Six of the top eight seeds have made it through to the men's quarter finals at the Australian Open, but there is only one surprise presence in the last eight. The superb form of 19th seed Stanislas Wawrinka makes his progress expected, but few would have forecast Alexander Dolgopolov performing so deep in the tournament at the expense of fourth seed Robin Soderling.
On paper the draw seems to be progressing to the expected Federer-Nadal final, but there some tough hurdles ahead for both before a repeat of the superb 2009 final is set up. Both favourites face quarter final opponents in perhaps the best form of their careers.
David Ferrer is yet to face a big name but his serene progress to date suggests Nadal will have his biggest test yet against his close friend. He has won 12 of their 15 meetings, including the last eight clashes and his improved display against Marin Cilic, in which he claimed to be back to full fitness, hints at a Nadal victory and the tennis betting reflects this.
Wawrinka will provide Federer with a tougher test in the draw's bottom half clash of good mates. Wawrinka is yet to drop a set, easing past higher seeds Gael Monfils and Andy Roddick in impressive fashion. He reached his first slam quarter final at last year's US Open and is playing well enough for the 1-6 record he has against Federer to be irrelevant.
Federer was given a massive scare by Gilles Simon in a five set epic in round two and is undoubtedly short of the consistency that characterised his best years. However, no one is better than winning slam quarter finals and Federer should edge this one in four sets.
Tomas Berdych and Novak Djokovic have cruised through the draw with little fanfare and should provide the tightest quarter final match. I fancy a five set encounter, leaving the winner, probably Berdych, vulnerable to Federer in the last four.
Andy Murray has been the most impressive player at the event to date, losing no more than three games in any set. He has not allowed his opponents to find any rhythm and he should see of Dolgopolov in straight sets.
The number five seed will probably have to beat Nadal and Federer in the same tournament to win his first major and he is playing well enough to finally suggest that goal is obtainable.
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