Rafael Nadal will continue his Basel campaign on Friday against wild card Borna Coric. If Nadal wins, he will go up against either Milos Raonic or David Goffin the semifinals.
(WC) Borna Coric vs. (2) Rafael Nadal
So far at the Swiss Indoors Basel, both a veteran and an up-and-comer have gotten shots at a less-than-100 percent Rafael Nadal. Neither one came close to doing anything with the opportunity. Simone Bolelli went down 6-2, 6-2 on Monday and Pierre-Hugues Herbert was even shorter work for Nadal in the form of a 6-1, 6-1 blowout. A second straight youngster is next on the Spaniard’s schedule, as Coric booked his spot in the last eight by taking out Ernests Gulbis and Andrey Golubev.
Coric is a 17-year-old Croat who will be the youngest man in the top 100 if he pulls off this upset. The world No. 124 reached his first career ATP quarterfinal this summer on the clay courts of Umag and he captured a Challenger title last month in Izmir, Turkey. Unsurprisingly, this is the first meeting between Nadal and Coric. The world No. 3 has struggled with a wrist injury and appendicitis, but his two preceding Basel performances were far more encouraging than what had been on display in Beijing and Shanghai. That’s bad news for Coric, who will make Nadal work but does not yet have the necessary firepower to cause serious damage.
Pick: Nadal in 2 losing 8-10 games
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(7) David Goffin vs. (4) Milos Raonic
Raonic has not been at his best this fall heading into quarterfinal action on Friday in Basel, but he persevered through a mediocre performance against Donald Young on Thursday and kept his London hopes alive and well with a 6-4, 6-7(5), 7-6(2) victory. That was preceded by a 7-6(4), 6-4 defeat of another American, Steve Johnson. The 10th-ranked Canadian, a runner-up in Tokyo, is coming off the losses of consecutive opening matches in Shanghai and Moscow.
Goffin has been on a well-documented hot streak ever since Wimbledon–and that’s putting it mildly. The 28th-ranked Belgian is an outrageous 41-2 in his last 43 matches, with ATP titles on clay in Kitzbuhel and indoor hard courts in Metz. While most of his work has been done at the Challenger level, those two ATP results indicate that Goffin is more than capable of making another run this week. He earned his place in the quarters with straight-set wins over Dominic Thiem and Ivan Dodig. With an awesome return of serve and unparalleled confidence, Goffin should really be the favorite in this one.
Pick: Goffin in 2
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Goffin in Basel and Bellucci in Valencia, I`ll give them simular chances in their QF-matches. Nadal with a great draw this tourney,good for the tourney..SF vs Goffin could be a good one
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Nadal has pulled out of Paris citing personal reasons. Cilic and Gulbis also out.
This does not come as a complete surprise.
Why is this not a surprise?
I wonder why this does not come as a surprise……..
It’s the reason I find surprising. Personal reasons sound ominous. I hope it’s the surgery he’s having done otherwise I worry what’s going on in his private life. He said he wanted to have matches under his belt for 2015.
Yet another blackout in Basel. Is Switzerland a 3rd world country?
Why oh why does Goffin have to ruin his boy-band looks with that craggy beard??
What boy-band look? Maybe he doesn’t want to look like a 9 yr old.
I thought 9 was the entry age for most boy band members………….
^^^^^^Hardly a craggy beard. More like unshaven bum fluff. Perhaps he believes it makes him look more grown-up.
Goffin is ahead of Raonic in the Real Deal pecking order.
Oooh…comms say Goffin has school boy looks, I say he has boy band looks………
He is another Ferrer in the making…………..but better looking 😉
ED, really? Goffin has an old man’s look in a boy’s body. IMHO. 🙂
^^^^He reminds me very much of Anthony Andrews when he played a schoolboy in Forty Years On. He also bears a strong resemblance to Colin Firth as a young man.
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Goffin knocks Raonic out.
At the risk of being ‘unfriended’ by Hawkeye I find Raonic incredibly hard (read boring) to watch. Take away the booming serve and the rest of his game is only so-so.
well you won’t have to watch him in London!
Basel is being shown live on SKY now.
what’s going on with Rafa? “Personal reasons” does not sound good…I’m worried now…and where is Xisca? I understood he was accompanied by Xisca in Basel but I have not yet seen her on the stands…oh, Gosh…I am concerned about Rafa like he was the member of my own family…
personal reasons = “getting appendix out”
this is his last tournament of 2014
Xisca went with him to look at a yacht then went back home. There is nothing amiss there, they were all over each other.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2800180/the-ultimate-status-symbol-rafael-nadal-looks-loved-girlfriend-xisca-perello-luxury-yacht-shopping-cannes.html
natashao2013 (at 4:41 pm)
Xisca was in Basel during the weekend. She went home because she is a working woman.
