“Business end” is a tired term frequently used to describe the later stages of tennis tournaments such as Monday at the Australian Open with quarterfinal spots up for grabs. But let’s hope it doesn’t mean what it does for many regular working people – 4.30pm, and all they want to do is go home.
MORE: Day 8 preview – Zverev’s new frontier
No player is thinking of checking out early from AO2019, least of all Serena Williams as she continues her quest for a record-tying 24th Grand Slam title – and against the woman, Simona Halep, who beat her sister Venus on Saturday.
On the men’s side, top seed Novak Djokovic, after defeating 19-year-old ranked Denis Shapovalov on Saturday, faces No. 19 Daniil Medvedev, a 22-year-old Russian who likes to give the ball a good wallop.
To matches to watch on Day 8:
No. 1 Novak Djokovic vs. No. 19 Daniil Medvedev
Their respective records at the Australian Open – Djokovic is now 64-8 while Medvedev is 4-2 – would seem to give the Serb a decided advantage.
But Medvedev came on strong last year; starting out at No. 65, he finished at No. 16. He also won titles in Sydney, Winston Salem and Tokyo.
This year he was runner-up in Brisbane two weeks ago, to the man he beat in the Tokyo final – Kei Nishikori. He has not lost a set in his first three matches and beat No. 21 seed David Goffin 6-2 7-6(3) 6-3 on Saturday.
“I had my first best result in Australia last year (beating No. 216 Thanasi Kokkinakis to make the second round),” Muscovite Medvedev said, “and now I’m in the fourth round of a Grand Slam for the first time. I love Australia.”
But maybe not quite as much as the other guy, 31-year-old Djokovic, who has won the title in Melbourne six times and counting.
Prediction: Djokovic in three.
No. 4 Alexander Zverev vs. No. 17 Milos Raonic
You could say these are a couple of tall poppies – Zverev is 198cm and Raonic 196cm – who would like to cut each other down to size.
Nothing too much was settled in their two previous meetings, both in 2017 – Zverev beat Raonic 7-6(4) 6-1 in Rome on clay, while Raonic returned the favour a few weeks later on grass at Wimbledon 4-6 7-5 4-6 7-5 6-1.
At 21, Zverev represents the younger generation while the 28-year-old Raonic is middle-aged in tennis years and has yet to make a Grand Slam title breakthrough as is also the case with his contemporaries Kei Nishikori, 29, and Grigor Dimitrov, 27.
Both Zverev and Raonic had stern tests in the second round – the German needing five sets to beat Jeremy Chardy, while Raonic had a gruelling four-set clash with 2014 Melbourne champion Stan Wawrinka. The latter match made Raonic decide to take Friday off before his win Saturday over Pierre-Hugues Herbert. He didn’t hit a ball but had a light workout and took in a movie – ‘Green Book’. His film review – “extremely good.”
Zverev was similarly succinct in describing what he expects from Monday afternoon’s match at Rod Laver Arena – “obviously not a lot of rallies, not a lot of long points.”
Prediction: Raonic in four sets.
No. 9 Kei Nishikori vs. No. 23 Pablo Carreno Busta
In one way, Nishikori is the forgotten man of AO2019. Despite his winning the title in Brisbane two weeks ago, he has drawn zero non-Japanese media to his post-match media conferences.
A self-effacing man, at least when interacting in English, and also now sharing the spotlight in his homeland with US Open winner Naomi Osaka, Nishikori surely doesn’t mind his under-the-radar profile.
He escaped a second-round exit by eventually overcoming monster-serving Ivo Karlovic 6-3 7-6(6) 5-7 5-7 7-6[7] and beat tough Joao Sousa in three sets on Saturday. “I try to recover well,” he said. “I think that’s most important going into the second week.”
Ranked as low as No. 39 last April after a wrist injury, he finished strong in 2018 to wind up at No. 9.
It will be a first meeting between the two – strange given Nishikori is 29 years old, and Carreno Busta 27.
Nishikori has more Aussie Open experience with a 26-8 record, while ‘PCB’ is just 8-5.
Prediction: Nishikori in four.
No. 1 Simona Halep vs. No. 16 Serena Williams
Is there any way Williams can be stopped at this year’s Australian Open? She has lost nine games – an average of three per match – in reaching the round of 16 and looks unbeatable. But things weren’t that dissimilar at the last two Grand Slam events, and she lost in the final at Wimbledon to Angelique Kerber and to Naomi Osaka in the US Open championship match.
Now Williams’ opponent is world No. 1 Halep, at Rod Laver Arena on Monday evening, after the Romanian defeated her sister Venus 6-2 6-3 on Saturday. Halep has only played four matches since last September because of a herniated disc in her back, and is 1-8 lifetime against Serena.
Still, at 27 and with a Grand Slam title (Roland Garros ’18) on her record, the plucky Romanian has attained a certain serenity.
“I have to move her and give my best,” Halep said about her approach to the match-up with Williams. “I will not super think about this because (there) is nothing to think – just go there and play natural and with confidence.”
As for Williams and her devastating form so far at Melbourne Park, she remarked on Saturday, “I don’t feel like I’m there yet. I feel like I’m still getting there.”
Heaven help Halep if she arrives.
Prediction: Williams in two sets.
No. 7 Elina Svitolina vs. 17 Madison Keys
Svitolina, 24, has to be haunted by the fact that she has reached No. 3 (2017) in the rankings, won 13 singles titles but only has three quarterfinals to show for her 25 previous appearances in Grand Slam events.
Neither player entered the Aussie Open with any form – Svitolina lost in the first round in Brisbane to No. 30-ranked Aliaksandra Sasnovich, and Keys did not play a warm-up tournament.
After her 6-3 6-2 victory over last year’s semifinalist Elise Mertens in Saturday’s third round, Keys was happy to accept a reporter’s description of her win as being “nifty.”
When asked if it was a new strategy for her to start the year without playing an event before the Aussie Open, Keys responded, “no, it’s stressful. I would not recommend it.”
The 23-year-old Floridian has a 2-0 head-to-head advantage over Svitolina, who struggled to beat Zhang Shuai 4-6 6-4 7-5 on Friday while having issues with her shoulder.
Prediction: Keys in two sets.
No. 8 Karolina Pliskova vs. No. 18 Garbine Muguruza
Year by year it seems like it would be easier and easier to field a basketball team from among the WTA players – and the 186cm Pliskova and the 182cm Muguruza would certainly be candidates.
Their meeting at Margaret Court Arena on Monday will feature two power players, with the 26-year-old Czech having the advantage on the serve and the 25-year-old Spaniard being the more agile mover.
Pliskova has been through two three-setters on her way to the round of 16, while Muguruza had that wild 6-4 6-7(3) 7-5 win over Johanna Konta in the second round that ended at 3.12am. She got to bed at 5am and woke up six hours later, but is pleased with how well she has managed an awkward circumstance.
Last year – a drop in ranking from No. 2 to No. 18 was surprising for the 2016 French Open and 2017 Wimbledon champion. “I had a lot of expectation to keep up the good year that I had,” Muguruza explained, “to right away start the year in the same line (way). I think that got me very anxious to play the same level. At the end it got a little messy.”
She could clean that up with a win over Pliskova, who leads their rivalry 7-2. They split their two most recent meetings in 2017.
Prediction: Muguruza in three sets.