For the second straight major and third of the last five, the game's top-four players — Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Andy Murray — will square off in the semifinal round. To go even further, with only one exception — Juan Martin del Potro's 2009 US Open win — either Federer, Nadal or Djokovic has been the winner of every Slam tournament since Marat Safin's Australian Open win in 2005. Murray has yet to win a Slam, but the other three combine for 30 Grand Slam singles titles. Federer has the most of any player in the Open era with 16, Nadal has 10 and Djokovic has four, including two in Melbourne.
At various points in 2011, each of these four dominated the men's game. Most notable, of course, was Djokovic's 43-match win streak to begin the season. Roger Federer ended the year with a 15-match, three-title streak of his own and Andy Murray took two titles in Asia after the US Open. Combined, the four won 22 titles (Djokovic, 10; Nadal, 3; Murray, 5; and Federer, 4) and more than $31 million in prize money. Djokovic won the Australian Open (defeating Murray), Wimbledon and the US Open (defeating Nadal in both). Nadal defeated Federer to win the French Open. Federer won the ATP World Tour Finals, and Nadal led Spain to a fifth Davis Cup.
(2) Rafael Nadal vs. (3) Roger Federer
When: Thursday, Jan 26, 3:30 a.m. ET
Head-to-head: Nadal leads 17-9
Evans: Nadal's heroics on display to reach semis
Path to the semifinals:
2. Rafael Nadal, ESP
SF (3) Roger Federer, SUI
QF (7) Tomas Berdych, CZE 6-7 (5-7), 7-6 (8-6), 6-4, 6-3
R4 (18) Feliciano Lopez, ESP 6-4, 6-4, 6-2
R3 Lucas Lacko, SVK 6-2, 6-4, 6-2
R2 Tommy Haas, GER 6-4, 6-3, 6-4
R1 Alex Kuznetsov, USA 6-4, 6-1, 6-1
3. Roger Federer, SUI
SF (2) Rafael Nadal, ESP
QF (11) Juan Martin del Potro, ARG 6-4, 6-3, 6-2
R4 Bernard Tomic, AUS 6-4, 6-2, 6-2
R3 Ivo Carlovic, CRO 7-6(5), 7-5, 6-3
R2 Andreas Beck, GER Walkover
R1 Alexander Kudryavtsev, RUS 7-5, 6-2, 6-2
(1) Novak Djokovic vs. (4) Andy Murray
When: Friday, Jan 27, 3:30 a.m. ET
Head-to-head: Djokovic leads 6-4
Evans: Djokovic shows strain, lands in semis
Path to the semifinals:
1. Novak Djokovic, SRB
SF vs. (4) Andy Murray, GBR
QF (5) David Ferrer, ESP 6-4, 7-6(4), 6-1
R4 Lleyton Hewitt, AUS 6-1, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3
R3 Nicolas Mahut, FRA 6-0, 6-1, 6-1
R2 Santiago Giraldo, COL 6-3, 6-2, 6-1
R1 Paolo Lorenzi, ITA 6-2, 6-0, 6-0
4. Andy Murray, GBR
SF (1) Novak Djokovic, SRB
QF (24) Kei Nishikori, JPN 6-3, 6-3, 6-1
R4 Mikhail Kukushkin, KAZ 6-1, 6-1. 1-0 Ret.
R3 Michael Llodra, FRA 6-4, 6-2, 6-0
R2 Edouard Roger-Vasselin, FRA 6-1, 6-4, 6-4
R1 Ryan Harrison, USA 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-2
