The ATP third round has set up a blockbuster round of 16 for us, particularly in the top half of the draw. A lack of upsets means that all eight competitors in the top half are seeded and that seven of them are in the top 16, Philipp Kohlschreiber being the one exception as the #22 seed. The notable upset on the bottom half was David Ferrer's loss to Gilles Simon. Still, we have some incredible fourth-round matches set up for us over the next two days.

Honor Roll:
 
Kei Nishikori (defeated Mayer 64 62 63)- It cannot be understated just how well Nishikori played this week and just how surprising it is. It was unclear when the tournament started if he would even be able to compete as he recovered from a foot injury. Still, the recent injury and lack of preparation has not hurt him and he has not missed a beat. His groundstrokes are massive and he is playing smart tennis out there. Djokovic should probably be more scared of meeting Nishikori than Wawrinka in a semifinal.
 
Gilles Simon (defeated Ferrer 63 36 61 63) Simon simply out-Ferrered Ferrer on court. His defense was impeccable and his groundstokes were deep and to the corners of the court. And whenever Ferrer left an opening up the lines, Simon immediately took advantage of it. Eventually Simon's defense wore Ferrer down, forcing the Spaniard to go for too much and hit errors. It was a brilliant display of grinding tennis from Simon, who played as well as he ever has in this match.

Dominic Thiem (defeated Lopez 64 62 63)- This young “mega” star is really coming into his own at this major. His talent has been obvious for a few years now and he is finally ready to make his breakthrough to the top levels. Thiem did not hit as many winners as he is used to today but did a very good job taking rallies to positions where Feliciano could make a mistake. Tomas Berdych is up next for Thiem's first second-week match at a Grand Slam.

 Room for Improvement:
 
John Isner (lost to Kohlschreiber 67 64 67 67)- Isner did not do well enough on return all match, although he did get the only break of serve. That's not why he is here, though. That's to be expected from Isner, especially against a good server like Kohlschreiber. Isner's issue was very simple. He couldn't bring his best stuff in the tiebreak. When you play for tiebreaks, you have to be perfect in them. Isner wasn't and lost all three tiebreaks and the match.

Sam Querrey (lost to Djokovic 63 62 62)- There is no shame in being straight-setted by Djokovic. But Querrey reverted to his first-round self in this match. He hit many poor errors Djokovic simply got a few shots in play. This was far from a peak match from Djokovic, and yet Querrey made beating him look way too easy.

Grigor Dimitrov (defeated Goffin 06 63 64 61)- The conditions were very humid and uncomfortable, but Dimitrov just didn't come to play for the first half hour or so. Goffin was very solid, but Grigor was just spraying errors and hitting poor shots. He turned it around very quickly once the second set started, aside from a poor stretch in the third, but top players cannot afford performances like this in the later stages of Grand Slam events.

Match of the Round:

Not a single match in this round went to five sets. Several went to four sets, and several were exciting within each set. But, as a whole, there were no real over-the-top entertaining matches. Simon/Ferrer was intriguing and had a lot of grinding points, but the overall level and excitement of that match was never so high. This spot thus belongs to Nick Kyrgios against Tommy Robredo. Kyrgios came out absolutely on fire and was hitting Robredo off the court. For his own part, Robredo was playing some very good tennis.

Eventually, though, as the second set progressed, Kyrgios began to wear down. Robredo's excellent defense was taking a toll. Kyrgios was still hitting big and playing incredible points, but as the match went on the number of errors crept up. Kyrgios couldn't sustain such a level, and ultimately Robredo's superior experience and all-court play brought him through.