By Nick Georgandis
© Mark Peterson/Corleve
Throughout each and every day of the tournament, we'll be providing you several "matches to watch" - interesting combinations we feel should be both entertaining to the eye and impactful to the way the rest of the tournament will fall.
Without further adieu, here are Saturday's top 8 matches (4 ATP, 4 WTA). Note that because of the time difference between the continental US and Australia, most matches will be taking place late the night before the scheduled date.ATP
Bernard Tomic vs. Rafael Nadal (1) - The pride of Australia faces off against the pride of ... well, pretty much everywhere else. Tomic's upset of Feliciano Lopez has him through to the third round, where the No. 1 player in the world, who has barely broken a sweat awaits. Nadal's made it at least to the fourth round every year since 2005.
John Isner (20) vs. Marin Cilic (15) - Isner's first real challenge of the tournament, for the right to face Nadal in the fourth round. Isner came into this year with his head barely above .500 in Grand Slam events, and he must improve on that to be a serious Top 10 contender. He's never faced the 22-year-old Cilic, but when they take the court together, it will be one of the tallest gatherings in ATP history (Isner 6-foot-9, Cilic 6-foot-6).
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Jurgen Melzer (11) vs. Marcos Baghdatis (21) - If Melzer is to break through to the Top 10, this is the match to catapult him towards it. Other than his 2010 semifinal appearance at Roland Garros, he's never been past the fourth round despite playing in 34 career Grand Slams. He'll have his hands more than full with Baghdatis, who has survived two early battles to reach this point. It's the first career meeting for the two.
Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (32) vs. Andy Murray (5) - It's been smooth sailing for the Scot through two rounds. One opponent retired, the other got swept. But Andy and adversity have never meshed well together, so when Garcia-Lopez, yet another Spaniard in the third round starts to push, we'll see how Murray pushes back. The Spaniard owns a victory in the pair's only hard court meeting, a three-set triumph at San Jose in 2008.
WTA
Shuai Peng vs. Ayumi Morita - If you had this match-up penciled in to your pre-tournament bracket, immediately pack your belongings and move to Las Vegas. Lost in Na Li's diminutive shadow, the 54th-ranked Peng made her name known by upsetting Jelena Jankovic in the second round. She'll take on Ayumi, the most famous Morita since Mr. Miyagi, a 20-year-old from Japan ranked 74th who has never won a WTA title. The Pacific Rim players have met three times, with Peng taking a win in the final at Taipei last year.
Flavia Pennetta (22) vs.Shahar Peer (10) - Neither of these ladies has lost a set so far, so nothing's got to give here. Pennetta will be 29 next month and is in her 14th year on tour, having peaked at No. 10 in 2009. Peer is only 23 and at the cusp of the Top 10. The two have had an intriguing rivalry, with Pennetta taking the first three matchups between 2007-2009, and Peer winning twice last year, including in this round at the US Open.
Samantha Stosur (5) vs. Petra Kvitova (25) - Every win Stosur cruises to puts a bit more national attention and weight on her shoulders to become Australia's first Grand Slam winning woman since Evonne Goolagong Cawley took the WImbledon crown in 1980. Kvitova hasn't lost a set yet, either, and defeated Stosur in their only career meeting, at the French Open in 2008.
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Alize Cornet vs. Kim Clijsters (3) - For the second time in three rounds, Clijsters faces off against a former Top 3 talent seeking to regain that form. A qualifier, Cornet has made things interesting to say the least, and today being her 21st birthday, we're reminded of just how young she was when she finished 16th in the world in 2008. But she won't find much sympathy from Clijsters, who is the favorite in every match she plays these days, and working hard to overtake the two players ahead of her in the rankings. Since much of Cornet's success came while Clijsters was retired, the pair have never met before today.