Rafael Nadal is matched up with Grigor Dimitrov in the Australian Open quarterfinals and he now has a straight shot to the championship in Melbourne, as Novak Djokovic lost to Stanislas Wawrinka in five sets and now he will play against Tomas Berdych and that leaves Nadal to face Andy Murray or Roger Federer if he wins and that comes on Wednesday in Melbourne.
Nadal comes in after playing extremely well last year and winning the US Open and he also took the Qatar title earlier this year in the warm up for the Aussie Open and now that Djokovic is out he has the chance to win his first grand slam down under since back in 2009 and since then Federer has won one and Djokovic has won three. The Australian Open lost some star power on the women's side of things with Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova losing and Victoria Azarenka had her go of it as well and she came in after winning the title last year with Djokovic after Williams lost to Sloane Stephens, who was beat earlier.
Djokovic was beat in an epic match that rivaled his finals from two years ago against Nadal that lasted five sets and as many hours and the loss to Wawrinka snapped his streak of 14 straight semis and he also hadn't lost down under since back in 2010. Djokovic had a number of streaks broken on Wednesday, as he lost out on his 14 match streak against the player and also 25 straight wins at the Open and he hadn't lost in 28 matches since dropping the US Open final last year to Rafael Nadal. This match was also five hours and went late into the night and now Wawrinka has a chance to get to the finals at a grand slam and this is a huge opportunity for Nadal, as he hasn't won the major in Melbourne for years and now that Djokovic is out he could be ready to take it.
Nadal arguably has the tougher road with either Murray or Federer, but either way it will be a strong crop of players at the end of things on the semifinals with whoever gets through. The women now have lost Azarenka as well after she was defeated by Radwanska and now Nadal has his chance as well.