22 | January | 2017 | Tennis Courts Map Directory

Another Milestone For Roger: Swiss Grabs 200th Top 10 Win

Jan222017

Milestone win sends Roger Federer into Aussie Open quarter-finals

To be the best, you have to beat the best. Roger Federer has been living by that mantra throughout his storied career and on Sunday the Swiss added yet another milestone to his glittering list of achievements.

Federer became the first active player to win 200 matches against Top 10 opponents, improving to 200-107 (.651) in the FedEx ATP Win-Loss Index with a fourth round victory over World No. 5 Kei Nishikori at the Australian Open. To put that in perspective, Federer’s Top 10 victories account for nearly one-fifth of his match wins (1084) in total.

FedEx ATP Performance Zone: Top 10 Wins

“It’s great,” Federer said following his victory over Nishikori. “I didn’t know it going in. I just know I played a lot of tennis. I ran a lot. Obviously I want to play really well against the best players. I was able to do that sometimes, but tonight was special, no doubt about it. Going five against Kei here on Rod Laver Arena with the comeback, it’s definitely very special. A fitting way to celebrate that milestone.”

The 35 year old has amassed double-digit Top 10 wins in 11 different seasons, which is also most among active players. Moreover, with wins over Nishikori and No. 10 Tomas Berdych this fortnight in Melbourne Park, he has notched multiple Top 10 victories in the same tournament for the 85th time.

Federer’s success against Top 10 opposition has never been more evident than at the year-end ATP Finals, where he owns a record 52 wins against the world’s best players.

Here are the active leaders:

Active Top 10 Wins Leaders

Player	Win-Loss	Index
Roger Federer	200-107	.651
Novak Djokovic	180-84	.682
Rafael Nadal	140-77	.645
Andy Murray	100-80	.556

Roger’s Top 10 Victims
In total, Federer has defeated 41 different Top 10 players, including current and former World No. 1s Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Andre Agassi, Juan Carlos Ferrero, Lleyton Hewitt, Carlos Moya, Yevgeny Kafelnikov, Gustavo Kuerten, Andy Roddick, Marat Safin and Pete Sampras.

Top 10 Opponent	Wins Against
Novak Djokovic	18
Andy Roddick	17
Andy Murray	13
Juan Martin del Potro	11
Tomas Berdych	10
Rafael Nadal	10
Lleyton Hewitt	9
Andre Agassi	8
Nikolay Davydenko	8
David Nalbandian	8
David Ferrer	7
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga	6
Carlos Moya	5
Milos Raonic	5
Marat Safin	5
Stan Wawrinka	5
James Blake	4
Juan Carlos Ferrero	4
Tim Henman	4
Ivan Ljubicic	4
Robin Soderling	4
Guillermo Coria	3
Fernando Gonzalez	3
Richard Gasquet	2
Gaston Gaudio	2
Tommy Haas	2
Yevgeny Kafelnikov	2
Gael Monfils	2
Kei Nishikori	2
Jiri Novak	2
Tommy Robredo	2
Janko Tipsarevic	2
Fernando Verdasco	2
Mario Ancic	1
Arnaud Clement	1
Alex Corretja	1
Mardy Fish	1
Nicolas Kiefer	1
Gustavo Kuerten	1
Magnus Norman	1
Pete Sampras	1

Australian Open 2017: Roger Federer sees off Kei Nishikori in five sets

Posted: Jan 22, 2017

Australian Open 2017
Venue: Melbourne Park, Melbourne Dates: 16-29 Jan
Coverage: Daily live commentary on BBC Radio 5 live sports extra; live text on selected matches on the BBC Sport website; TV highlights on BBC Two and online from 21 January.

Roger Federer continued his remarkable return from injury by seeing off Kei Nishikori in five sets to reach his 13th Australian Open quarter-final.

The 35-year-old beat fifth seed Nishikori 6-7 (4-7) 6-4 6-1 4-6 6-3 to keep alive his hopes of an 18th Grand Slam and fifth Australian Open title.

Federer, seeded 17th, is playing his first competitive event since Wimbledon six months ago following a knee injury.

He will play Mischa Zverev, conqueror of Andy Murray, in the last eight.

Murray knocked out of Australian Open
Latest scores, results and order of play
How to follow the Australian Open on the BBC

Third seed Stan Wawrinka beat Andreas Seppi 7-6 (7-2) 7-6 (7-4) 7-6 (7-4) and goes on to face Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who beat Dan Evans 6-7 (4-7) 6-2 6-4 6-4.

After dropping his opening two service games, Federer found the range that had seen him hammer Tomas Berdych in the previous round, giving Nishikori a torrid time.

“It was a great match and a joy to be part of it,” said Federer.

“I wasn’t playing badly in the first set – it’s a quick court and things happen fast. It was about staying calm at 4-0.

“I thought it can’t get any worse from there. It was hard not to win that first set after all the effort but it paid off in the end. This is a huge win for me in my career.”

Watch highlights of day seven on BBC Two from 17:15 GMT on Sunday.

From 5-1 down, the Swiss roared back – almost taking the set before losing out in a tie-break – and clinching the second set with a solitary break.

The third disappeared in a flash as Federer took apart the Nishikori serve, winning every point on the Japanese player’s second serve, and he went close to breaking through again early in the fourth set.

Nishikori, 27, held on under huge pressure and forced a decider but it was Federer who proved the stronger, racing into a 3-0 lead and closing it out – to the delight of most of those on Rod Laver Arena.

