2012 Australian Open Recap: Djokovic Leads Top-Ranked Men and Williams is Upset by Makarova
Top-ranked Serbian Novak Djokovic had a pretty solid match, and on the other hand, American Serena Williams had her head in the sky. Djokovic, took the match in four sets, only dropping the third to wild card entry and Australia’s own Lleyton Hewitt who could not hold his comeback. The top five-ranked men’s singles players have now advanced the quarterfinals.
"It’s obviously the first match that I’ve been tested," said Djokovic. "It was against the player that I expected to be tested."
Djokovic won 6-1, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 against the former number one-ranked Hewitt who did his best to advance as far as he could in his home town Grand Slam.
On the other hand, "I’m not physically 100 percent, so I can’t be so angry at myself, even though I’m very unhappy," said Serena of her poor match play against 56th-ranked Russian Ekaterina Makarova, a 6-2, 6-3 winner over Serena. “I know that I can play a hundred times better than I did this whole tournament.”
Serena has lost only three singles matches in Melbourne since she won the first of what would be five Australian Open tiles.
The only remaining Grand Slam winners on the women’s side of the draw include Russian Maria Sharapova, defending champion Kim Clijsters of Belgium, and the 2011 Wimbledon winner Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic. Sharapova will now play Makarova in the quarters after beating Sabine Lisicki to advance.
"A lot of ups and downs today—fortunately I finished on a high note," said Sharapova. "Even though I didn’t play my best tennis I fought to the end and sometimes that’s what gets you through."
Women’s top-ranked Wozniacki is still in search for her first Grand Slam title and is set to play 2011 Australian Open winner Clijsters in the quarterfinals.
Djokovic is yet to drop more than a set in the first three opening rounds of the Open. “I have to give credit to … Lleyton, who never gives up,” Djokovic said. “He’s a great competitor and he obviously made me play an extra shot. I made couple of unforced errors and I got him back to the match. He’s very well known for that.” Djokovic will now go on to play Spain’s David Ferrer who defeated Richard Gasquet of France, 6-4, 6-4, 6-1.
Great Britain’s Andy Murray had a 6-1, 6-1, 1-0 lead over the 92nd-ranked Mikhail Kukushkin from Kazakhstan who retired from the fourth-round match with a left hip injury. Murray has now easily made his way into the quarterfinals.
“It’s obviously good for me, I get to conserve some energy,” Murray said. “Tough for him, first time in the fourth-round of a Slam.”
Murray’s next matchup is against Japan’s Kei Nishikori, who had a tough 2-6, 6-2, 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 victory over France’s Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, a 2008 finalist. Nishikori is only the second man from Japan to ever reach a Grand Slam quarterfinal since the Open era began in 1968.
“Feeling unbelievable. My first quarterfinal and beating Tsonga, makes me really happy,” Nishikori said. “I hope it’s big in Japan.”
Click here for full results of Day Eight action on the men’s side of the draw from the 2012 Australian Open.
Click here for full results of Day Five action on the women’s side of the draw from the 2012 Australian Open.
