Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer remain on a collision course for the Australian Open semifinals. The last roadblock comes on Tuesday, when Djokovic battles Milos Raonic and Federer faces Tennys Sandgren.
(32) Milos Raonic vs. (2) Novak Djokovic
Djokovic and Raonic will be going head-to-head for the 10th time in their careers when they battle for a semifinal spot at the Australian Open on Tuesday. All nine of their previous encounters have gone the way of Djokovic, who is 5-0 at Raonic’s expense on hard courts. They have met only once since 2016, with the Serb prevailing 7-5, 4-6, 6-3 two years ago at the Cincinnati Masters.
Although Raonic is by no means among the title favorites, perhaps no one has been more impressive than these two players so far this fortnight. The 35th-ranked Canadian has surrendered neither a set nor a service game while defeating Lorenzo Giustino, Christian Garin, Stefanos Tsitsipas, and Marin Cilic. Djokovic was similarly dominant during victories over Jan-Lennard Struff (the German, however, stole one set), Tatsuma Ito, Yoshihito Nishioka, and Diego Schwartzman. Like Struff, Raonic has the power game that can hit through Djokovic at times. But the underdog will almost surely crack sooner rather than later against a player of the world No. 2’s defensive caliber. As usual in this matchup, returning will beat serving.
Pick: Djokovic in 4
[crowdsignal poll=10496824]
(3) Roger Federer vs. Tennys Sandgren
For the second time in the last three years, Sandgren has made a run to the Australian Open quarterfinals. His reward is a first-ever meeting with Federer, who is obviously accustomed to making it much, much farther than just the quarterfinals Down Under. Bidding for a seventh title in Melbourne and 21st slam overall, the 38-year-old Swiss has advanced this fortnight with victories over Steve Johnson, Filip Krajinovic, John Millman (in a fifth-set tiebreaker), and Marton Fucsovics.
Sandgren’s success has once again come completely out of nowhere, as he fell off the map for much of 2019 following his 2018 Aussie success. Toiling away at 100th in the world, the American has suddenly strung together wins over Marco Trungelliti, Matteo Berrettini, Sam Querrey, and Fabio Fognini. Federer has not yet heated up at this tournament as he normally does toward the business end of majors, and Sandgren will make him work extremely hard in points. Still, the world No. 3 should have more than enough to navigate his way through what continues to be a friendly draw.
Pick: Federer in 4
[crowdsignal poll=10496825]
Novak breaks to take the first set 6-4. He’s doing a great job of reading the Raonic serve, but the bigger story, imo, is Raonic’s inability to hit the return back, even when it’s not landing deep in the court. It’s like Milos forgets to take his racket back into position after he hits the serve.
Yeah, pretty poor performance so far from the baseline for Raonic.
He did a good job at saving so many bps, which probably tires Djoko mentally. As a result his reaction after winning the 1st set.
So annoying and disappointing Raonic. Just when he starts building a positive momentum and you start to believe, he reminds you quickly that hitting simple tennis balls on inside the opponent’s court is not his strength at all.
Very agree with u eugene!…Very disappointing!…This is QF for heaven sake!….We want to see the real tennis at this stage….like Rafa last nite!…or Fed/Sandgren or many other quality matches!…That’s what we called tennis!
I regretted watching it!…Just waste of my time!…Urgh!!
I knew Roanic did not have a chance against Novak! I mean Novak essentially took the racket from Roanic’s hands as expected.
As for Roger, he sure is wobbling his way through the draw! Saving 7 match points is no mean feat though! Good on him!
Fed vs djoko..dream semi..does fed have any chance ? I think he will take a set
Fed playing like this and you expect him to win a set against Djoko? Fat hope imo, unless Djoko drops his level drastically from today’s, highly unlikely when he’s at the business end of things.
Nerves lucky ..it can happen
Nerves? Djoko at AO? Nah, he’s so full of confidence, it’s only when he sees Stan across the net that he may get a bit nervous, not when Fed or Rafa across the net.
I was fortunate to be at both matches today and while the first one was definitely more amazing, the 2nd one was pretty interesting too.
Federer started off okay and then clearly lost his way, something was obviously wrong from the way he was moving. He wasn’t going for balls, he wasn’t bending into the usual trophy stance. He’s usually hard to read, but he looked almost resigned, and I think much of the crowd was resigned to a loss. That being said, the crowd did everything for him, you’d swear he was as Australian as Ash Barty. Credit to Sandgren, he was playing very well, hitting the cover off the ball in the first four sets and making 200kmh bombs out wide. Somehow Fed found another gear, there was definitely a bit of luck involved with the MP’s as Sandgren didn’t play them badly, but Fed definitely raised his level for them and really forced Sandgren to make a move.
Despite the incredible comeback, it’s hard to imagine him really challenging Djokovic in this semi. Something will have to change drastically, because aside from R2 (against quite a weak opponent) Roger has looked pretty ordinary. A lot of unforced errors, average defensive movement, and a general lack of fluency. He’s even missing a lot of bread and butter volleys, plus a concerning number of the missed serves are out by 1-2 metres.
Djokovic on the other hand, looked about as in-command against a huge server as anyone could. Quite a few points where Raonic hit the lines (or thereabouts) with a 210-230kmh serve, only to have the return come in, and then once a rally began it was all Djokovic. The points Raonic won on Novak’s serve generally consisted of 2 or 3 big cuts at the ball, would-be winners landing on or right near the lines. Djokovic really is a fantastic mover on this surface. He might not be Nadal on clay, but man, he slides on it so regularly and so comfortably. He played close to perfect tennis today, barely any UE’s, never dropped his level, never wilted under pressure.
