Australian Open 2014: Men’s Quarterfinal Predictions

Roger Federer (6) vs Andy Murray (4)

A repeat of last year’s semi-final

And last, but by no means least, we have Roger Federer vs Andy Murray. The two have dropped in the rankings, the former due to poor form and the latter due to injury, and thus find themselves meeting in the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam, almost criminally too early.

Form: Is this the same Roger Federer we saw through the whole of last year? The Swiss maestro has been in vintage form, rolling back the years through his superb performances in the first few rounds. James Duckworth, Blaz Kavcic and Teymuraz Gabashvili all found him too much to handle in the first few rounds, and so did Jo-Wilfried Tsonga today, the man who many had picked to upset the Swiss, and who had also managed to take him to five sets in their quarterfinal last year. Murray, on the other hand, has also performed admirably given his lack of match practice, calmly seeing off the challenge of Go Soeda, Vincent Millot and Feliciano Lopez (perhaps to the disappointment of Judy Murray) in the opening three rounds before overcoming the spirited challenge of lucky loser Stephane Robert in today’s fourth round clash.

What’s in store for them: Both Federer and Murray are playing some incredible tennis going into this quarterfinal. Federer has answered critics who accused him of dominating only lower-ranked opponents with his display against Tsonga today, and the ‘Fedberg’ combination seems to be paying off huge dividends for him. Murray could be accused of having an easy path to the quarterfinals, but you can only deal with what is presented in front of you, and an easy draw is perhaps what he needed, to ease himself back into five-set tennis. The two went five sets in last year’s semifinal and I would be very surprised if it doesn’t go all the way again.

Prediction: Murray to beat Federer in 5 sets