Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic will be aiming for spots in the Beijing semifinals on Friday. They are set for respective showdowns against Americans Jack Sock and John Isner.
Jack Sock vs. (3) Rafael Nadal
Nadal and Sock will be going head-to-head for the second time in their careers and for the second time this season when they battle for a place in the China Open semifinals on Friday. Their only previous encounter came at the French Open, where Nadal advanced to the last eight with a 6-3, 6-1, 5-7, 6-2 victory. The eighth-ranked Spaniard is coming off a win over Sock’s doubles partner, Vasek Pospisil, in the Beijing second round. Nadal ousted the Canadian 7-6(3), 6-4 after beating Di Wu 6-4, 6-4 in his opener.
This hard-court surface obviously gives Sock a much better chance than clay. Perhaps even more importantly, the 23-year-old is quite simply in stellar form as he nears the end of what has been an outstanding season. Ranked 30th in the world, Sock is 27-13 for his 2015 campaign following wins this week over Teymuraz Gabashvili and Andreas Haider-Maurer. The American has not dropped a set and has been broken only once; he did not face a single break point against Haider-Maurer. Sock is more dangerous than Pospisil, for example, because his serve and forehand are slightly bigger and will not give Nadal a target at the net. The underdog will be content to outhit the favorite from the baseline, and that is something he can do right now with Nadal in mediocre form.
Pick: Sock in 3
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(1) Novak Djokovic vs. (6) John Isner
Djokovic will put an unbelievable 26-0 record in Beijing on the line when he takes the court against Isner. The world No. 1 is looking for his sixth title in as many appearances, having previously triumphed in 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014. His most recent campaign is off to a routine start with straight-set defeats of Simone Bolelli and Ze Zhang (five total games lost). Djokovic is 65-5 for the year with three Grand Slam titles.
The head-to-head series stands at 7-2 in favor of the top seed, who defeated Isner twice in succession earlier this season–6-4, 7-6(5) in Indian Wells and 7-6(3), 6-2 in Miami. Isner’s lone victories came three years earlier in Indian Wells (in a third-set tiebreaker) and at the 2013 Cincinnati Masters (7-5 in the third). An in-form American is coming off a fourth-round performance at the U.S. Open and so far in Beijing he has taken out Dominic Thiem and John Millman. Thursday’s second-rounder actually saw Millman serve for a straight-set win before Isner stormed back. The world No. 13 is obviously one of the most dangerous players in this draw–or any draw–but Djokovic may be the best returner in the game and nowhere is the favorite more invincible than he is at this tournament.
Pick: Djokovic in 2 with 1 tiebreaker
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Why doesn’t Rafa exploit Sock’s backhand more? Rafa is missing strength in his shots giving Sock enough time to run around his weak backhand and allowing him to hit forehands…c’mon Rafa…stop those ridiculous UEs!!!
Rafa staying steady on serve for now.
Rafa has settled down and is serving much better in this set. It’s all on him to just hold his serve and get the second set.
Paul Annacone made the observation that Rafa has forced himself to move up closer to the baseline in the second set. He’s getting better court positioning.
I’m mad at Rafa for losing the 1st set. Maybe he doesn’t like playing the first match of the day.
Rafa’s ROS is also letting him down.
One set all.
Vamos Rafa!
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🙂
Rafa kept it together and served it out to get the second set. He got the big first serves when he needed them.
Rafa has raised his level of play while I see Sock missing more shots than he did in the first set.
Sure enough, Rafa’s serving stats have improved.
Sock is not under too much pressure on his serve so Rafa has to be extra careful with his. There is no Rafa energy in the match.
Rafa is netting too many fhs.
I noticed that Rafa has been looking to move into the court after hitting a big first serve to close out points quickly. He’s been doing that effectively in the last few service games. Rafa also has more depth and penetration with this groundstrokes.
Now Sock has raised his level again, playing better than he did in the second set. He’s holding serve pretty easily, so Rafa is going to have to stay strong with his serving. This is a tight third set and it may come down to who loses serve first.
Rafa gets the break, leads 4:3, final set.
Sock blinked! Loose game and Rafa took advantage to get the break! Okay Rafa, now hold your serve and you’ve got the win!
YAY! Rafa breaks for the win!
Spot on NNY. I thought you were a bit harsh predicting Rafa in 3 because I thought he would win in straight sets.
Vamos Rafa!
Yep! I was right. Ricky was wrong! 🙂
Rafa looked so happy at the end of the match. He knows this is a good win against a guy who’s hot right now.
So next it will be either Fog or Cuevas in the semis.
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🙂 🙂
Fist pump, Rafa!
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I am so proud of Rafa! He made adjustments in that second set and played so much better.
Now it’s off to bed because it’s almost 3:00 am here!