Iron-willed Czech Tomas Berdych ended a 17-match losing streak to Rafael Nadal to storm into the Australian Open semifinals on Tuesday.
His next opponent Andy Murray slapped down local teenager Nick Kyrgios 6-3, 7-6(5), 6-3 in the evening session to deflate home fans pumped up by the traditional sporting rivalry with former colonial master Britain.
Maria Sharapova inflicted another Grand Slam reality check on Eugenie Bouchard and will play an all-Russian semifinal with plucky left-hander Ekaterina Makarova, who thrashed third seed Simona Halep.
But it was Nadal’s 6-2, 6-0, 7-6(5) humbling on an unseasonably cold summer’s day that rocked Melbourne Park to its core and shook the biggest monkey in the men’s game off the back of Berdych.
The big-serving Czech’s 17-match losing streak to the Spaniard was the equal-longest in the professional era and snapping it was the result of a perfectly executed plan.
“Oh, it feels great!” Berdych said. “Everything was working. I was able to execute it really well.”
The rangy 29-year-old was irresistible in the first two sets against Nadal, wrapping them up in exactly an hour and giving the 14-time Major winner his first Grand Slam bagel since the 2006 Wimbledon final against Roger Federer.
“It was just not my day. I didn’t play with the right intensity and rhythm,” said a disappointed Nadal, who was nonetheless content with his run after coming back from injury and illness.
It was a performance that Sharapova would have approved of after her 78-minute rout of another young upstart in Canadian Bouchard.
Completely dictated Bouchard claimed to have learnt a lot from her gutting French Open loss last year, overhauled by the Russian from a set down, but nothing could have prepared her for the schooling that played out.
Completely dictated, Bouchard had nowhere to hide and the five-time Grand Slam champion feasted upon her serve. She swooped in for the kill with a string of smoking winners, sealing it with a crunching inside-out forehand.
Third seed Halep had cruised into the quarterfinals by smiting lower-ranked opponents, but ran head-first into a brick wall in the form of lithe left-hander Makarova.
The 26-year-old, who describes herself as shy off-court, blew the nerve-stricken Halep away and has not lost a set all tournament. She heads into her clash with Sharapova fresh and in top form.
“I am not shy on the tennis court. It is a big stage,” she said.
The Results:
(All quarterfinals)
Men’s singles: 7-Tomas Berdych (Cze) bt 3-Rafael Nadal (Esp) 6-2, 6-0, 7-6(5); 6-Andy Murray (Gbr) bt Nick Kyrgios (Aus) 6-3, 7-6(5), 6-3.
Doubles: Pierre-Hughes Herbert (Fra) & Nicolas Mahut (Fra) bt 2-Julien Benneteau (Fra) & Edouard Roger-Vasselin (Fra) 7-6(5), 3-6, 6-3; 4-Ivan Dodig (Cro) & Marcelo Melo (Bra) bt Feliciano Lopez (Esp) & Max Mirnyi (Blr) 6-0, 3-6, 7-6(4).
Women’s singles: 10-Ekaterina Makarova (Rus) bt 3-Simona Halep (Rou) 6-4, 6-0; 2-Maria Sharapova (Rus) bt 7-Eugenie Bouchard (Can) 6-3, 6-2.
Doubles: 16-Julia Georges (Ger) & Anna-Lena Groenefeld (Ger) bt Kiki Bertens (Ned) & Johanna Larsson (Swe) 6-2, 7-5; 14-Yung-Jan Chan (Tpe) & Jie Zheng (Chn) bt Klaudia Jans-Ignacik (Pol) & Andreja Klepac (Slo) 6-1, 6-2.
13-Michaella Krajicek (Ned) & Barbora Zahlavova Strycova (Cze) bt 5-Raquel Kops-Jones (USA) & Abigail Spears (USA) 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(3); Bethanie Mattek-Sands (USA) & Lucie Safarova (Cze) bt 3-Ekaterina Makarova (Rus) & Elena Vesnina (Rus) 7-6(5), 4-6, 6-2.
