Andy Murray had already been upset by Mischa Zverev, undone by some old-school serve and volley, and Roger Federer was down 5-1 in the first set against Kei Nishikori.
As yesterday stretched from afternoon to evening, the second week of the Australian Open appeared set to take on a drastically different complexion than any in a decade.
However, unlike newly installed No. 1 Murray, long-time top-ranked Federer found a way to fend off his fourth-round rival.
Photo: AP
The sum result of back-to-back long matches on Rod Laver Arena was a quarter-final pairing of 17th-seeded Federer against No. 50-ranked Zverev.
Five-time finalist Murray lost 7-5, 5-7, 6-2, 6-4 to Zverev, the older and apparently less-talented brother of Alexander Zverev who had never gone past the third round of a major and was appearing at only his third Grand Slam in six years.
Federer held off 2014 US Open finalist Nishikori, who was cramping and needed late treatment on his back, 6-7 (4/7), 6-4, 6-1, 4-6, 6-3.
Photo: AFP
Murray’s exit followed the second-round departure of six-time defending champion Novak Djokovic, beaten in the second round by No. 117-ranked wild-card entry Denis Istomin.
It is the first time since 2002 that the top two seeds have not reached the Australian Open quarter-finals, and the first time at a Grand Slam since the French Open in 2004.
“Right now I’m obviously very down, because I wanted to go further in this event, and it wasn’t to be,” Murray said. “I’ve had tough losses in my career in the past. I’ve come back from them. This is a tough one. I’m sure I’ll come back OK.”
The absence of both Djokovic and Murray from the quarter-finals — the first time since 2007 that at least one of them has not reached the last eight at a major — opens up opportunities.
US Open champion Stan Wawrinka, who had his major breakthrough at the 2014 Australian Open, is a growing contender after beating Andreas Seppi 7-6 (7/2), 7-6 (7/4), 7-6 (7/4). He is to play a quarter-final against 2008 Australian Open finalist Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who beat Dan Evans 6-7 (7/4), 6-2, 6-4, 6-4.
On the other half of the draw, 14-time major winner Rafael Nadal is the only man still in contention who has won a Grand Slam title.
Mischa Zverev attacked Murray, unsettling his natural baseline game, and won 65 of 118 points at the net. He made some stunning, lunging volleys on clutch points, but for him it was all a blur.
“Honestly, I don’t know, it was like I was in a little coma, I just served and volleyed my way through,” Zverev said. “Honestly there were a few points where I don’t know how I pulled it off.”
Murray could not do much to counter it.
“It’s the shots he was coming up with when he did come forward.” Murray said. “I mean, he came up with some great pickups, you know, reflex volleys especially at the end when it was tight.”
“He served very well when he needed to... He deserved to win, because he played great when he was down, and also in the important moments,” Murray added.
Seven-time major winner Venus Williams returned to the Australian Open quarter-finals for the ninth time with a 6-3, 7-5 win over No. 181-ranked Mona Barthel.
She is next to play No. 24-seeded Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who beat No. 8 Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-3, 6-3.
French Open champion Garbine Muguruza reached the quarter-finals in Australia for the first time, beating Sorana Cirstea 6-2, 6-3.
Murray had reached the quarter-finals or better on his previous seven trips to Melbourne Park — losing the finals in 2010 to Federer and in 2011, 2013, 2015 and last year to Djokovic.
It was the earliest exit by a top-seeded player at the Australian Open since Lleyton Hewitt’s fourth-round departure in 2003.
In mixed doubles, Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Belarussian partner Max Mirnyi were defeated by Croatia’s Darija Jurak and the Netherlands’ Jean-Julien Rojer 6-4, 6-2.
Additional reporting by staff writer
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