Davydenko winless in career vs. Federer
Justine Henin-Hardenne has won 11 straight Australian Open matches. She'll have to beat No. 1 seed Lindsay Davenport to keep her win streak alive.
No. 21 Nicolas Kiefer vs. No. 25 Sebastien Grosjean
The two players have combined to make 12 career Grand Slam quarterfinals, while Kiefer will attempt to make his first career semifinal. Only two men in the Open Era have played more career Grand Slam events before advancing to that stage.
First he will need to get by his French opponent who has advanced to the Aussie Open quarters for the fourth time in six years.
Grosjean has looked sharp, dropping just one set, and that was to Guillermo Coria, the 6th seed. He's seeking his first semifinals appearance here since 2001, a match in which he squandered two match points to countrymen Arnaud Clement.
Kiefer has won his last six matches in Grand Slam play against French opponents.
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| FEDERER |
Federer had a real scare in his last match, needing five sets to hold off Tommy Haas. Don't expect that in this match, though.
Although, seeded fifth, Davydenko is 0-6 lifetime against Federer, and has lost his last three matches to the world's No. 1 player in straight sets. Not to mention, the Russian is also 0-8 all-time when facing No. 1 ranked players.
Davydenko has been on the court a lot longer than his Swiss opponent. In four matches, he has played 18 sets, including a long five-set win vs. Dominik Hrbaty in the last round. He has been on the court nearly five hours longer than Federer.
Federer seeks to win his 50th consecutive hard court win, far and away the longest streak in the Open Era.
With another championship, Federer will become the seventh player in the Open Era to have won three different grand slams at least twice.
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| MAURESMO |
Mauresmo continues her quest to win a Grand Slam. She is the only women ever to be ranked No. 1 who has not won a major.
If Mauresmo wins this tournament and Kim Clijsters loses tonight, she will once again be the top-ranked player on the WTA Tour. Mauresmo has lost just one set leading up to tonight's matchup, and that came in the first round. In her last two matches, she has lost a total of four games.
Schnyder has yet to lose a set. In her last match she handed former French Open champion, Anastasia Myskina, a 6-2, 6-1 loss. The Swiss player seeks to advance to her second career Grand Slam semifinal, a feat she accomplished here two years ago.
Mauresmo and Schnyder have played 15 times previously, with Mauresmo winning 10 of them.
No. 2 Kim Clijsters vs. Martina Hingis 10 p.m. ET on ESPN2 (following Mauresmo-Schnyder)
The most anticipated match of the tournament thus far.
There were a lot of question marks as to whether or not Hingis would be able to compete again. She has answered them in convincing fashion playing here for the first time in four years. Hingis has not dropped a set en route to her eighth consecutive quarterfinals appearance at the Australian Open, a tournament she's won three times.
Tonight will be her first real test of the tournament when she faces the second-seeded Clijsters. Two weeks ago in a tune-up, Hingis was tested by Justine Henin-Hardenne and fell in straight sets.
Clijsters looks for her second consecutive Grand Slam title. Since the beginning of 2005, she has won 72 matches, the most on the WTA Tour. The 2005 U.S. Open champion has played Hingis five times, losing four of them, but of course they have not played since 2002.
The top half of the women's draw was by far the toughest at the start of the tournament and continues to be with three former or current No. 1s and Grand Slam winners (Lindsay Davenport, Justine Henin-Hardenne and Maria Sharapova).
Injuries continue to be a big story. Kim Clijsters was questionable for so long, but she seems to be getting better every day. Now she faces Martina Hingis, that's the match I really want to see. We were happy Hingis was just playing and now she's in the quarters which I don't think she could have imagined would happen right away.
By now, Clijsters has to be OK, but the same can't be said for Davenport. Because of her ankle, she hasn't done a thing since her fourth-round win. She's been icing her leg and didn't practice Monday. She's hoping for the best today and will test it out. But Davenport's never been one to play with pain too well and that hurts her chances against Henin-Hardenne, someone she's lost to the last four times.
The quarterfinal match between Sharapova and Nadia Petrova is more of a pride thing because they are both from Russia. Both talk how it's more important to be No. 1 in Russia, so these matches between them are just slugfests and I expect another one.
This isn't the Australian Open, it's the European championships. Only two of the remaining 16 players left aren't European (Lindsay Davenport from the United States and Argentina's David Nalbandian). The Euros are dominating the tournament down here.
Last night's Roger Federer-Tommy Haas match was a great one. At 6-4, 6-0 I thought to myself, 'Man, Tommy is playing pretty good and he's getting smoked.' Then the next two sets he took it to Federer.
Then, only like Roger can do, he raised the level of his game (18 winners in the fifth set) to reaffirm that he can play in a tight match as well. He was tested and came through.
Haas was the most dangerous unseeded player in the draw and he proved that. Nicolas Kiefer who we had on the set Monday said that match was going to go either four or five sets, and Tommy might even win.
Going forward the one player might be able to give Federer a test is David Nalbanadian. Obviously he has a lot of work left to do, but he's the one who stopped Federer's win streak in finals matches last year, and he has a winning record against him (6-4).
I can make a case for six different women winning it. But in the men's draw, there are eight men left and in every scenario I come up with I can only make a case for one winner, Roger Federer.
| PHOTO OF THE DAY |
AP Photo/Tony Feder Martina Hingis of Switzerland, left, returns a shot as her partner Mahesh Bhupathi of India looks on during the mixed doubles match. Hingis and Bhupathi will play Todd Perry and Rennae Stubbs in the quarterfinals.
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| STAT OF THE DAY |
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-- Consecutive Grand Slam semifinal appearances by Ivan Lendl, an Open Era record. Roger Federer currently has advanced to the semis in six straight Grand Slam events.
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| JENSEN'S JOURNAL |
 • Every day from Australia, Luke will submit a diary outlining what's going on Down Under.
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Martina Hingis is rockin' right now as she gets ready for her quarterfinals match against Kim Clijsters.
I love the way so motors around the baseline. She may be the one who wins this in the end which is crazy! So many stories in this event, and as we wind down the main draw the second week also provides views of what the game was and what the game will be in the future. The second week is the start of the junior and senior events. I was sitting on Court 7, watching my old partner Laurie Warder play in the 35 and Over event. Strange to see my old buddy, after all these years, nailing shots just the way I remember … just not as fast. It's amazing how time steals the power of youth while on the very next court is some young hot shot nailing shots corner to corner, moving like a cat but playing as dumb as a brick. The main draw that is the perfect mix of youth and experience. The Aussie is going to get hot again in the next few days, over 100 degrees, so look out for the tennis to match the high temps! -- LBJusa |
| FOOT FAULTS |
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• Nikolay Davydenko is 0-6 in his career against Roger Federer.
• German Nicolas Kiefer has advanced to the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam event for the fifth time in his career. This will be his first appearance in the quarters since the 2000 U.S. Open. • Marcos Baghdatis is 7-1 in his career at the Australian Open and a combined 1-4 in the three other majors. • At 20 years old, Baghdatis is the youngest Australian Open quarterfinalist since Andy Roddick three years ago. • Lindsay Davenport's loss means the No. 1 seed will not reach the final of the Australian Open for the first time since 1999. • Amelie Mauresmo has advanced to the quarterfinals in each of the last three years. Her only appearance in a Grand Slam final came at the 1999 Australian Open, losing to Martina Hingis. • Martina Hingis hasn't lost a quarterfinal match at the Australian Open since 1996. Justine Henin-Hardenne has won 12 straight matches at the Australian Open (she won in 2004 and didn't play here in 2005).
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