Where the heck’s Rafa??
i don’t think I want to watch this anymore 🙁
Time for my bath……………
A car crash going on here.
Vamos Rafa!
okay…so what the HELL IS THIS? I have been saying to myself for the past five games ‘he’l regain his focus and rhythm any moment now’ but it is not happening. Getting worse!
Well, I do feel he’l win the match…so far..
Coric is not doing anything exceptional. Rafa is just out of sorts.
Vamos Rafa!
that is true
another player who will be promoted a hero thanks to Rafa…
no..not gonna happen
has rafa hit more framed shots in a set than this?
woahh another one ! get to 5-1 rafa come on
What’s bugging me is the thought of the jeering and snide comments that will flood the internet. Will stay away and spare myself the aggravation.
I had a sneaky feeling Coric would give Rafa a hard time but I wasn’t expecting this.
Please Rafa at least make a match of it.
1 winner, 19 U.E by rafa….. please tell me I am just having a bad dream..somebody please WAKE ME UP!!!
1 winner???? Gosh, can it get any worse than that…
he’s missing plain vanilla backhand passing shots …not even clearing the net..he’s hit more shanks in a single set than he has ever hit in an entire match.
Finally a positive point…rafa moved up the court throughout the rally and drew the errors via a flat backhand CC.. and now this, forehand into the net…15-15
this guy coric,he is quick around the court
his court speed is enabling him to keep rallies longer and eventually draw an error from a weird rafa !
This was a much better game by rafa….keep improving champ and you’l have enough game to get rid of this boy
Nadal in 3
Agree with the pick, i also think Nadal in 3. But he’s been playing quite weird tennis
Goffin will beat whoever wins
I don’t know what to say when rafa is unable to hit routine forehand CC shots.
He is over-spinning his forehand on some occasions
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtube_gdata_player&v=8rCuOM80uyE
so he has started slicing 80% of the backhands. The slices are merely floaters ,waiting to be punished.
I don’t think he was hitting the backhand badly.
Rafa’s attacking Coric’s forehand by hitting lots of inside-out forehands…has been improving this pattern ,gradually…
I think nothing satisfies rafa more on a tennis court than does moving his opponent side to side and eventually finishing the point with a big forehand …
well..he’s done EXACTLY that in the last two points
4-3 Rafa
FINALLY FINALLY rafa wins a long rally ! THIS will give rafa lots of calm
BP saved
well done to Coric here….served well and held his nerves
Go get that appendix sorted Rafa……..sharpish.
Coric held
^^the appendix??
i don’t think the appendix is bothering him here. It’s just that he has been really out of focus for some reason. He has gotten better and better though and has played his best tennis of the match in the last two games.
If he can sneak this set out, he might start playing consistently well in the third
May not be bothering him physically but is he playing like someone with his mind on the business? 13 UE’s in 4 games by Rafa? I don’t think so. That said, Coric is a real talent and is the kind of guy to take advantage of an out od sorts RAFA.
some SICK forehands DTL from rafa
RT @juan_jo_sports: “Nadal with 23 forehand unforced errors at 5-4, 30-0 in the 2nd set. That’s…suboptimal.”
It’s not like this kid Coric has massive weapons, he has none. Just has a clean, fluid game and a fantastic attitude.
He’s serving bigger than usual today
True, but nothing a “normal” Rafa would have a lot of trouble with………….
His shot selection and placement is excellent though……
with Rafa in this form, I would call speed and making a lot of balls a weapon
Uhmm…….okay.
Not convinced Rafa will win this even if he steals the 2nd set tbh………….
Rafa’s footwork is up the creek, that is what is causing all those errors……….
Did the Umpire just call Coric Cilic?
What can I say?????????
Rafa has lost far too many times to the young guns. I am soooooooooo sad. Still he hasn’t had much match practice. But I’m taking nothing from Coric. He deserved the win.
I think, Rafa wanted to go home.
Vamos Rafa – no matter what!
Full credit to Coric for his win, thoroughly deserved.
Vamos Rafa! Go get that appendix removed. On second thoughts, I blame it for Rafa’s poor footwork and listlessness.
37 UEs for Rafa, dearie me…………
I am close to tears right now. 🙁
Chin up, @nadline10, he will have the procedure and be back blasting from all corners, as is his wont……….
Dr Smug is on next.
RT @juan_jo_sports: “There was a time when I thought it was fun to project what Nadal’s career would look like if the surfaces were evenly distributed.”
RT @juan_jo_sports : “Now I try to imagine what his career would be like if Nadal had an average player’s luck with injuries/illnesses.”
Amen.
I stayed watching in spite of myself. Wish I hadn’t. Hats off however to Coric, He earned the victory. I can see him getting past Goffin if he can repeat tonight’s performance.
