It can never be considered a complete surprise to see Rafael Nadal in the latter stages of a Grand Slam, but this bottom-half semifinal at the Australian Open could not have been anticipated by many when the fortnight began. It will be Nadal vs. Grigor Dimitrov on Friday.
Rafael Nadal and Grigor Dimitrov will be squaring off for the ninth in their careers when they collide in the Australian Open semifinals on Friday night.
Nadal is dominating the head-to-head series 7-1, including 4-1 on hard courts and 1-0 in Melbourne. They faced each other in the quarterfinals of this event three years ago, when the Spaniard prevailed 3-6, 7-6(3), 7-6(7), 6-2. Dimitrov finally got on the scoreboard in this matchup with a 6-2, 6-4 rout last fall in Beijing, but that came during a stretch in which Nadal somewhat inexplicably played two fall-swing tournaments in between the U.S. Open and a premature end to his season because of a wrist problem.
It’s safe to say the 14-time major champion has recovered nicely from the injury that forced him out of the French Open after two rounds and prevented him from playing Wimbledon. Nadal won the six-man Abu Dhabi event a few weeks ago, lost a three-setter to Milos Raonic in the Brisbane quarters, and then avenged that defeat by beating Raonic 6-4, 7-6(7), 6-4 on Wednesday. The world No. 9 preceded that result with wins over Florian Mayer, Marcos Baghdatis, Alexander Zverev (five sets), and Gael Monfils.
Dimitrov is through to his second career slam semifinal (Wimbledon in 2014) thanks to defeats of Matthew O’Connell, Hyeon Chung, Richard Gasquet, Denis Istomin, and David Goffin. The 15th-ranked Bulgarian is an amazing 10-0 this year, having warmed up for the Aussie Open by capturing the Brisbane title.
“He’s a player that has been on the tour for a lot of years already,” Nadal said of Dimitrov. “He’s a player that has an unbelievable talent; unbelievable potential. He started the season playing unbelievable. (It) is going to be a very tough match for me. I hope for him, too. I’m going to try to play my best because I know he’s playing with high confidence.”
What’s more unbelievable is that six of the eight semifinalists–three on the men’s side and three women–are into their 30s. That includes Nadal and Roger Federer. If a dream Nadal-Federer final is derailed, it likely won’t be Dimitrov holding responsibility. He does not have the same firepower like that of Raonic or Zverev with which to seriously trouble the former world No. 1. Nadal actually finished with more winners than Raonic in the quarterfinals, an obvious indication that he is playing the correct way: offensively.
More of the same from Nadal would be more than enough to get past Dimitrov.
Pick: Nadal in 4
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who ya got?
once again hoping Nadal. he looked good against Raonic
Nadal in 4.
Should be a good match though.
Dimitrov is full of confidence, he never play with Nadal is such form, your preview is overestimating Nadal because of what he did against an extreme out of form Milos last night. I would say Dimitrov in 4 or 5 at the most .. yes he will face Roger in the Final !!!
Absolutely, I think just look at Raonic’s serve yesterday – he barely pulled out any aces and his first serve was not well placed throughout the match.. That was his fault, not Nadal’s pressure.
Very likely rafa in 3 or 4..Hopefully 3..rafa needs to save his energy as much as possible..he’s already at a disadvantage with the schedule..oh well…hope 2009[2:0] will happen once again…KEEP CALM AND LOVE RAFA!!!!
Dimitrov is playing amazing but Nadal has gone to another level and is a really bad matchup for him.
There’s simply no solution to the lefty to the RH single backhand unless you have a backhand like Wawrinka and even then its probably impossible when Nadal is playing like this.
Nadal should be 1.30 IMO.
If it was on clay I would definitely go for Nadal, but on hard surface Dimitrov has big chance to take the match.
Dimitrov in 4
Dimitrov in five
Nadal lost his last match to all 3 of his last opponents. Raonic, Dimitrov and Federer so there’s significant revenge factor in all these matches.
Nadal at his best takes care of everyone excluding Djokovic. Djokovic and Nadal at their best are dead even IMO.
Nadal in 3 or 4.
Nope, Rafa better than Djoko on clay; Djoko better than Rafa on Hcs.
I agree with lucky.
Got to break it down surface wise. On clay Rafa’a best >> Djokovic’s. On slow-medium HC’s, Djoko has the upper hand. However, I think Rafa’s best on the USO hard courts trump’s Djoko’s. Indoor courts, yeah Djokovic is superior of course.
Nadal start take is magig stuff again . He looks too good .
magic stuff?
