Let’s get caught up on other news before addressing the subject at hand.

Two matches were postponed due to lateness.  The shorter of the two matches was Jo-Wilfried Tsonga against Stanislas Wawrinka.  Tsonga was up 4-2 in the fifth before the match was called.  Wawrinka was able to break and tie it up at 4-all, before Tsonga got another break and won 6-4.

The other match was between Tomas Berdych and Juan Martin del Potro.  del Potro had just won the third set and was up 2 sets to 1 when the match was called.  del Potro got up a break, but Berdych broke back.  del Potro eventually broke late to take the fourth set, 7-5, and set up a meeting against Roger Federer.

If you had to point to a guy, other than Rafael Nadal, that’s dominating, you’d have to look at Spain’s number 2, David Ferrer.  Ferrer has yet to drop a set.  He dropped 8 games in the first round, 8 more in the second, 4 games in the third round, and 5 today against Marcel Granollers.  Ferrer was a bit streaky today, but managed to not lose too many points before getting his game in order.

By contrast, Roger Federer had dropped a set in each of the last three rounds.  Admittedly, 3 of the 4 players are players he’d never faced on the tour.  Novak Djokovic had to escape a 5 setter against Andreas Seppi in the fourth round.  Andy Murray has also played two four setters.

Let’s get to Andy Murray.  Gasquet has been a rival for Murray for many years.  Obviously, Murray has done quite a bit better than Gasquet over the years.  However, he struggled a bit in the first set and dropped the first set 6-1.  Murray righted the ship and got a break in the second set.  Gasquet tied it up 4-all, but Gasquet got broken and Murray took the second set, 6-4.  Murray then crushed in the next two sets taking the next two sets, 6-1 and 6-2.

Up next for Murray is Ferrer.  Most people are likely to favor Ferrer in the next round for several reasons.  First, Ferrer has just had a better French Open.  Second, Ferrer beat Murray the last two times they played on clay, admittedly, back in 2010.  Third, Murray isn’t playing great tennis, though he seems to be getting better.  For Murray, he can outhit Ferrer and he has a bigger serve.

This leaves Rafael Nadal. Nadal has not dropped a set either.  He’s dropped 5 games, 4 games, 8 games, and 2 games in the first four rounds.  He is playing dominating tennis, and no one has bothered him.  If you base it on form, Rafa is in great form.  Up next for Rafa is fellow Spaniard, Nicolas Almagro.  Almagro beat Tipsarevic in straight sets, using his power to control rallies.

Almagro has the kind of game, when he’s on, to give Rafa some trouble.  I don’t expect a win, but I do expect him to take the most games of any player Rafa has played thus far.

Tomorrow, Djokovic takes on Tsonga.  The two have an even record, but Tsonga won a lot of the early matches though the first time they met was in the finals of the 2008 Australian Open when Tsonga made a surprise run to the finals beating Rafa Nadal in the semis in a stunning upset.  Tsonga returned the favor in the quarterfinals of the 2010 Australian Open which Tsonga won in 5 sets.  Back then, Djokovic’s health was an issue.  He didn’t seem to handle long matches well, especially in heat.  Djokovic had chances to beat Melzer in 2010 but lost in 5 sets at the 2010 French Open, and he had the loss to Tsonga.

Surprisingly, they’ve only met once on clay, and that was this year, where Djokovic won in straight sets in Rome.  Djokovic has to clean up his game to play Tsonga.  I think this still favors Djokovic, but clearly, Tsonga can be a tough guy to play.  Given Wawrinka’s ability to keep up with Tsonga, I have to believe Djokovic can do more.

Roger Federer plays Juan Martin del Potro in the other quarterfinals.  Federer actually dominates this head-to-head.  However, one loss Fed would love to have back is the 2009 US Open.  Back then, del Potro was a beast.  His forehand was monstrous.  Then, Delpo got hurt for most of 2010.  He came back in 2011, but this version favors steadiness over imposing power.  del Potro has climbed up to 9 in the world and has had only one so-so loss against Marcos Baghdatis.  Other than that, del Potro has primarily lost to Federer (several times), and recently to Berdych and Tsonga, both top ten players.

Right now, the French Open gets more interesting.  The two upsets (Almagro over Tipsarevic and del Potro over Berdych) don’t seem so big and were upsets of the 7th and 8th seed by the 9th and 12th seed.

So onto the quarterfinals.  And one wonders, can anyone stop Rafa?