I know this is a mean minded thought but there is still the possibility Coric could add another big scalp to his collection before this tournament is over 😀
That’s the thanks Rafa gets for inviting Coric to practice with him in Mallorca.
I don’t want Rafa to come back until he is on top of his game. These losses are too painful for me. 🙁
This is what beating the great Rafael Nadal means:
RT @linzsports: “A 17-year-old just beat Rafael Nadal. What have you done with your life.”
Poor Nick Kyrgios, this takes the gloss off his win, no? Another teenager, much younger than him, just beat the great Rafa. I have the feeling Coric will treat his victory with more decorum than that trailer trash………..
Staying on Rafa friendly sites for now.
Just flipped over to have a look at tennis-x blog. No ra-ra Rafa is beaten stuff there tbh. You have to be a very desperate Fedbot to celebrate such a defeat for Rafa. He clearly was out of sorts both physically and mentally for obvious reasons.
RT @tennisabstract: “Next Monday, Coric will be the first 17-year-old in the ATP top 100 in more than 10 years. (Nadal and Gasquet were the last ones.)”
I think this, more than beating an out of sorts Rafa is what made Coric so happy…………….
^^Take that, Kyrgios!
Rafa has a contract with the Basel tournament since last year. This year he fulfilled his commitments towards the organizers – he played and earned them money (the stands were packed during his matches). Now he can think of himself.
I’m forced to watch Fed but I don’t want to.
RT @tennisabstract : “Coric’s win today is the first time a 17-year-old (or younger) beat an ATP top 3 player since Nadal d. Federer at the 2004 Miami Masters.”
But Fed wasn’t battling appendicitis then…………..
Rafa’s post-matc press conference on Otcober 23.
Simon Häring @_shaering tweeted (Journalist).
#Nadal: : “I will have appendix surgery after Basel.”
#Nadal: “I’m not going to Paris and London. I’m not able to compete right now.”
#Nadal: “I have surgery on the 3rd of November. Next week I have to work on my back.”
#Nadal: “I will be back in 2015.”
#Nadal: “I don’t regret having played in Basel”
#Nadal: “I knew I’m gonna lose. Just didn’t know when it will happen.”
#Nadal: “I’m not able to win tournaments. And I’m a player to challenge for titles, not for Quarter-Finals.”
LetsTalkTennis tweeted:
Nadal: “I’m going to have the surgery the 3rd of November. I will have treatment on my back next week, that needs a few days.”
” I’m not able to compete right now.”
That was obvious, Rafa.
See you next year, Champ!!
https://twitter.com/_shaering
Correction to my post at 7:21 pm:
Rafa’s post-match press conference on October 24.
Rafa fulfilled his obligation to Basel. He was obviously not himself today.
What’s this about the back?
What’s all this about treatment on his back? My internet connection keeps crashing so I’ve only been able to log on intermittently.
ed251137@October 24, 2014 at 7:51 pm
—What’s all this about treatment on his back?—
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Rafa said he would have liked to have had the surgery immediately after Shanghai but the doctor said he needed to let his body drain out the antibiotics to reduce the risk of complications during surgery. So, I guess playing Basel and all that sweating, drinking lots of water was part of the flushing plan. He said he was not able to train as much as he would have liked.
Personally, surprised some people were shocked by Rafa’s loss.
rafaisthebest (at 8:09 pm)
—Personally, surprised some people were shocked by Rafa’s loss—
These ‘some people’ are obviously TENNIS fans, not Rafa fans.
Mais oui, tennis fans do not see injuries, they only see the tennis, especially where Rafa is concerned. To acknowledge the obvious injury would be to, zut alors, make an excuse. Not allowed in tennis fan-dom.
Yesterday,
Yesterday, Rafa said he was surprised how well he’d done in Base; because he didn’t have high expectations for the tournament.
Well, truth be told, he did this well because Bolelli and Pierre double barrel-name were pretty abysmal……..
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I’d rather Rafa lost now than lose to the smug one in the final.
I certainly would have picked Rafa in this one, and am shocked that he lost, but it seems that Rafa himself was not all that surprised, at least not in his post match interview. Does Fed coast to the Basel title?
Goffin has a very good chance!
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B0w2LUUCcAAEDjb.png
With your attitude, you will go places young man! Keep it up!
No changes, always unpleasant
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B0w37UqIMAAL0bX.png
Of course you don’t understand Rafa’s decisions Fed, Rafa does not tell you his plans, you are not his friend!
Awesome performance from Serena……….
#WTAChampionships
Golly gosh, RF can be insufferable at times. The way he exudes that air of entitlement has always irritated me to death. I was nursing the hope Coric would get to play Federer in the final and give him a nasty fright. As it is Goffin will mostly likely hand the trophy to him after a token fight.