With Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic having exited the proceedings, Milos Raonic and Rafael Nadal are two of the top Australian Open title favorites. They will face each other on Wednesday in a blockbuster quarterfinal contest.
Milos Raonic and Rafael Nadal will be squaring off for the ninth time in their careers when they battle for a semifinal spot at the Australian Open on Wednesday.
Nadal leads the head-to-head series 6-2, but Raonic has won two of their last three encounters dating back to 2015. The Canadian got the job done 4-6, 7-6(10), 7-5 at the Indian Wells Masters two years ago and most recently prevailed 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 earlier this month in Brisbane. In between those two contests, Nadal scored a 6-3, 7-6(3) victory at the 2015 Shanghai Masters.
The ninth-ranked Spaniard must be eager to avenge his Brisbane setback, but he almost did not get a chance. Alexander Zverev led Nadal two sets to one during third-round action but ended up falling 3-6, 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-2. Nadal endured a minor scare in his next outing against Gael Monfils only to avoid another five-setter by recovering from a break down in the fourth to win 6-3, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4.
Raonic was not been perfect on serve in his last two matches like he was in his first two, but an improving ground game has led to more than enough service breaks of his own. Following defeats of Dustin Brown, Gilles Muller, and Gilles Simon, the No. 3 seed broke Roberto Bautista Agut five times on Monday en route to a 7-6(6), 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 win.
“I think going to be a tough match for me, for sure,” Nadal commented. “Hopefully for him, too. He’s an opponent that make you feel that you’re playing with a lot of pressure all the time because his serve is huge and he’s playing very aggressive from the baseline. But I hope to be ready for it. I need to be very focused with my serve and play aggressive. If I am not playing aggressive, then I am dead.”
“We both tried to be the aggressors early on,” Raonic said of their Brisbane showdown. “I fought through a difficult moment midway through that second set. Then I thought I had it pretty handily after that point. I broke towards the end of that second set; broke right away in the third, had a lot of love-30 games, had a lot of break chances after that, (and was) holding quite easy. I found that…sort of turning point that I was looking for in that match. Obviously it’s very within me to find those solutions again, I believe.”
In what is sure to be a competitive contest, Raonic’s superior ability to win free points on serve may be the difference. Nadal will undoubtedly have to win plenty of pressure-packed baseline points on his own serve, and just one or two forehand errors at crucial moments could prove to be decisive.
Pick: Raonic in 5
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Rafa deserves to lose the TB..He did not finish his FH in open court in that point
set point for Rafa!!!
Oh my goodness..oh goodness
wooooooooohooooooooooooooooooo. phewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww
WOOOOHOOOOO!!!!YES 2nd sets in hands!!!!VAMOS RAFA!!!!!
5 set points saved..Jesus..that was nerve wrecking
Nny!Where r u????Please come out!!It’s okay,don’t be scared!I’m here to sooth your worry!
nny must be asleep.
I guess so vamosrafa..But i’m sure she will be the happiest women alive when she woke up!He he..VAMOS Rafa and Nny!!
Oh lord. Our rafa is back.? How did he keep calm thetr. And also no sweating?
Rafa..now you are 2 sets to love up..Please feel free, be calm and play your game. Don’t have lapses like you did against Monfils the other day
I sense a break here
Rafa is calm today. End of 2nd set so calm. Won a set he should have lost. It’s been the opposite lately. That is great news. He is not losing this. Mentality is different.
agreed Atul. The mentality is so different right now.
What a game ! vamos!
My word. Winners are everywhere
Please guys dont tempt fate ….
Atul are you in the us too?
If rafa can play like this when Xisca is here..then why on earth he didn’t bring xisca before??Urgh!!!Don’t understand!
God!it’s pretty annoying when you have to deal with a serve bot!When u think u’ve got the adv then boom!there comes the aces!!
That game was bit unlucky for Rafa not to break
If rafa can wrap up this match in 3,it will be good..he needs as much leg and energy as possible when dealing with Dimi soon..
Rafa is so effective,lulling milos left to right,make him unbalanced..very smart tactics..