Yep , his megic stuff ,
I don’t think you need to break it down by surface. They’ve had plenty of matches on all surfaces where its gone to the wire and there’s and the result has been decided by millimeters.
That to me suggests that regardless of surface there’s very little separating these 2 in terms of world class ability.
Yes you are right that it is a very very close rivalry but of course there is a need to break it down by surface. Nadal on RG is a totally different player. DJokovic has had total control of slow-medium hard courts and Fed used to have grass in his heyday.
And remember, we are talking about comparing the ‘best’ levels of both players.
That’s correct, very little separating their best levels. There’s no need to bring surfaces into the equation.
I agree with Mark. People beg the question by looking purely at the results, but looking at the score line, I think Nadal is better on clay and even on other surfaces with Djoko. Splitting the USO from other hard courts proves my point that assessment is made on who beat who where and when so simply because Nadal is 2:1 up at the USO, VR has removed it from his equation.
Djokovic has become as much Rafa’s thorn as Rafa has been for Roger. Novak’s won his last 7 matches against Rafa, and if both were playing at their peak, then Novak wins on grass and hard courts 60-40, and Nadal wins on clay 70-30.
The thing is they’re not going to meet on grass! What’s the point of comparing them on grass?
The last seven times they met, i.e. from 2015 to 2016, Rafa was clearly in a slump. It’s now looks like Rafa in on a comeback but Djoko is going the downward slope so we shall see how things turn out the next time they meet.
I would have paid a lot more attention to those 7 losses in a row if it were only Djokovic who was beating Rafa in that stretch. Problem, he was losing to so many other players! The problem wasn’t Djokovic, the problem was Rafa’s level. He was just not playing at a high enough level.
Nadal has been injured or recovering from injury for most of the last 4 years.
When they both play at their peak and on grass? Nah, Rafa’s peak on grass was in 2008; that Rafa >> then Fed or Peak Djoko on grass!! Djoko never as quick as Rafa or Fed on grass during their peak.
Lets not bother with the Nadal/Djoko comparisons, except they are both wholly reliant on maximum physical fitness or their games fall off badly. I think Raonic was slightly injured yesterday, not that it excuses him for the 2nd set muck up.
Dimitrov can certainly win if he is aggressive enough, there’s no point getting in to long rallies behind the baseline even though he often beats players like that.
‘wholly reliant on maximum physical fitness’. Yeah,as if Federer has been winning slams when lacking fitness…. who doesn’t need full fitness?!
Exactly VR, some people talked as if Fed just float around effortlessly! My goodness, they don’t even want to know how much effort Fed put in his training and in improving his fitness.
Fed was still fit enough to go five sets vs Stanimal despite him being four years older, and outlasted Kei over five sets the other day, clearly his fitness and stamina did play a part in his matches.
Dimitrov cant win IMO. I give him less than 10% chance.
That goes for any player. Best requires fitness. End of.
Dimitrov is playing well now a days.
Expect Tough match.
Hoping for Roger vs Rafa Final.
Why am i feeling this semi sill be like 2009 semi against Verdasco? That was Rafa at his peak and no one thought VErdasco will trouble him so much..but he took him to 5 ..and lost 6 4 in 5th
Rafa was a much less aggressive player back then than he is now. Not saying it won’t go to five, but I don’t think we’ll see a brutal slugfest this time around. At least I hope not!
I agree that Rafa was less aggressive back then. He was also a lot younger and able to battle in long baseline rallies. He can’t play that attritional style of play at this stage of his career.
It can’t be a brutal slugfest. Also, Dimi is not Nando as he was back then. Different players. I don’t see why anyone would think this will be like the 2009 AO semifinal.
It could go 4 or 5 sets. That is possible. Dimi is confident and playing very well. But Rafa has something bigger to play for. We all know what happened in the 2014 AO final with Rafa. This is his chance to fo it again.
I’ve got a bad feeling about this one….
Oh please don’t say that!
I have only good feelings.
this match will be tough, but given the way Rafa played against Raonic, he will prevail. And that level is enough to wear down the old man in the finals. #15 is his to lose
atul,
That is the way I am thinking about Rafa’s match with Dimi. Rafa is getting better with every match and his fighting spirit is as strong as ever. I think it’s natural to get nervous as Rafa is only one match from the final. I don’t think anyone expected this. But Rafa is playing like his old self now. I think he is so close that he can taste it.
I hope Rafa shows up as against Raonic. I agree that if he does he’ll win despite Dimi’s good run.
Can’t believe it’s been 6 years since the last Fedal final….
Keep calm, stay focused, remain confident, be strong and fight courageously, Rafa!
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C3ILTnGXEAAZqph.jpg
… and play dry, Rafa!
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