Yesterday 20 year old Greek tennis star Stefanos Tsitsipas delivered a big upset to the Melbourne Federer fans as the young Hercules put on arguably his best performance to date to take out the defending champion of the Australian Open 3 sets to 1. It was inevitable that this would happen at some point, Tsitsipas has been chomping at the heels of Federer since earlier this month when he came awfully close to taking him out in the Hopman Cup, I just didn't think it would be this year!

Source - Getty Images - Free Lee - Novak Djokovic

There are many Federer fans on the forums and Youtube complaining that Federer made too many unforced errors off the forehand, almost as if to expect him to continue his dominance when he is now approaching 40. This is simply an unreasonable expectation when comparing him to someone 17 years his junior. For many of the decisive points yesterday Tsitsipas was simply faster to the ball and applied the sort of pressure to Federer that the Swiss simply couldn't return given his age. This is not to say Federer was below par, for me as a neutral fan, he also played a great game and the four sets were very tight. Indeed Federer took the first set on a tie break 13-11 and was only broken on serve once in the entire match. Three of the four sets went to tie breaks and so this was more a great triumph to celebrate for the youth of tennis rather than an embarrassing defeat for Roger on the scale of last years US Open exit.

Novak Djokovic vs Daniil Medvedev

Today we have the world number one Novak Djokovic looking to reach the Quarter finals of the Open when he takes on another rising young star who has been making waves on tour - Daniil Medvedev. The 22 year old Russian picked up his first ATP 500 title late last year by upsetting home favourite Kei Nishikori in the final in front of his home fans. Unfortunately earlier this month he couldn't make that two in a row when he faced the Japanese again in a final in Brisbane. There he went down in three sets. Still last year was his breakthrough year where he won his maiden and two more titles that has lead to his current ranking of 19th in the world. I expect big things from him this year, especially given that like Alexander Zverev (who is the most successful next gen player thus far) he moves so well at the back for a 6ft 6inch guy. This allows him to rely on a heavy serve and great defense - a very potent combination.

Nicknamed "The Bear" he's ravaged and maimed his opponents in Melbourne so far in dominant fashion and has yet to drop a set. His 6-2, 7-6, 6-3 win over David Goffin in the last round is his most impressive result out of the three and clearly sends a warning shot to Novak Djokovic that he won't be any Denis Shapovalov or Joe Wilfred Tsonga who just roll over for the Serbian - this bear won't play dead! Indeed one of the fundamental reasons Medvedev has been enjoying such success over the past 6 months is his minimisation of unforced errors. He has been able to hang in tiring rallies and win points you wouldn't believe a 6ft 6inch would be capable of. Showing fast feet for such a giant you can be sure today that he will be hanging in rallies longer than Nole is use to when playing a big guy.

Djokovic leads the head to head 2-0 with their last encounter in 2017 on grass where he won in straight sets. But today he will be facing a different Medvedev all together, I would love to see a 5 set encounter here.

Djokovic so far has looked pretty much like a brick wall that no one has been able to break or get past. But then again Federer looked on fire before he met Tsitsipas yesterday. Could we see a major shock on our hands today with the second of the top three players being ousted? Could this be the tournament where we finally see the youngsters breaking through and leaving the old guard behind who have been so dominant over the past decade? I would love to see young blood in the final minus the worlds current top three. As much as it's a joy to watch a showdown between Federer, Djokovic or Nadal it's about time we start seeing fresh young faces making the finals.

At this moment in time Nadal and Djokovic are on collision course in the final, whilst many in Melbourne will be eyeing up a match that would no doubt bring the drama between the two we witnessed at Wimbledon last summer, I will be hoping for atleast one next gen player to make it there instead to bring hope to new pack that not only is it possible to win 500 and Master titles, but now it's truly game on in the slams.

Prediction: Though Djokovic is likely to prevail here, Medvedev will give him a run for his money and with Denis Shapovalov taking a set off the Serbian in the previous round it leads me to edge on the side of Djokovic taking more than straight sets to bring down the Bear. Medvedev has yet to drop a set as well in Australia so he is looking in confident mood. I will be taking Medvedev at +6.5 games at 1.86 (1%) and a set handicap of +2.5 sets at 1.84 (1%).

Here's the lineup of youngsters left in the Open, it's been the best slam I can remember in a long time where at this stage we have so many next gen players left:

Daniil Medvedev - Russia - 22 years old (3 Titles including 1 x 500)

Alexander Zverev - Germany - 21 years old (10 Titles including 1 x ATP Tour Finals, 3 x Masters)

Borna Coric - Croatia - 22 years old (2 titles including 1 x 500)

Stefanos Tsitsipas - Greece - 20 years old (2 titles including 1 x Next Gen Finals)

Francis Tiafoe - United States - 20 years old (1 title)