The men’s quarterfinals at the Australian Open feature two members of the Big Four pitted against different types of challengers. Will the 2009 champion or the three-time Melbourne finalist fall prey to another upset Down Under?

Rafael Nadal v. Tomas Berdych

Is it finally Tomas Berdych’s time to shine against Rafael Nadal? It’s been over eight years and 17 matches since Berdych has pushed himself past the finish line against Nadal. In most of the matches these two have played since their encounter in Madrid in 2006, Nadal has laid the hammer down, winning 13 of their last 17 matches in straight sets. It’s been an immense struggle for Berdych, who’s been unable to sustain the offense needed to get the job done.

The closest Berdych has gotten to a massive breakthrough in these 17 matches was at the Australian Open in 2012. As it is this year, it was a quarterfinal match, but unlike in many of their other matches, Berdych captured the first set. Battling from 5-2 down in the second set and 4-1 in the second-set tiebreak, Berdych held set point at 6-5 with a short backhand ready to be drilled up the line. Instead, he chose to approach cross-court into Nadal’s forehand, one of the biggest mistakes anyone can make in the sport of tennis. Nadal would go on to win that point, the set, and eventually the match.

Berdych, who hasn’t dropped a set all tournament and has looked as good as anybody, needs to play a smart match. We all know he has to play off the first strike by dictating with his serve and forehand. If he’s unable to execute his aggressive style of play at a consistently high level, he’ll be in trouble for sure.

But more importantly, the Czech needs to pay attention to detail. For example, when Nadal gives him a short ball and he’s ready to approach, he needs to stay away from Nadal’s forehand when possible and avoid going cross-court. Nadal is already a good enough passer as it is. He doesn’t need the added luxury of having the entire line open off a cross-court approach shot.

Berdych also needs to trust his backhand. He needs to take it on early and look for it to be a weapon. Nadal’s cross-court forehand is just simply too good for Berdych to be playing off-forehands for the duration of the match.

I’d also like to see Berdych get into net behind his serve. In their Australian Open match in 2012, Nadal was essentially standing in Margaret Court Arena to return serve. Berdych could probably get himself out of some baseline rallies by moving forward and ending the point at the net.

There are so many different things Berdych needs to do well to win this match, but it may not be as a big of a stretch as it seems. As many have pointed out, Berdych is peaking while Nadal’s form has been somewhat up and down.

It’s hard to pick against Nadal, but if I’m writing a semifinal preview with Tomas Berdych in it, it won’t be totally surprising.

Prediction: Nadal in five sets

Andy Murray v. Nick Kyrgios

The fanatics will be louder than ever for this one as the future of Australian tennis takes his shot at one of the biggest stars in tennis in Andy Murray. Surprisingly, Kyrgios has yet to play a match on Rod Laver Arena, but rest assured this match will be taking place there.

Kyrgios has certainly summoned the passion that Aussie fans have for this sport and their players throughout this event. After scoring a narrow five-set win over Federico Delbonis in the first round, the 19-year-old rallied from two sets down to win 8-6 in the fifth set over Andreas Seppi, saving a match point along the way. It was truly a tremendous effort from the 19-year-old.

Murray’s road to the quarterfinal was very straightforward until his fourth-round match against Grigor Dimitrov. Dimitrov was just a game away from taking Murray to a decisive fifth set. Fortunately for Murray, he turned things around from 5-2 down, winning the last five games of the set to secure his berth in the quarterfinals.

Kyrgios is a substantial underdog in this match, likely reflecting the impact his draining fourth-round match has had on him. It also represents the disparity in experience at this level and the fact that Murray is also the better player at this point of their careers. Less importantly, Murray took Kyrgios to the woodshed when these two met in Toronto last year.

From Murray’s side of the net, he’s going to want to engage the young Aussie in as many backhand-to-backhand exchanges as possible. Kyrgios is much more developed off the forehand side, and the backhand is Murray’s best shot.

From Kyrgios’ point of view, unless Murray makes a full-fledged commitment to go after his second serve, Kyrgios is going to have plenty of looks on Murray’s second-serve points. In his Wimbledon victory over Nadal last year, Kyrgios really exposed Nadal off the second serve, and with Murray’s second serve being far less threatening than Nadal’s, he’ll be primed to get on the offensive if Murray can’t put his first serve in.

If Kyrgios is going to win three sets off Murray here, he’ll have realize that the net is his friend. He’ll win his fair share of baseline points off the merits of his forehand and serve but with Murray’s retrieving skills, he’ll need to get to the net. Considering Kyrgios needed 14 games in a fifth set to beat Seppi, moving forward and shortening points would do well to preserve his fitness.

All of the signs in this match point to Murray. He is more experienced, in better physical condition, and clearly the better player at this point in their careers. With that said, Kyrgios has the type of game where he can beat anybody on his day. With the crowd and the weapons of a giant-killer on his side, look for Kyrgios to pull off the upset and send Murray packing.

Prediction: Kyrgios in five sets