Australian Open 2012 live stream

Can Bernard Tomic continue to weave his magic against the maestro?

That’s the question as the 19-year-old Aussie heads into a blockbuster match against Roger Federer, 30, in Rod Laver Arena tonight.
 
Tomic was positively enthralling with his measured and varied shot selection against Alexandr Dolgopolov on Friday night, but will the almighty Rog have the answers to the questions Tomic poses with his clever poking and prodding?
 
They met once before – on poor grass and in windy conditions – in Sydney in Davis Cup last September and a weary (after the US Open and travel) Federer prevailed 6-2, 7-5, 3-6, 6-3.
 
There is gold dust sprinkled all over Tomic at the moment, so only a fool would pick against him. But Federer is Federer, so only a fool would pick against him.
 
As long as a player injury does not enter the picture, logic suggests that Tomic finally wears down and becomes vulnerable to Swiss ingenuity.
 
But his “head about you” Kipling calm during the heat of battle remains a quality that is amazing in one so young.
 
None of the other men’s round-of-16 matches features anything close to the tennis artistry and range of shot-making Federer and Tomic will display. Nadal v Feliciano Lopez, Berdych v Nicolas Almagro and del Potro v Philipp Kohlschreiber should all be about hitting your opponent off the court.
 
Nadal is a prohibitive favourite against the artful but sometimes acquiescent Lopez, del Potro has come on at Melbourne Park and should improve to 5-0 with Kohschreiber in a tougher tussle than most expect, and Berdych has an air about him that should result in a win over Almagro, a player like him who has explosive ball-striking skill but has always been lacking competitive gravitas.
 
Women’s top seed Caroline Wozniacki methodically continues her quest for a maiden Grand Slam title. She is 3-4 against a somewhat rejuvenated Jelena Jankovic but has won their three most recent meetings, all in 2011. This year should be no different.

The women’s match-of-the-day is a rematch of the 2011 final: Kim Clijsters vs. Li Na. Clijsters is 5-2 in their two-part (pre and post her 2007 retirement) head-to-head – pre 3-1 and post 2-1.

Li had a chance to win last year’s final until it dawned on her what was at stake. Happily for her 1.3 billion compatriots in China, she learned her lesson and won the next major in Paris five months later.

She seems particularly motivated in 2012. After beating Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova in Sydney and playing well in Hopman Cup, she is primed for an upset of the short-on-preparation Clijsters. This match is a 50-50 proposition.

In the remaining fourth rounders, No. 8 seed Agnieszka Radwanska will use her guile to bamboozle Julia Goerges’ one-dimensional offence, and Victoria Azarenka will shriek, to the crowd’s displeasure, her way to a decisive win over Czech lefthander Iveta Benesova.