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The untiring Roger Federer has stacked up another record by reaching his 27th consecutive grand slam quarter final and the odds are he’ll give himself every chance of defending his Australian Open title.
He equalled Jimmy Connors’ record when he beat Tommy Robredo in the fourth round of the Open on Sunday and heads into the second week of the tournament eyeing off another title decider with world No.1 Rafael Nadal.
But while the top two seeds are still in the box seat to meet in a grand slam final for the eighth time, neither has played scintillating tennis so far and the depth at the top will offer a tough challenge over the next seven days.
Federer had to overcome a scratchy second set to beat Robredo 6-3 3-6 6-3 6-2 on Sunday while the biggest threats on his side of the draw, Novak Djokovic and Tomas Berdych, had powerfully impressive straight set wins.
Djokovic brushed past 14th seed Nicolas Almagro 6-3 6-4 6-0 and sixth seed Berdych was just as ominous with a 6-4 6-2 6-3 win over No.9 Fernando Verdasco.
Third seed Djokovic and Wimbledon finalist Berdych have both lost just one set on their way to the final eight and will meet for a spot in the semis.
On the other side of the draw, Nadal has not lost a set but probably has the tougher half, with the in-form world No.4 Robin Soderling and fifth seed Andy Murray also untroubled as they move toward a potential quarter final match-up.
Djokovic, the 2008 champion, concedes Nadal and Federer are still setting the pace, but he believes the chasing pack, which he heads, is catching up.
“Definitely still the two favourites to win the event, deservedly,” Djokovic said.
“But I think maybe last year and a half, two years, you have a little bit more players coming up that are capable of winning major events.
“Soderling, Murray, Roddick. Yeah, couple more guys, I think Berdych. They’re all playing really good tennis and believe more they can beat Federer and Nadal. We all do.
“So in that terms, it’s maybe more open than it was couple years back.”
In a streak that began at Wimbledon in 2004, Federer has converted 14 of those quarter-final berths into grand slam titles but insists he can not afford to think too far ahead this week.
“I think Andy and Novak are playing extremely well, and that’s why I’m not really looking very far ahead here,” Federer said.
“Robin is playing well … Berdych hasn’t dropped a whole lot of sets or games.
“Interesting second week, I think. Yeah, I don’t think Rafa and I will be looking too far ahead here.”
After handing Robredo the second set in one lazy service game on Sunday, Federer shook off the lethargy in the third and fourth sets as he lifted his aggression, even if it meant committing 40 unforced errors, only just balanced out by 50 winners.
“I don’t care about unforced errors. The guys that love the statistics, they love those things,” he said.
“I don’t care if I make 20 or 60 unforced errors. As long as I’m doing the right things and staying true to my game plan and it makes sense. If I’m just making errors and I can’t hit any winner any more, then I’m in trouble clearly.”
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