While we were sleeping: Nadal out, Sharapova, Murray advance
MELBOURNE, Australia – It was daytime here in Australia, but Rafael Nadal was living out one of his biggest nightmares on court. Tuesday the No. 3 seed was shocked in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open while Maria Sharapova and Andy Murray survived. How'd it all happen on Day 9? Find out here.
Rafa's rough day: Nadal said from the start of the tournament that he was unsure of his form, having played just a handful of matches following his Roland Garros win last season due to a bad wrist and surgery to remove his appendix. No. 7 seed Tomas Berdych took advantage of that, producing a 6-2, 6-0, 7-6(5) score line in a match where Nadal was far from playing his top tennis. Most remarkably, Berdych snapped a 17-match losing streak against Nadal, which dated back to 2006. Nadal called it a "very bad" day at the office, but said he felt as though improvements would come with time as he continued his comeback. "I have to take the positive things," Nadal told reporters. "Without being at my top level of tennis I was able to be here in quarterfinals."
Russian revolution: Maria Sharapova glided into the semifinals with an easier-than-expected victory over Canadian upstart Eugenie Bouchard, a semifinalist here a year ago. Sharapova won their highly touted affair 6-3, 6-2, the No. 2 seed earning her right to meet compatriot Ekaterina Makarova, seeded 10th. Makarova continued her love affair with this tournament, where she is now 19-4 over the last five years after she completed a 6-4, 6-0 runaway victory over No. 3 seed Simona Halep. Makarova has made her second consecutive Slam semi after advancing to the final four at the US Open in September. Sharapova leads their head-to-head series 5-0.
Murray silences a nation: All of Australia was behind Nick Kyrgios, the 19-year-old who had made an improbable run to the quarterfinals of this tournament, the first Aussie man to do so in 10 years. But Murray halted that run in the evening session, playing impeccable tennis and proving far too consistent from the back of the court for the hard-hitting youngster. Murray won the match 6-3, 7-6(5), 6-3, telling fans on court afterward that Kyrgios had a bright future in front of him. Murray faces Berdych next, the Czech holding a 6-4 head-to-head advantage in their 10 meetings.
A call home: Sharapova revealed on Tuesday that part of her motivation for cleaning up her game after a second round scare last week (in which she saved two match points) was the scolding she got from her dad, Yuri, on the phone after that match. "In a nice version, it was like, 'This is unacceptable,' Sharapova said of the call, smiling. "He told me that I was working much harder than I had to.'" Yuri coached his daughter for much of her early career before returning to Russia to live at home in 2008. "I actually think he's absolutely right. Sometimes it's encouraging to hear that because no one will tell you that. I like coming off the court and hearing how it is."