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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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!
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With your attitude, you will go places young man! Keep it up!
No changes, always unpleasant
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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.