The men's last eight line-up has been determined, and it contains nearly all of the tournament favourites.
Two-time champion Rafael Nadal led the charge on Monday, outlasting Lleyton Hewitt 6-3, 6-1, 7-6 (5). Serbian Novak Djokovic, 20, who was expected to go far given his incredible results this year, struggled late before finding the range on his ground strokes and serve in a 6-3, 6-3 7-6 win over Spain's Fernando Verdasco. Likely making his last stand as a significant player, Spain's Carlos Moya, 30, blitzed the only man older than him in the draw, 35-year-old Jonas Bjorkman in a 7-6, 6-2, 7-5 victory. Russian upstart Igor Andreev also continued his amazing form, tearing apart Marcos Baghdatis 2-6, 6-1, 6-3, 6-4.
On Sunday, top seed Roger Federer, No.4 Nikolay Davydenko, No.6 Tommy Robredo and No.19 Guillermo Canas all reached the final eight. Federer will face Robredo on Tuesday, while Davydenko will play Canas.
Of the eight men who have made the quarters, only two are considered true dark horses: the promising Andreev, who is ranked No.125, and 1998 Roland Garros champ Moya, who form has declined over the past few years.
Three weeks ago in Hamburg, Moya took down Novak Djokovic before taking a set off world No. 1 Roger Federer in the semi-finals.
Here, the Spaniard has played intelligent and powerful tennis, mixing hard forehands, low slices and successful net charges. Doubles expert Bjorkman tried to take over the net during the contest, but the Spaniard played in on his own terms, keeping the Swede guessing as to when and where he would attack. “Now I'm the oldest guy in the field,” Moya said, “but I still remember when I was the youngest guy in the draw, and now I have become the oldest. Time has passed so fast, but I'm very proud of being the oldest guy now, and I think I still have very good tennis ahead of me. When you're younger, maybe you don't value the things as I do right now. For me, it's a great honour to be in the last eight in a Grand Slam like this one, so I enjoy it more now. When I was 22, 23, I was in the Top 10 so I was supposed to be in the quarter-finals of the Roland Garros, and now I'm in the Top 20, so it's great for me to be here.”
Moya will face Nadal, who played nearly perfect tennis for the first two sets against Hewitt, committing only a few unforced errors and pushing the gritty Australian off the court. Hewitt tried mightily to confuse Nadal, but the rugged Spaniard found every corner.
In the third set, however, Hewitt's backhand began to find sharper angles and his forehand discovered more depth, while Nadal lost a little steam. The Spaniard served for the contest at 6-5, but Hewitt bounced back and broke him to claw into the tiebreaker.
Two-time Grand Slam champ Hewitt had opportunities there, but failed to consolidate two mini-breaks early, then at 5-4 dumped a straightforward forehand into the net. Hewitt and Nadal engaged in an up-and-back point at 5-5, where the Spaniard drew Hewitt into the net with a drop shot. Hewitt attempted to lob the No.2 seed, but Nadal crushed a smash past the hapless Aussie. The match point perhaps encapsulated the No.14 seed's day, as he buried another forehand into the net.
Moya is a mentor to the 20-year-old Nadal, as the two both grew up on the Spanish Island of Mallorca, but the veteran downplayed how much influence he's had on the young dominator's career. “I don't think he learned anything from me, and if he did, he did it much better than me,” Moya said with a laugh.” “He always had his own team, and I just helped him in whatever he came to ask me…. Rafa will be an opponent, a rival. On the court, you don't have any friends. When you are on court, you want to win the match, whatever the manner. And off court, we are friends."
Djokovic will play Andreev, the flying Russian with the ferocious forehand who butchered former Australian Open finalist Baghdatis. The Cypriot did a fine job in the first set of mixing his shots and counterpunching, but once the 23-year-old Russian found his feet and began launching huge forehands and fighting kick serves, Baghdatis had nowhere to go.
“I have a feeling [his forehand] is even more powerful than that of Nadal,” Baghdatis said. “He hurt me quite a lot with his forehand. You never know where he is going to place the ball, it keeps you moving from one end of the court to the other, and it's never easy.”
