Australian Open: Raonic outlasts Wawrinka in five sets, storms into quarter-finals

We’ve reached the quarterfinals of the 2016 Australian Open and both brackets have seen some upsets.

AZARENKA VS. KERBER: This is a rematch of the Brisbane International final on January 9 which Azarenka won in straight sets.

Swiss Wawrinka, who has been suffering from a cold, fought back to force a deciding set but was unable to avoid a grand slam exit before the quarter-finals for the first time since the 2014 French Open.

Britain’s Andy Murray continued his good run at the Australian Open overcoming Bernard Tomic.

With the points set to be long, a match lasting over 160.5 minutes (or two hours and 40) looks a rock solid bet at 22/25.

“The last few days were very, very tough. Tomas has caused me a lot of problems over the years”, Federer said after making the semi-finals for the 12th time in 13 years.

“I think it’s just about a calm, and understanding how I can be more efficient with my game”, Raonic said, explaining that Moya was there to help him get organized on and off the court.

A crucial break in sixth game of the last set handed Raonic the ascendency, and the 13th-seed let his all-conquering serve do the rest winning 6-4, 6-3, 5-7, 4-6, 6-3.

Andy Murray and David Ferrer also lined up a quarterfinal meeting after the No. 2-seeded Brit took care of Australian home-country hope and No. 16 seed Bernard Tomic 6-4, 6-4, 7-6(4), and the No. 8-seeded Spaniard defused the serve of No. 10 John Isner 6-4, 6-4, 7-5. Murray has lost all four finals he’s contested at the Australian Open, including last year’s championship match to Novak Djokovic.

Melbourne Park has been a happy hunting ground for Azarenka, who has now made the quarters or better five times in her last seven attempts. It was tough. Obviously it depended on Nigel’s health obviously.

The current head-to-head record stands at three wins each but Murray has more experience of the big occasion as he makes his 18th semi-final appearance against Raonic’s second. He was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment and stayed overnight, but has been released.

Monfils said he was lucky not to break any bones after a trademark acrobatic dive left him with a deep cut and bruises on the way to his first Australian Open quarter-final Monday.

Two-time champion Victoria Azarenka is into the quarterfinals for the fourth time in five years after a 6-2, 6-4 win over Barbaro Strycova, the third year in a row the pair have met at Melbourne Park. A growing favorite for the title in a strong comeback from two injury-interrupted seasons, Azarenka next faces No. 7 Angelique Kerber, who beat fellow German Annika Beck 6-4, 6-0.

Canada’s Milos Raonic (L) and Switzerland’s Stan Wawrinka talk at the net after Raonic won t …

The Belarusian had eased through her first three rounds, dropping only five games in total, per the Australian Open.

“You have these guys, these Grand Slam champions, guys that have been playing great, and to beat one of them for the first time at a Slam, doesn’t matter if that was on Court 15 or whichever court, it has a very concrete sort of message to the work I’m putting in and how I’m going about things”, he said. He won the first two sets clean at 6-4, 6-4.