Fun Fun in the Fourth Round

Kiefer/Chela : This was a very good standard match from both players and Kiefer is showing some of his old form from when he was a top 10 player after his very impressive performance against Ferrero, which he proved wasn't a fluke in this match against Chela.

The first set was very tight with Kiefer making most of the play and Chela was very solid from the baseline and Chela was up in the breaker, but he missed a few first serves and then Kiefer took the initiative and was able to take the set, with good all court tennis and some changes of pace.

After the first set, in which there were no breaks, then the second set had 4 breaks of serve in a row and this was what cost Chela in this match. I mean when he had the break, then he lost it straight away and a violation of one of the golden rules and Keifer then showed his greater versatility, he was rallying well, then a change up and hit some excellent dropshots to expose Chela's forward movement which isn't the best. Kiefer usually won the point on the dropshot, or a volleying error from Chela or a passing shot.

While Chela was battling hard, the essential differences were that Chela didn't confirm his breaks of serve in the second set and Kiefer was playing at a very high level and had the greater variety of shot and this told in this match and it was a very good match to watch.

Hrbaty/Davydenko: Another potentially long match and this potentially was the case, though the fact Hrbaty lost a 5 setter was very surprising especially after leading 2 sets to love.

Hrbaty started very well and was in control and handled everything and was just hitting very good length and bossing the points and the PMK was getting run around and lost the first two sets comfortably. Then Hrbaty gets a break in the 3rd set and there was the possibility of something strange happening as in a three set win for Hrbaty.

After he was a break down the PMK decided to step up the pace and was going for a bit more and it was working and Hrbaty just dropped his level a bit and it was enough for the PMK to get the next 2 sets back, though even in the back of mind I thought Hrbaty would win and when he took an early break in the 5th, it was something that I thought would happen.

Too his credit the PMK mixed it up a bit and hit some short shots to get Dom out of his comfort zone and it worked and was able to keep going ahead and served it out to make the quarter finals again. Dom could get away with it by playing poorly against Dick Norman, but it wasn't good enough against a better opponent.

Nalbandian/Robredo : From all reports thanks Jimbo and Sammy this was an excellent performance from Nalle especially the first 2 sets as he was showing his talent in moving the ball so effortlessly and making Boredo do a multitude of running and defensive work and the points ended in Nalle passing shots or errors from Boredo who was being outplayed clearly.

He had a lapse in the third set, but when it came down to business in the fourth set, Nalle got focused and tough and ran through Boredo easily and showed his superior talent, just hope that he can get over his AO quarter final block and do some justice to his talents.

Baghdatis/Roddick: This was a very interesting match, well moreso before this match. I spoke to my boys from last year and we were feeling very relaxed about this match, almost confident about the result of this, it was a rare feeling. I mean Marcos had nothing to lose in this match and he isn't scared of playing the top players and has a tactical brain unlike his opponent.

The first set began and Roddick was like the big bad wolf, he came in huffing and puffing and hitting his big serves and Marcos was his languid self as usual and he had a very good strategy of blocking and chipping a lot of the returns and then getting into the rallies from where he was in the better position to win it and then when he has a break point in the 1st set, he takes it and holds for the set.

Roddick starts firing up and Marcos had a lapse and runs through second set easily, but even then there wasn't any panic and Marcos is playing his game returning so well and outrallying Roddick from the back of the court, hitting to his forehand and then making him backhand passes and he is not going to make many of those in pressure situations and this came through.

Marcos is varying the speed of the shots some high ones and low ones and moving the ball around very well and that outstanding forehand with the big acceleration was coming into play as was his backhand, plus Marcos in difficult situations served so well and ended up outacing Roddick in the end.

The bemused look on Roddick's face was great and what was even better when the dickhead abused the people in the Baghdatis Player Box in the 4th set. He missed a first serve and one of the uncles said yes, but he didn't clap and then Marcos wins the point and breaks and they start cheering and then Roddick hand over the mouth looks up at the them and lets rip with a few words that had fuck in them, see what a gracious guy he is under pressure, got to love that Roddick.

The Greek and Cypriot fans were fantastic in this match and they were singing all the time and Marcos was singing along with them as well when he was waiting to receive the serve and was very relaxed and the atmosphere was carnival like from the Marcos fans and the Ducks were just stunned and it was beautiful, they took him lightly and didn't expect that Baghdatis could win and that made it better. Jim "Dickhead" Courier with his after match interview got put in his place with some cheeky comments from Baghdatis.

After the match it was a great atmosphere, with plenty of singing and dancing and caught up with some of the guys afterwards at one of the Greek restaurants in town and there was a lot of fun to be had and great times to be had.

Santoro/Ferrer : What a contrast in styles this was and a great performance from Fabrice. He was just running everything down and giving no pace to Ferrer, who was hitting the ball well, but was pressing too much and Santoro's junk was too much for Ferrer who made a lot of errors and was up breaks of serve and I thought he would win this match, but alas it wasn't to be.

This is great for Santoro and he is so unique and there will never be another like him and he won't be around for a while and I will miss him. The dropshots, the sneaky spins, the volleys and he even looks like something besides a tennis player.

More updates tomorrow, this one has taken too long.