ATP Tour - Australian Open

Today we had the last two matches remaining to complete the table for the quarter finals of the Australian Open.

And oh my....! What great matches have they both been! 

The two favorites have lost to two newcomers into a Grand Slam's quarterfinal. 

But before I continue to the details of these two matches and what to expect in the upcoming days from this event, let me give a very brief introduction about the ATP World Tour for those who are not so familiar with it. 

What is ATP 

ATP stands for the Association of Tennis Professionals and it was formed in 1972 with the aim to protect the interests of male professional tennis players.  

The ATP organizes the worldwide tennis tour for men since 1990 and has given its name to the tour ( ATP World Tour). The season of the ATP World Tour starts in January every year and it consists of a series of tournaments in various locations of the continent 

The type of the tournaments are the following:

 *More details about the tournaments in a future post 

As you can see on the above photo there are 4 Grand Slams every year and they are the biggest tournaments of the tour. This is why they are also known as majors.  The Australian Open is one of them. It's the first major tournament of the season and as such it attracts the interest of the tennis fans all over the world. 

What happened today 

Coming to the beginning of the post, the two matches of today's program offered two big surprises as the new-coming players managed to win the big favorites for qualifying to the quarter finals. 

In the first match Tennys Sandgren managed to beat Dominic Thiem, currently No.5 in the ATP rankings. The match was really tight and long as the result was 3-2 sets for Sandgren.  

Even though Thiem is one of the players I like, one can only give huge congratulations to Sandgren because it wasn't a win out of coincidence rather than a result of a really good performance.  To help you understand the size of his win let me tell you that he only managed to get to the 1st round of a Grand Slam only two times last year (French & US Opens)(Source) and now he has qualified for the quarterfinal of the Australian Open. Really well done Tennys!     

The second match was not as tight as the first but it was full of great tennis from both players and an even bigger upset for a favourite. Novak Djokovic couldn't overpass the obstacle of the young (21 y.o.) Hyeon Chung who saw himself beating one of the biggest players of the sport in straight sets (3-0).  Yes, Djokovic is coming from a long absence due to injury but this cannot undervalue Chung's win. He really played some fantastic tennis today.  

I was able to watch big parts of this match earlier today and I can say that I was really surprised by Chung's game. It was the first time watching him play and he managed to impress me with his composure and athleticism. He played without any fear against his big and famous opponent and won some great points/ I was also able to listen to his statements after the match and I can say that I was also impressed by his humble way of reacting to his huge achievement. He could hardly believe it and admitted that Djokovic was his idol while growing up into tennis... Wow, what an experience to beat your idol in such a huge event! Well done Hyeon!!   

Now the Quarter Finals 

The quarter finals will give us the opportunity to watch some interesting matches with big suspense for who will go through to the semifinals.  

The matches are:    

Rafa Nadal - Marin Cilic 

Grigor Dimitrov - Kyle Edmund 

Tennys Sandgren - Hyeon Chung 

Roger Federer - Tomas Berdych  

In these kind of games there is no room for predictions as the level of players is really high... Some great matches will be played starting from tomorrow where the two first pairs will get on court and fight for qualifying to the semis with the other two taking place on Wednesday. 

As you can see from the schedule there is a big possibility for the two big rivals but also good friends, Federer and Nadal, to reach the final and offer us another majestic battle! 

What do you think? Will we have the chance to watch another fedal in a Grand Slam's final?

Nevertheless I am looking forward to the upcoming matches, wishing the best of luck to all the players!

May the best win!

Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Association_of_Tennis_Professionals#ATP_World_Tour https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tennys_Sandgren http://indianexpress.com/article/sports/tennis/australian-open-chung-hyeon-stuns-novak-djokovic-5034816/ http://indianexpress.com/article/sports/tennis/australian-open-last-american-standing-tennys-sandgren-stoked-with-silly-run-5032672/ http://www.sdna.gr/tenis/grand-slam/us-open/article/372057/ena-vima-prin-proto-fedal-tis-neas-yorkis