Federer played just seven events in 2016 after injuring his knee the day after his Australian Open semi-final and having arthroscopic knee surgery.

He dropped out of the world’s top 10 for the first time in 734 weeks last November, and arrived in Melbourne ranked 17th – his lowest position since May 2001.

The Swiss is the oldest man to reach a Grand Slam quarter-final since the 39-year-old Jimmy Connors at the 1991 US Open.

But the departure of first Djokovic and then Murray has thrown the draw wide open, with Federer, as well as the likes of Wawrinka and Rafael Nadal, in with a chance of adding to their Grand Slam tallies.

“I felt like if Rafa and myself can be healthy, yes, you can expect us in the quarter-finals,” Federer added.

“That Novak and Andy are not, that is a big surprise. I never thought that Mischa Zverev and Denis Istomin would beat those two big guys.

“I guess it’s good for tennis that a lot of guys believe stronger now that the top guys are beatable, are vulnerable, especially on a faster court. It happened completely in different circumstances.

“But two huge surprises. No doubt about that.”

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Tsonga Continues Melbourne Success

Jan222017

Frenchman into Australian Open quarter-finals over Evans

No. 12 seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga continued his love affair with the Australian Open on Sunday, not dropping serve as he thrilled the Melbourne crowd with a tight 6-7(4), 6-2, 6-4, 6-4 fourth-round win over Daniel Evans on Hisense Arena.

The 2008 runner-up is into the quarter-finals here for the first time since 2013. Tsonga now plays fourth seed Stan Wawrinka for a place in the last four. The Swiss star leads their FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry 4-3 and has won their past three matches.

“It’s going to be a tough match,” said Tsonga. “I know he’s playing really good. It’s going to be important for me to be good in this match and play my best level.

“I think I will be ready. It’s going to be a good challenge for me to play against Stan.”

Evans was competing in the fourth round of a Grand Slam for the first time, having stunned Marin Cilic and Bernard Tomic at Melbourne Park. He had reached his first ATP World Tour final last week in Sydney (l. to Muller).

The Briton continued his hot form against Tsonga, striking first in the tie-break by taking a 3/1 lead and holding his slight advantage the rest of the way. Tsonga responded brilliantly by racing to a 4-0 lead in the second set and ultimately levelling the match at one set each.

The Frenchman broke Evans immediately to start off the third set. Little separated the pair, but that early advantage was all Tsonga needed to take a commanding lead. The fourth set was nearly identical, with Tsonga grabbing an early break and comfortably serving out the match to love to prevail in two hours and 53 minutes.

“Before the match I knew if it started to be really physical, it was going to be on my side, I think,” said Tsonga. “That’s what happened. So the first set was difficult. Then I played pretty strong and made him run a lot in the second set.

“I just served really well, too. Then it was an advantage for me. I didn’t have to defend too many break points. That was an advantage for me.”

The 31-year-old Tsonga, who finished runner-up to Roger Federer in his lone Grand Slam final at Melbourne Park in 2008, is bidding to reach his first major semi-final since Roland Garros 2015, when he fell to Wawrinka.

Australian Open 2017

Venue: Melbourne Park, Melbourne Dates: 16-29 Jan

Coverage: Daily live commentary on BBC Radio 5 live sports extra; live text on selected matches on the BBC Sport website; TV highlights on BBC Two and online from 21 January.

Zverev Stuns Murray

Jan222017

German records breakthrough win on Rod Laver Arena

Mischa Zverev produced a bold display of tennis on Sunday to shock top seed Andy Murray 7-5, 5-7, 6-2, 6-4 in the fourth-round of the Australian Open in Melbourne.

With the win, Zverev moves into his first Grand Slam quarter-final. He broke Murray eight times in the match to score the upset in three hours and 33 minutes. He now plays the winner between No. 17 seed Roger Federer and fifth seed Kei Nishikori.

The win records a remarkable career turnaround over the past two years for Zverev, who was ranked No. 1,067 in the Emirates ATP Rankings in March 2015.

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Australian Open 2017: Dan Evans' challenge ended by Jo-Wilfried Tsonga

Posted: Jan 22, 2017

Britain’s Dan Evans had his best run at a Grand Slam ended by a 6-7 (4-7) 6-2 6-4 6-4 loss to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the last 16 of the Australian Open.

Evans, ranked 51 in the world, started off promisingly as he traded blows with the Frenchman before winning the opening set on a tie-break.

But Tsonga’s heavy hitting and big serving took its toll as the 12th seed won the next three sets.

Tsonga will play 2014 champion Stan Wawrinka in the quarter-finals.

Evans, who reached his first ATP final this month and beat former US Open champion Marin Cilic and home favourite Bernard Tomic to reach the last 16, survived long enough to be the last remaining Briton in the men’s singles after Andy Murray’s shock defeat by Mischa Zverev.

He had to fend off four break points in the first set, while having only one on the Tsonga serve, before threatening to repeat the shocks of earlier rounds by taking the tie-break.

However, Tsonga heeded the warning and quickly went 4-0 up in the second set as he began to dominate Evans with his powerful and accurate hitting.

While Evans sporadically threatened the 2008 finalist, and managed 43 winners to Tsonga’s 59, the Frenchman was always in control after the first set and won the match with a service game to love.

“Dan played good tennis and he had nothing to lose,” said Tsonga.

“It was difficult for me because he was hitting the ball really early. After that the game was pretty difficult, then I went over him and finished strong.

“I’ve played pretty good since the start of the tournament. It will be a good challenge against Stan Wawrinka – he’s playing unbelievably.”

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