I am disappointed that the AO slowed the court speed down. I liked that the USO was slower, and then we had quicker AO to contrast it. This kind of surface can be a nightmare for 38 year old Fed. It would have been fine for his game up until a few years ago, but now he just doesn’t have the raw firepower from the back of the court that he used to have. And while he’s obviously a great mover considering his age, he obviously doesn’t have the same baseline movement he used to have. Grinding tennis does not suit him at all anymore. But that is precisely why I am quite impressed that he’s been able to scrape by these younger, more powerful opponents to make the SF. Props to him for fighting through. I think if Fed has any realistic shot of winning one more major from here on out, it’s Wimbledon.
There is no question that Novak will be HEAVILY favored to win their match. If Fed can be as fresh as possible, maybe he can get a set. Could be a similar match to 2016. There’s just no way Fed can beat Novak on a slow court like this, especially in best-of-5.
Yes I forgot to mention – the court is definitely slower. It doesn’t skid through at all on this surface. Once it’s colder it is even more noticeable. Forecast for Thurs/Fri is very hot so that might help speed things up a bit.
It does bounce relatively low – this is not a hardcourt that really favours topspin – but it’s not the faster surface from before.
So basically bad for fed n rafa n great for novak..slow bad for fed n low bounce n no topspin bad for rafa
Yeah, it’s definitely best for Novak out of the big three.
Is it even slower at night than day..
What court favours thiem ? He too can’t hit through this court right. So maybe he can’t hit through rafa..right ?
Yes slower at night as its cooler than the day.
Thiem Rafa is tough to call as Thiem has really upped his hardcourt game. I still expect Rafa to come through but its not too far from 50/50 IMO.
Sanju, Thiem has never needed a court where you can “hit through” players easier to play his best game. Thiem is a heavy hitting grinder. Thiem best surface is clay- the hardest surface to hit through opponents. However, similar to Rafa, one of the reasons why Thiem is so great on clay is because he hits so hard with immensely heavy topspin. Particuarly because of the higher bounce, clay accentuates top spin more than any pretty much any other surface. This is why Rafa’s game is tailor-made for clay, and it’s the same for Thiem. I haven’t heard any pundits or players talk yet about how high-bouncing this new AO court is. Has anyone here heard that aspect discussed at all? If it has been discussed, what was the consensus? Because for Thiem AND Rafa, the amount of kick of the court is actually more important than the speed, imo. Clay is generally the slowest surface, so Rafa and Thiem clearly have absolutely no issue with slower courts. And their results have always suggested they struggle more on quicker courts. If these new AO courts are higher-bouncing, then that would mean that this is the best possible hardcourt for Rafa and Thiem- slow and high-bouncing. But if this court is not particuarly high-bouncing, and does not accentuate heavy topspin as much, then that would make it a little less ideal for both of them. But when it comes down to it, a slower court is always going to be better for Rafa and Thiem. I understand that hard grinding might not be the best thing for Rafa at this stage in his career, but it’s undeniable that he is still arguably the best slow court player in the world, maybe with the exception of Novak. But has Novak won the last 3 RG titles? No, that would be Rafa. Personally, I think this surface is great for Rafa. Maybe the bounce could be better, but it’s still great for him. I don’t understand some on here saying that a slower court could somehow NOT favor Rafael Nadal- the greatest slower court player in history.
Kevin the court playing slow but not bouncing high
Correct, its the bounce that’s crucial to Rafa not the speed,and also Thiem.
I did not find the match with Fed and Sandgren to be a good experience. Fed was quite out of sorts in the beginning of the third set, with Sandgren having won the second set and up a break in the third. He was arguing with the linesperson and the chair umpire. Then he took an eight minute break off court for whatever was ailing him. I don’t blame Sandgren for being put out by it. He had the momentum and was ahead. I don’t know what was going on with Fed, but they just have given him something because after a while he was playing better. I was not surprised with the crowd overwhelmingly behind him that Sandgren could not close out the match. He is #100 in the world for a reason.
Honestly, I found nothing to get excited about with Fed somehow surviving a five setter with a guy of this caliber. He obviously had some kind of physical issue, maybe the back again. But this was not great tennis at all. I can’t see Fed troubling Novak in the semifinal.
Groin not back n he said it’s just pain not injury
Well a groin injury is very painful. That could hamper him quite a bit.
Hey Nny!…If i may ask…how r u today?Feel a little bit better?
mira andi,
You can ask me anything, any time!
I am doing better. You helped a lot. I need to be there for Rafa. Despite loss, life does go on. The memories have to sustain us. I have such great memories. I feel for the families of the other people who died. A female basketball coach who leaves a husband and three children. A male baseball coach who died with his wife and daughter and leaves two other children without any parents. These families will be devastated.
It is very comforting to come here and get support. It helps so much. We still have Rafa and he needs our support with this tough draw. He can still make me smile even when my heart is broken.
Just know that your words helped me more than I can say.
😍
Hey back Nny!…Yaayyyyy!!…it’s good to hear u feel better now Nny!…U just keep holding strong there ok?Not only we still have Rafa to focus on…but to keep thinking about something negative like this will only added a black cloud in our lives that i’m sure no one in this world want that…right Nny?
We have Rafa to thank for!…I mean,when this sad moment happened,at the same time,he’s there to entertain/distract from all this sadness…it’s going to be more magical if he win it tòo!…err….let’s think bout that on sunday!hehe…even tho it sounds like reaching for the stars!…But who knows??Magic will happen?
So…hip hip hooray for Rafa!!!