It was a pretty routine day of tennis on day four of the Aussie Open as Djokovic, Murray, Ferrer, Tsonga, Monfils, Raonic, and Gasquet all came through pretty easily. There were what may have been called upsets when Julien Benneteau defeated Gilles Simon in 5 sets, Lleyton Hewitt beat Andy Roddick when the latter withdrew with a hamstring injury, and Viktor Troicki was upset by Kukushkin, who is starting to make a name for himself on the tour. Michael Llodra also set up a clash with Andy Murray in the 3rd round after coming through against Alex Bogomolov Jr in 5 sets after being up two sets to none.
Since there is not much to talk about, I'll go to the topic of Andy Roddick. As time goes on, especially after Wimbledon 2009 which I think broke his spirit, Andy has gotten worse and worse and is not the same player he once was. If he keeps declining I could see him retiring soon in the next two years. He is a fighter and a hard worker though so he'll do whatever it takes to get back up there, but if he can't, I don't see him gaining much satisfaction in dwindling in the rankings, just like Davydenko.
-- Also, how big a difference a year makes. Last year, Gilles Simon played the match of his life against Federer and just came up short. Now, he loses in the 3rd round in another 5-setter to a much lesser player. Simon MUST become more aggressive if he ever wants to reach the top eight again.
The matches on Friday should be very good as players in the bottom half try to book their spots in the Round of 16. Lacko vs Nadal, Federer vs Karlovic, Berdych vs Anderson, Wawrinka vs Almagro, Lu vs Del Potro, Isner vs Lopez, Falla vs Kohlschreiber, and Tomic vs Dolgopolov should all be very entertaining contests. Lacko did get bageled in 2010 but I doubt he will have any trouble. Federer will need to be sharp on the return but other than that Karlovic shouldn't hurt him. Berdych/Anderson, Wawrinka/Almagro, Lu/Delpo, and Tomic/Dog all have the potential to go 5 sets and they could all go either way.
Looking forward to the Book-Your-Spot-In-The-Last-16 day one.
Kyle.
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