Men's Day 8: Favorites Four for Four; Earn Varying Style Points

Men's Fourth Round Singles:


Roger Federer (SUI)[1] def. Lleyton Hewitt (AUS)[22] 6-2, 6-3, 6-4 -- What could have been a real close match wasn't, because Roger Federer was his phenomenal self from the get-go.  The shaky Federer from the first round is nowhere to be seen right now, and the much-anticipated Federer-Davydenko quarterfinal really isn't all that anticipated anymore.  For Hewitt's part, it's an unfortunate draw.  He is still nowhere near demonstrative enough when playing Federer, restraining himself in the presence of royalty, seemingly.  Not that it would have made a difference in this instance, but I can hardly recall another such example of a top player routinely muting himself time and time again in the presence of a peer.

Novak Djokovic (SRB)[3] def. Lukasz Kubot (POL) 6-1, 6-2, 7-5 -- Calling Djokovic's draw soft is like calling the ocean moist--it really doesn't do the situation justice at all.  Kubot in the fourth round of a slam is a blessing, to be sure, but this many blessings back to back has to be a curse eventually.  Djokovic hasn't been tested by anyone good, though he did get caught on an off-day by Chiudinelli in the second round.  If Tsonga can come out of the gates well in the quarters and blitz Djokovic, he should be able to get the upset.

Nikolay Davydenko (RUS)[6] def. Fernando Verdasco (ESP)[9] 6-2, 7-5, 4-6, 6-7(5), 6-3 -- Davydenko was living up to all the hype early.  But then for no particular reason, he went off the rails, and it wasn't until some Verdasco sloppiness in the fifth that he got back on them.  It's a nice gut-check win for Davydenko, but that's not what he needed at this stage of the tournament.  Any swagger he brought into his quarterfinal with Federer is largely gone, and he's going to have to fabricate some of the self-belief he lost in this match.

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA)[10] def. Nicolas Almagro (ESP)[26] 6-3, 6-4, 4-6, 6-7(6), 9-7 -- This match was looking incredibly routine for Tsonga in the first two sets, until Almagro raised his level and Tsonga failed to follow suit.  There was a bunch of bizarrely boneheaded serving off the Tsonga racquet, including losing BOTH the third and fourth sets because of attempts to hit a second serve at around 130 MPH.  In Tsonga's first ever fifth set, he survived some very impressive shotmaking from Almagro to secure a victory that really had no right to be this difficult.