Roddick Slices and Dices vs. Gonzalez (Getty)
Another wild day of action on the bottom half of both men’s and women’s draws that saw upsets and surprises that could have consequences for 2010.
Probably the biggest news was the shock retirement of Dinara Safina from her match against Maria Kirilenko. Safina looked to be en route to a win, but while up 5-4 in the first set, Safina stopped play and said she was done. In her press conference, a visibly shaken Safina said that her back injury had returned and she didn’t even know if she could endure a plane ride out of Australia back to Germany so she could see her doctors.
Safina’s whole season is now in doubt even her days as a pro. One can only hope she can heal and get back on court soon.
Andy Roddick survived a grueling encounter with Fernando Gonzalez, finally winning 6-3, 3-6, 4-6, 7-5, 6-2. Roddick’s return game let him down as he was only four of eighteen on break point chances, but when “Gonzo” looked liked he was going to take the fourth set, Roddick hit a forehand winner at set point that was called out, then on the hawkeye replay was seen as in. The whole exchange rattled Gonzo who dropped his serve early in the fifth which allowed Roddick to hang on for the win. Roddick will now take on Marin Cilic who also survived a long five setter against Juan Martin Del Potro.
Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray set up a dream quarterfinal by taking out two of the game’s biggest servers Ivo Karlovic (Nadal) and John Isner (Murray). It’s hard to say who to favor in that one as both men desperately want to win for varying reasons. But I’ll still go with Murray as per my earlier prediction.
Finally, a nice round of applause for Nadia Petrova who apparently has found a new mental edge. She got through what could have been a nervy match against Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-3, 3-6, 6-1.
What impressed me was that Petrova had plenty of chances to “lose it” especially when she went down 0-1 in the final set. But Petrova just laughed it off which must mean she’s found some way to not think out there when it gets tight. She’ll need that new edge when she takes on Justine Henin in the quarterfinals.
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