2015 Australian Open: Bold predictions for the second week

The Australian Open 2015 has seen most top players make it to the knockout stages. There have been a few big shocks too. Roger Federer unexpectedly lost in the third round and Venus Williams has made it to a Grand Slam quarterfinal after five years.As the tournament reaches its crescendo, there are many questions that would be troubling tennis fans. Can anyone stop the juggernaut that is Novak Djokovic? Can some new face win the men’s title? Can Sharapova finally beat Serena?There are also other stories to look forward to. There are many young players like Kei Nishikori, Milos Raonic and Eugene Bouchard looking for a breakthrough. Nobody can tell right know what will happen. But we are going to make few bold predictions anyway. Perhaps a few of them will happen as the race towards the championship heats up.

#1 Milos Raonic Will Upset Novak Djokovic in the Quarterfinals

It seems very unlikely that Raonic will beat Djokovic in the quarterfinals. First, Raonic played a tough five setter against Feliciano Lopez.

The rivalry between Djokovic and Raonic has been largely one sided. Djokovic has won all the four matches while losing only one set out of 11 contested. On paper this seems an easy match for Djokovic.

However, Roanic has made steady improvements to his game in the last six months and has improved his return game and movement to augment his massive serve. His serve and forehand will be big weapons on this hard court and if he can have his best day, we will see an upset on Wednesday.

Call it a gut feeling, but we will see Raonic firing on all cylinders and stun the great Djokovic.

#2 Kei Nishikori will reach a second consecutive Grand Slam final

Kei Nishikori stunned the tennis world by beating Novak Djokovic in the US Open 2014 semifinals and becoming the first Asian man to reach a Grand Slam final.

He has looked in great touch here again and beat a warrior like David Ferrer 6-3,6-3,6-3 in the fourth round. His ability to take the ball early and his fast foot movement make him a lethal player on hard courts.

Expect him to continue his run by beating Stan Wawrinka in the quarterfinals and defeating his semis opponent to reach his 2nd consecutive Grand Slam final. However he would fail to win the elusive Grand Slam for the second time running.

#3 Nick Kyrgios will not win a set against Andy Murray

Nick Kyrgios vs Andy Murray has been hyped up in tennis circles. Australian tennis fans are buzzing with excitement over this encounter. However, all the hype would go flat and Murray will completely dominate this match.

Murray has looked in great shape and very determined in this tournament. His tennis is almost near to the level he displayed when he won the Wimbledon title in 2013. Expect Murray to expose the subpar movement and fitness level of the young Australian.

Murray’s all court game and mental toughness would be too much for a hyper charged Kyrgios who will entertain the crowd with a few attractive shots and his antics. However, he would fail to win a single set.

#4 Serena Williams will not lose another set

Serena Williams has been dodgy so far in the tournament, losing sets and playing uninspired tennis for various times in her initial matches. She has also looked uncomfortable at times on the court. However, come the second week of a Major, and Serena is a different beast altogether. Her focus and game reach higher levels in big matches and she becomes almost unbeatable. When on song, no other female tennis player can even come close to her levels.

Expect her to streamroll her opposition on way to her sixth Australian Open title.

#5 Rafa Nadal will win his second Australian Open title

Rafa Nadal has been an enigma all his life. His struggles with various injuries, his fights against his biggest rivals in Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic and his constant re-emergence to the top of the tennis world from some wilderness has been a riveting tennis story. This time he is on another comeback trail. Having missed most of last six months to wrist and back ailments, Nadal has been trying to make a comeback to top level.

He fought off dizziness and hot weather to win a tough second round encounter in five sets. He has followed that with two impressive shows in the third and fourth rounds and seems to be getting better with every match.

Like Serena again, Nadal is a different beast in the second week of a Slam, and his desire to win the big matches is matched by no one on the men’s circuit. He goes into a different zone altogether and raises his level of play when needed the most. His head to head against Federer and Djokovic in Grand Slam matches is 9-2 and 9-3 respectively. All of these matches were played either in the semifinals or the finals of a tournament.

Expect Nadal to shrug off his rustiness and hit top form on way to a second Australian Open title. Not many experts bet on this when the tournament began and not many would bet on him at this moment.

However when all is said and done, Nadal would be holding the men’s trophy come finals day and he would become the first man to win a second career Slam in the open era.