On a hot day on Tuesday, all the men’s fourth round matches were played. The first match saw Rafael Nadal make a sluggish start against Kei Nishikori of Japan.

Rafael Nadal saved four break points in the very first game of the match but soon dropped serve as Nishikori made aggressive returns particularly off the backhand wing. Nadal however broke back with a spectacular passing shot and then played better as he held serve with more ease. At 4-3, Nadal earned couple of breakpoints but was unable to convert dumping a return into net and then Nishikori came up with a good passing shot.

Nadal was not moving at his best and called for the trainer to strap his knee. Up 5-4, Nadal gained 30-0 lead but Nishikori fought back to game point. Nadal then earned couple of set points which he converted on when the Japanese player missed an easy forehand by going for an extravagant winner.

Nadal soon gained a 2-0 lead as Nishikori missed a volley and hit a double fault. Nadal now deploying more variety in his game hitting some good forehand down the lines and even served and volleyed to gain a 5-2 lead. Nadal then missed some easy shots to let Nishikori back into match when he served for the match at 5-3. A lucky net cord gave Nishikori the break back to 4-5. Nadal then had 2 match points on Nishikori’s serve but missed both before a wide forehand from the Japanese player gave him the match 6-4, 6-4 after two hours and 10 minutes. Nadal will next face a tough opponent in sixth seed Tsonga who easily beat Florian Mayer.

Top seed Djokovic beat Frenchman Richard Gasquet 7-5, 6-3 to advance. The first set was very close and Gasquet seemed in trouble at 0-30 at 4-5 but recovered to level at 5-5. Gasquet now had a break point on Djokovic’s serve but the missed opportunity meant that he soon dropped serve to lose the set 7-5. The World No. 1 soon dominated proceedings going up a break at 3-1 and then 5-2 soon. Gasquet showed some fight staving off three match points but lost the set at 6-3 and the match as well. Djokovic will next face Fifth seed David Ferrer who beat Juan Martin Del Potro 6-3, 6-3.

A day after beating Federer for only the third time in 24 matches, Andy Roddick came swiftly back to earth with a straight set defeat against 21st seed Juan Monaco 7-5, 6-0. Roddick made a quick start to lead 4-2 but then collapsed to lose eight games in a row from 5-5 in the first set. Fourth seed Andy Murray beat Gilles Simon 6-3, 6-4 in a match that saw long rallies where Simon was struggling and was made to run corner to corner to retrieve the ball. Mardy Fish was the lone remaining American in the quarterfinals beating Nicolas Almagro in three sets.

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