Australian Open 2015 Results: Day 5 Scores and Day 6 Bracket Predictions
The first upset of a top-four seed in the 2015 Australian Open happened on Friday, and the victim was No. 2 Roger Federer. Andreas Seppi took advantage of some uncharacteristic sloppiness from Federer to pull off the four-set victory, 6-4, 7-6 (7-5), 4-6, 7-6 (7-5).
Federer had nine double faults in the match and a whopping 55 unforced errors. He talked about the loss in the post-match press conference.
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Seppi was able to capitalize by breaking the future Hall of Famer on three of five opportunities. He advances to the fourth round where he will take on Nick Kyrgios. The latter beat Malek Jaziri in straight sets to advance.
While Seppi and Federer have had some tough matches in the past, this win was still very unexpected. ESPN Stats and Info puts it further into perspective.
While Federer experienced a major letdown, Rafael Nadal has seemingly shaken off some early-round issues and is now looking as dominant as many expected. On Friday, he beat Dudi Sela in straight sets, 6-1, 6-0, 7-5, to advance the fourth round.
Nadal will face his first seeded opponent of the tournament on Sunday when he takes on No. 10 Kevin Anderson. Anderson defeated No. 24 Richard Gasquet in a tough straight-sets win, 6-4, 7-6 (7-3), 7-6 (8-6).
Click here to view all of the scores from Day 5. Here's a look at the scores from the matches with higher profile players.
| Rod Laver Arena | No. 7 Eugenie Bouchard def. Caroline Garcia, 7-5, 6-0 |
| Rod Laver Arena | Andreas Seppi def. No. 2 Roger Federer, 6-4, 7-6 (7-5), 4-6, 7-6 (7-5) |
| Rod Laver Arena | No. 2 Maria Sharapova def. No. 31 Zarina Diyas, 6-1, 6-1 |
| Rod Laver Arena | No. 3 Rafael Nadal def. Dudi Sela, 6-1, 6-0, 7-5 |
| Margaret Court Arena | No. 3 Simona Halep def. Bethanie Mattek-Sands, 6-4, 7-5 |
| Hisense Arena | No. 6 Andy Murray def. Joao Sousa, 6-1, 6-1, 7-5 |
Predictions for Day 6's Top Matches
Serena Will Continue to Roll
The pre-tournament concerns about No. 1 seed Serena Williams have proven to be much ado about nothing. She's blasted through the first two rounds without dropping a set. On Saturday, she faces No. 26 Elina Svitolina, and Williams should stay every bit as dominant as she has been.
The two women have only met one previous time in their careers. Williams won that Fed Cup match 6-1, 6-2 back in 2012.
Svitolina hadn't even turned 18 yet in that match, and she's still eight months shy of her 20th birthday now. At some point, there's reason to believe the young Ukrainian will have a breakout performance.
It just won't be against Williams in this tournament.
The world No. 1 is focused and will be moving on to the fourth round. Here's a look at predictions for other top matches. Just beneath the table is a look at Novak Djokovic's third-round meeting with No. 31 Fernando Verdasco.
| No. 1 Serena Williams vs. No. 26 Elina Svitolina | Williams |
| No. 4 Stan Wawrinka vs. Jarkko Nieminen | Wawrinka |
| No. 30 Varvara Lepchenko vs. No. 6 Agnieszka Radwanska | Radwanska |
| No. 4 Petra Kvitova vs. Madison Keys | Kvitova |
| Camila Giorgi vs. No. 18 Venus Williams | Williams |
| No. 25 Barbora Zahlavova Strycova vs. Victoria Azarenka | Azarenka |
| No. 9 David Ferrer vs. No. 18 Gilles Simon | Ferrer |
Djokovic Will Beat Familiar Opponent
The head-to-head series between Djokovic and Verdasco is actually pretty close. Djokovic has won six of the 10 matches the two have played. That said, whenever you evaluate a Djokovic head-to-head rivalry, you have to take into consideration how many of the matches took place before 2011.
That was the year the Serbian turned the corner and became one of the best of the era.
In this case, all but one of the meetings with Verdasco were pre-2011. While you can't completely discount Verdasco's wins in 2005, 2006 and two in 2010, I'd put more stock in Djokovic's 2013 win in Beijing.
The men's No. 1 seed will push past Verdasco in four sets.
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