ROGER Federer’s path to a 20th grand slam title became much clearer after Rafael Nadal retired hurt in the fifth set of his quarter-final against Marin Cilic on Tuesday night.

The Spaniard joined big names Novak Djokovic and Grigor Dimitrov in the exit queue and Federer will be looking to make the most of their absence. The Swiss maestro can book his place in the semi-finals with a win over 19th seed Tomas Berdych tonight.

The unseeded Tennys Sandgren and Hyeon Chung do battle in today’s other quarter-final, both vying to make the final four of a grand slam for the first time.

In women’s action Angelique Kerber is out to maintain her dominant run when she faces American Madison Keys while top seed Simona Halep will be hoping an ankle injury sustained earlier in the tournament doesn’t hamper her against bit-hitting Czech Karolina Pliskova.

The Aussie pairing of Lleyton Hewitt and Sam Groth will also be out to continue their dream run in their men’s doubles quarter-final clash today.

ROD LAVER ARENA

11am

(21) Angelique Kerber (GER) v (17) Madison Keys (USA)

Tennys Sandgren (USA) v Hyeon Chung (KOR)

(1) Simona Halep (ROU) v (6) Karolina Pliskova (CZE)

7.30pm

(19) Tomas Berdych (CZE) v (2) Roger Federer (SUI)

MARGARET COURT ARENA

1pm

(5) Timea Babos (HUN)/Kristina Mladenovic (FRA) v (8) Su-Wei Hsieh (TPE)/Shuai Peng (CHN)

Marcus Daniell (NZL)/Dominic Inglot (GBR) v (7) Oliver Marach (AUT)/Mate Pavic (CRO)

(11) Juan Sebastian Cabal (COL)/Robert Farah (COL) v Sam Groth (AUS)/Lleyton Hewitt (AUS)

9.45am

Kyrgios’ tennis IQ is ‘off the charts’

Kyrgios is smarter than we realise.

Kyrgios is smarter than we realise.Source:Getty Images

Few doubt Nick Kyrgios has the talent to win a grand slam but his mental approach has always been a question mark.

He went some way towards converting the naysayers with a more mature display at this year’s Australian Open. He refused to lose focus despite several off-court distractions in his second round win over Viktor Troicki, overcame a disappointing second set to bounce back against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and pushed World No. 3 Grigor Dimitrov to four sets — three of them tiebreaks.

Despite his career being littered with notable temper tantrums, Kyrgios may have much more between the ears than Australia realises. Renowned Aussie tennis coach Darren Cahill — who coaches women’s World No. 1 Simona Halep and has also mentored Lleyton Hewitt and Andre Agassi — says the 22-year-old’s tennis IQ is next level.

Knowing how to structure points, what shot to play to which ball and how to dictate an opponent on the court are all aspects that may not be noticeable to the casual observer watching on TV, but Gilbert says the young Aussie has smarts where it counts.

Kyrgios doesn’t have an official coach but perhaps his own tennis intelligence is enough with the guidance of some key figures around him.

“He’s had a good 12 months. He’s grown up a lot in the last 12 months,” Gilbert told Sportsday SA on FiveAA radio.

“Being around Lleyton Hewitt has helped him a ton. Coming back and being a part of that Davis Cup team — he’s embraced what it’s like to be an Australian athlete and play for a team.

“He says he doesn’t have a coach but he’s got a bit of help now. He’s got Jason Stoltenberg, he’s got Lleyton — both those guys are good with tennis and Nick already has a tennis IQ that is off the charts and he very rarely plays the wrong shot.

“But he’s also worked a lot harder off the court which is going to be the most important thing for him moving forward. He’s a big, strong athlete and he’s very fast but he has to look after his body because that’s what’s going to give him longevity and success in his career.”

9.30am

Sandgren explains Twitter clean-out

What’s a man to do?

What’s a man to do?Source:AP

Australian Open quarter-finalist Tennys Sandgren said in an interview on Tuesday that he deleted several years of tweets to “move forward” and create a “version of a cleaner start” after he was questioned about his connections with right-wing activists on social media.

Sandgren’s social media activity has been closely examined during his surprising run to the final eight at Melbourne Park. He was asked after his fourth-round win over Dominic Thiem about his links to controversial political figures and conspiracy theories.

During his post-match news conference on Monday, Sandgren denied supporting the far right movement, but said he found “some of the content interesting”. In his interview with ESPN on Tuesday, he sought to clarify that remark, saying it’s “definitely not ‘alt-right’ content is interesting, just some individuals’ specific content”.

“(It’s) not really specific ‘alt-right’ content that I deem of value, I think that’s very incorrect and I don’t find information like that to be of value or to hold onto any of those things,” he said.

“So it’s not who I am as a person in any way.”

He said he deleted all of his tweets not because it’s “something that I’m really necessary embarrassed about”, but because he thought that “creating a version of a cleaner start is not a bad call”.

“People can screenshot, save and distribute everything they would like to,” he said. “I know that, and that’ fine. It is what it is. It’s just something that I thought wouldn’t be a bad way to kind of move forward.”

Sandgren, who describes himself as a devout Christian, said he’s also learning and growing as a person and “definitely doesn’t have it all together”. The 26-year-old Sandgren is from Gallatin, Tennessee, and played two years of tennis at the University of Tennessee. His mother is from South Africa.

“I’m more than happy to talk with people and let people know how I feel about things,” he said. “I’ve had to put the social media aside for now, I’ll take a look at it and I’ll take the criticism and I’ll take the good with the bad and keep learning and growing as a person and try to move forward.”

— AP