the match as the younger player and will have a better shot at winning an extended match. 

Kei Nishikori (24)

The young Asian's tournament will come to an end on Day 8 when he faces the powerful Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. Nishikori fought back against the Frenchman Julien Benneteau to win in four sets in the third round, while Tsonga made mince meat out of Frederico Gil.

Tsonga has only lost one set in three rounds of play Down Under. At age 26, he is entering his prime as a consistent force in Grand Slam events. Nishikori will have to wait for another day to prove he's on Tsonga's level.