Kerber Ousted In 4th Round

The 1st 4 quarter finalists were decided on Sunday and all but one followed the rankings.

(Rank/Seed)

2/2 Sharapova killed Flipkens 61 60, making her the most uncharitable player since the 128 player draw was introduced to Melbourne in 1988. She has now won 5 of her 6 Australian Open 4th rounds played.

4/4 Radwanska stretched her straight sets winning streak to 13 matches with a 62 64 win over former finalist (13/13) Ivanovic. She's the 2nd woman after Dementieva in 2009 to win 2 titles before then reach at least the quarters at the Australian Open, as well as improving to a perfect 4-0 in AO quarter finals.

(19/19) Makarova did it again! Just like last year when she surprised Serena in the 4th round here, she stunned (5/5) Kerber 75 64. Though she was nervous, letting a 5-2 1st set lead slip, she ultimately forced the play more (hitting 31 winners) and also defended brilliantly in a match between 2 lefties. Kerber was bothered by a back complaint which affected her serve, but couldn't take advantage of 2 break points at 4-3 in the 2nd set; losing one after an immense baseline and net exchange between the two. Makarova emulates her quarter final result from last year.

6/6 Li also kept up the good work, coming from 3-5 and set point down in the tie break to edge (18/18) Goerges 76(6) 61 in a first meeting. Having not gone beyond the 4th round of a Slam since winning in Paris back in 2011, this must have been a welcome relief.

So, Sharapova will face Makarova in a repeat of last years quarter. Ekaterina is really looking forward to the challenge, but Maria's form's been the best of the tournament so far. She's also never lost to Makarova, nor in an AO quarter final before, so I pick her to win comfortably. Radwanska and Li's harder to pick because they're both experienced and have a close head to head. Radwanska has just beaten Li in Sydney which will help, but I felt Li was very tired in that match. Last year, Li destroyed Radwanska 3 times and unlike her opponent, has never lost an AO quarter final, whilst Agnieszska's never won one. I'm going to say it will be close, but I'm favouring Li slightly.