The road through up-and-comer success goes through David Ferrer and he’s not letting anyone pass.  In the third round, he beat Richard Berankis in a thumping.  Then, he needed 4 sets to beat Milos Raonic of Canada.  Raonic was able to use his power serve and groundies and good approaches to the net to take the first set against Ferrer.  Ferrer does one thing quite well for a guy his height, and that is return serve.  Soon, Raonic’s errors began to accumulate, and he could no longer fend off the player, next to Nadal, who makes you earn everything.  Ferrer would take the next three sets 6-2, 6-3, 6-4.

Ferrer is playing well, but he faces Nadal next, a guy who has his number.

Nadal faced Cilic.  Cilic had a slender 1-0 lead over Nadal, a thumping in Beijing in 2009.  However, few expected Cilic to pose a problem for Nadal, even a Nadal who struggled a little against Tomic.  Cilic had a semifinal run at the Aussie Open in 2010, but played indifferently the rest of the year.  Cilic was starting to play better, but so was Nadal.  Nadal would sweep Cilic in straight sets.  He’s yet to drop a set, and faces the tough David Ferrer next.

On Day 9, Federer plays Wawrinka in the quarters, and Djokovic will face Berdych,  Wawrinka has been playing very well lately, including a title in Chennai and a romp over Roddick.  Djokovic has been very soild as well, and Berdych thumped the hard-hitting Verdasco.  Both matches could prove to be very exciting.