Australian Open 2015: Day 7 Results, Highlights and Score Recaps from Melbourne
Rafael Nadal's form is looking increasingly encouraging as we move into the second week of the Australian Open. He turned in his best performance of the tournament so far to beat Kevin Anderson in straight sets.
In the women’s draw, Maria Sharpova and Eugenie Bouchard meet in what looks to be an enthralling quarter-final match with wins over Shuai Peng and Irina-Camelia Begu, respectively.
Elsewhere, Andy Murray overcame Grigor Dimitrov in a wonderful match. The Brit will face Australian hope Nick Kyrgios in the quarter-finals after he came from two sets down to win a thriller against Italian Andreas Seppi.
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| (3) Rafael Nadal | 7-5, 6-1, 6-4 | (14) Kevin Anderson |
| (7) Tomas Berdych | 6-2, 7-6(3), 6-2 | Bernard Tomic |
| Nick Kyrgios | 5-7, 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(5), 8-6 | Andreas Seppi |
| (6) Andy Murray | 6-4, 6(5)-7, 6-3, 7-5 | (10) Grigor Dimitrov |
| (7) Eugenie Bouchard | 6-1, 5-7, 6-2 | Irina-Camelia Begu |
| (10) Ekaterina Makarova | 6-2, 6-3 | Julia Goerges |
| (2) Maria Sharapova | 6-3, 6-0 | Shuai Peng |
| (3) Simona Halep | 6-4, 6-2 | Yanina Wickmayer |
Rafa Finding Form
The Spaniard looks as though he’s settling into a groove in this tournament, as he produced his best performance since returning from injury. The South African Anderson was no match for the talents of Nadal, as the third seed played some excellent tennis to win the match in straight sets.
There was always a sense that after a sustained spell away from the game, we have had to hang fire to see the best of Nadal. He was pushed to the brink earlier in the tournament by world No. 112 Tim Smyczek, and once again, he found it tough to find a rhythm early in the match as Anderson boasted an edge.
As noted by Ben Rothenberg of The New York Times, Nadal had to dig deep to take the first set:
But the 28-year-old improved as the match drew on. Anderson was looking deflated after losing the first stanza in such disappointing fashion, and the 14-time Grand Slam champion tucked in.
Nadal only lost five more games in the second and third sets, setting up what will be an enticing quarter-final clash with Tomas Berdych.
The Czech beat home favourite Bernard Tomic in his Round 4 encounter and will be hoping to end a long losing run against Rafa, per Chris Skelton of Tennis View Magazine:
If Nadal starts as poorly as he did against Anderson when he tackles the seventh seed, then he could be in for a difficult quarter-final. Berdych is looking in fine form in Melbourne, and on paper, he looks to have all the requisite weapons to cause major problems for the Spaniard.
Sharapova and Bouchard Set Up Quarter-Final Showdown
Sharapova looks well on course for her first Australian Open final in three years after she surged past Peng in emphatic fashion. The second seed looks to have shaken off her close shave against Alexandra Panova in Round 2, turning in an emphatic effort to send her Chinese opponent packing.
That comfortable win set up a quarter-final with Bouchard, who dropped her first set of the tournament against Begu.
The 20-year-old Canadian eventually came through in three sets, admitting she was a little disappointed with her mid-game but was looking forward to the match with Sharapova nonetheless, per BBC Sport.
"It's disappointing for me because I want to play so well, and I want to be perfect," Bouchard said. "That's not possible. But I learned a lot from it, and I'll try to make sure it doesn't happen next time. ... I definitely want to keep playing my game no matter what and really kind of take it to her, go for my shots."
As noted by Arash Madani of Sportsnet.ca, the match against the Russian will be a massive test for Bouchard:
Indeed, the seventh seed has yet to get the better of Sharapova in her professional career, with the Russian boasting a 3-0 head-to-head advantage.
If Bouchard can preserve the exceptional levels we have seen throughout the majority of this tournament, then she will have a fair chance, but if she suffers another slump, Sharapova won’t let her off the hook.
Murray Beats Dimitrov in Four-Set Thriller
Both players showed remarkable fight throughout this one, and as we can see here courtesy of Russell Fuller of the BBC, that was on display from the start as Murray battled back to claim the first set:
The Scot was in a wonderful position to clinch the second, too, serving to go up 2-0. But it was Dimitrov's turn to upset the odds, breaking Murray before taking the second-set tiebreak. With the supporters in attendance behind him, the 23-year-old looked to have the momentum.
But Murray is a classy player, and with two Grand Slam titles under his belt, he knows exactly what's required to win in these high-pressure encounters. He took the third set to edge in front, but Dimitrov broke Murray early in the fourth, meaning we looked set for a thrilling fifth stanza.
Dimitrov seemed to think so, too, but astoundingly, Murray rattled off four consecutive games to take the match.
After coming through in the aforementioned absorbing contest, Murray is likely to face just as tough a test in the quarter-finals. That's after Kyrgios came from two sets down to beat Seppi in front of a raucous Melbourne crowd.
The 19-year-old paid tribute to the fans after the match, per the tournament's official Twitter account:
With the spectators in attendance set to be unanimously behind their man, the sixth seed will have to produce his very best to make it into the last four.
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