Australian Open 2015 Results: Winners, Scores, Stats from Day 7 Singles Bracket
The favorites were beginning to hit their strides as Day 7 of the 2015 Australian Open concluded in Melbourne.
The early exit of Roger Federer in the third round didn't do much to set the stage for his half of the bracket, as Andy Murray and Rafael Nadal both won easily to advance to the quarterfinal round. The women did the same, with No. 2 Maria Sharapova winning in straight sets and No. 7 Eugenie Bouchard pulling out a close victory.
No. 7 Tomas Berdych followed suit for the men, which sent fan-favorite Bernard Tomic home. Nick Kyrgios threatened to join him after falling two sets-to-none down to Andreas Seppi, but he completed an unbelievable comeback to progress to the quarterfinal.
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That's only the start of what took place on Day 7, so let's take a look at the complete list of results from Sunday and a closer look at the biggest matches.
| No. 3 Rafael Nadal def. No. 14 Kevin Anderson | 7-5, 6-1, 6-4 |
| No. 6 Andy Murray def. No. 10 Grigor Dimitrov | 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-3, 7-5 |
| No. 7 Tomas Berdych def. Bernard Tomic | 6-2, 7-6(3), 6-2 |
| Nick Kyrgios def. Andreas Seppi | 5-7, 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(5), 8-6 |
| No. 2 Maria Sharapova def. No. 21 Shuai Peng | 6-3, 6-0 |
| No. 3 Simona Halep def. Yanina Wickmayer | 6-4, 6-2 |
| No. 7 Eugenie Bouchard def. Irina-Camelia Begu | 6-1, 5-7, 6-2 |
| No. 10 Ekaterina Makarova def. Julia Goerges | 6-3, 6-2 |
Note: Day 7 results courtesy of the Australian Open official site.
Notable Day 7 Results
No. 3 Rafael Nadal def. No. 14 Kevin Anderson
Considering how shaky Rafael Nadal looked through a couple of matches in Melbourne, it was expected he would have his hands even more full when the big matches came. Instead, he's proving the exact opposite.
Nadal continued his impeccable recent form, advancing to the quarterfinals with a 7-5, 6-1, 6-4 drubbing of 14th-seeded Kevin Anderson Sunday at Rod Laver Arena.
The opening set was one that went back and forth with the service, with nothing separating the two until Nadal was 6-5 up and looking to take control of the set to avoid a tiebreaker. As Nadal told Kamakshi Tandon of Tennis.com, his changing of returns made the difference:
"I changed completely my position on the return," said Nadal. "I was able to have some good returns. One very good one, but then the other ones, just put the ball inside the court and then try to let him think a little bit more than what he was doing until that moment."
With the small tweak, Nadal was virtually unbeatable in the final two sets, using his speed, swift movement and a powerful forehand to put away Anderson rather easily. And with the Spaniard himself winning 78 percent of his first serves, the Russian had no real answer.
Nadal may not have wanted to call himself a favorite prior to the tournament but things are looking up for another trip to the semifinals in Melbourne, considering how he's fared versus his upcoming opponent, per Live Tennis:
"#Nadal has won 37 of the last 40 sets he's played against #Berdych. They meet in the AO QFs http://t.co/eagbSjZo9g pic.twitter.com/BpWR7JVpUT
— Live Tennis (@livetennis) January 25, 2015"
Should Nadal's career dominance over Berdych reach 19-3, nobody—not even Nadal himself—will be able to doubt his chances.
Nick Kyrgios def. Andreas Seppi
If you fell asleep as Andreas Seppi was beginning to run away with his Round 4 affair with Nick Kyrgios, you missed one of the matches of the tournament.
Seppi jumped out two a commanding two-set lead to set up what looked like it would be another dominant win for him—the man who upset Federer looked to be cruising on. But Kyrgios had none of it, saving his best for last and somehow channeling enough energy behind a raucous crowd to pull off the five-set comeback.
It just further shows how dominant Kyrgios has been in Grand Slams as opposed to other events, per Tumaini Carayol of Tennis View Magazine:
"Nick Kyrgios has now reached 2 slam quarterfinals, has played one Masters 100 event and has reached zero ATP quarterfinals.
— Tumaini (@tumcarayol) January 25, 2015"
Kyrgios looked dead in the water after the second set, more because of Seppi's unbelievable shot-making and the energy Kyrgios had put into those sets. But when he came out with guns blazing in the third set, you knew he had a chance.
It took a monumental tiebreak in the fourth to keep him alive, and he had to pull out the final one 8-6. But through both of those sets, Kyrgios seemed to have both momentum and the score on his side.
The match was as even as can be statistically, as Seppi hit 71 winners to Kyrgios' 66 and both committed a whopping 74 unforced errors. Where Seppi really had an advantage was in net points won (12-of-17), but he couldn't get there often enough to make a difference late.
Of course, the action for Kyrgios is just getting started and figures to only be getting better. He's slated to face No. 6 Andy Murray for a spot in the semifinal round.
No. 2 Maria Sharapova def. No. 21 Shuai Peng
Second-seeded Maria Sharapova didn't miss a beat in facing her first notable opponent of the tournament, overcoming 21st-seeded Shuai Peng for a straight-set win, 6-3, 6-0.
While Sharapova was reduced to two match points that took her close to elimination in the second round, she had no such experience against Peng. The only thing the Russian couldn't do with ease from the very start was break Peng's serve, but that changed awfully fast.
Sharapova began dominating Peng's service, helping to nullify her serve (26-of-55 first serves in) and making points impossible to get after faulting (10-of-29 second serve points won). That's nothing compared to her struggles hitting back and forth, as Peng committed 29 unforced errors to Sharapova's 15.
Her victory sets up an intriguing matchup between her and Bouchard in the semis, per Australian Open:
Many wondered whether anyone would seriously contend with Serena Williams after a few early upsets alongside Sharapova's near loss, but that tone has quickly changed. Sharapova is playing as well as she did in 2014, while Bouchard has taken it to another level as she looks for her first Slam.
Note: Above stats all courtesy of the Australian Open unless otherwise noted.
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