Rafael Nadal and Milos Raonic will be playing for the first time at 250-point event–and almost certainly for the last time in the quarterfinals of a 250-point event–when they clash on Friday in Brisbane. Dominic Thiem and Grigor Dimitrov are also in action.
(1) Milos Raonic vs. (5) Rafael Nadal
Nadal and Raonic will be facing each other for the eighth time in their careers when they battle for a semifinal spot at the Brisbane International on Friday night. The head-to-head series stands at 6-1 in favor of Nadal, who is an especially impressive 5-1 at the Canadian’s expense on hard courts. The Spaniard avenged a 2015 Indian Wells loss by most recently prevailing 6-3, 7-6(3) at the Shanghai Masters that fall. They also squared off at last week’s six-man Abu Dhabi tournament, with Nadal getting the job done 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 on his way to the title.
The world No. 9 has not looked back at his first official event of 2017, hammering both Alexandr Dolgopolov and Mischa Zverev in straight sets. But the competition level obviously gets tougher in the form of Raonic, who is up to a career-high of No. 3 in the rankings and coming off a semifinal showing at the World Tour Finals–where he was one point from reaching the title match. Following a first-round bye as this week’s No. 1 seed, Raonic rolled over Diego Schwartzman 6-3, 6-2 on Thursday. Unless Raonic turns in a near-flawless serving performance, he will likely be outclassed from the baseline once again by Nadal.
Pick: Nadal in 3
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(4) Dominic Thiem vs. (7) Grigor Dimitrov
Thiem and Dimitrov will be going head-to-head for just the second time in their careers on Friday. Their only previous encounter came last year on the hard courts of Acapulco, where Thiem got the job done 7-5, 6-2. That was part of a brilliant pre-Wimbledon season for the Austrian, who captured four ATP titles and reached the French Open semifinals before slumping down the stretch. Still, Thiem made his debut at the World Tour Finals and fared decently there with a win over Gael Monfils and competitive losses against Raonic and Novak Djokovic. Well-rested following the offseason, the 23-year-old opened on Thursday with a 7-6(5), 6-3 defeat of Sam Groth.
Dimitrov’s 2016 campaign was somewhat of a mirror image compared to Thiem’s, although the highs certainly were not as high. The 17th-ranked Bulgarian struggled early before reaching the Toronto quarters, the Cincinnati semis, the U.S. Open last 16, the Chengdu semis, the Beijing final, and the Stockholm semis. Maintaining momentum from those results, Dimitrov has advanced this week with routine victories over Steve Johnson and Nicolas Mahut. This should be a high-quality contest that could go either way, but a slight edge goes to Thiem.
Pick: Thiem in 3
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Even as a Milos fan I had predicted Rafa would win this in 3. So good going Milos. He was not at his best today, too many UFEs but he did enough to win. And he is getting better at playing his aggressive style. Was glad to see Milos kept going to the net, continuing to improve his net game will be key to his success.
so much for my wild optimism over this last week! feeling glum now.
still think moya can help rafa to keep calm and not retreat inwards due to nerves. going to take time.
Amy..can you feel i’m patting your back atm?
thanx mira andi! feeling depressed about rafa today..and you?…
rafa has spent way too long being unconfident and nervy. it’s very difficult to break these habits and get rid of toni’s reverse psychology brainwashing….sigh…
Me?Don’t ask amy!I’m almost eat a cow that made a mistake by booing at me when he leisurely crossed the street and shake his butt annoyingly as if mocked me that our rafa lost today!And yeah amy…Rafa and his nervousness is very mystery to me…whether he still haunted and traumatized by all the losses that he suffered for the last two years…or what you said up there about uncle T reverse psychology brainwashing or other problems that still lingered in his head?I’m pretty sure that this is not about physical anymore…it’s lie in his head…But how can he get rid of it?
Actually, the doubt and anxiety was a big factor that led to the losses (exacerbated by injury).
A vicious cycle – like most anxiety problems.
#ChickenAndEgg
I love the Rafa of 2004 to 2008; that Rafa was simply fearless. He didn’t have so much OCDs or rituals when he served; that Rafa could win on the HCs playing aggressive tennis even though he had the tendency to run all over the place.
I love the Rafa of 2004-2005 playing on the HCs, in fact 2005 was great on the HCs where he won 3titles , he didn’t retreat to so far behind the baseline playing on the HCs back then, and he could win on quicker HCs like Montreal, Madrid indoors, Beijing and Dubai (in 2006). Those were the days…
Mira Andi (AT 2:43 PM),
Injuries caused Rafa to doubt his body & lose confidence in his body. It has been explained multiple times on the Grandstand.
@augusta008…Thanks for your input..
Mira Andi (AT 11:17 PM),
Rafa and U.Toni has explained it (what I wrote AT 3:18 PM) in their interviews a zillion times. 🙂
.
Be careful what you believe when you read imaginary stories (aka ‘original thougts’) about Rafa. 🙂
Ah Mira Andi don’t worry about amy, only Rafa fans feel Rafa’s loss. The curious thing is Rafa fans are just as much in denial as Fed fans were when Fed went out of his prime. Fedfans insisted he needed a coach ( fresh eyes), that whenever he lost it was because he was mentally going walkabout. Haters have taken advantage of this syndrome to pretend to be Rafa fans and cosy up to loyal Rafa fans slyly trotting out hate messages about Uncle T and discounting Rafa’s biggest strength that is his mental strength.
Any guy with bunch of injuries will feel anxious lest he injure himself again and be on the sidelines for a long time. Rafa is 30. He will no longer dominate but by wisely pacing himself he can definitely win at least one more RG and maybe a hardcourt slam. Booting out Uncle T as haters hope he will, will be destructive. Wise Rafa will not do it. As for fresh eyes, seriously do the haters expect us to believe Rafa has not taken inputs from fresh eyes till he hired Moya? I am sure Rafa is competent enough to know , being a 14 times grand slam champion, exactly what it takes to win slams. He doesn’t need advice from amy or hawkeye.
mira andi…haha i like your story about the cow! you are funny! rafa’s problems both mental and physical have been feeding off each other like an octopus for a long time now. he should have brought in outside help a good while ago imo…ie both another coach to supplement toni and also some kind of sports psychologist…it’s all been way too much for him to deal with by himself..
@amy 3:33pm…Are you my twin in the past life?Wow!Your thought reflects mine..every each one of them!And yeah,he wasted two precious years by not doing anything about it…and father time clicking loudly every second..urghh!That’s it!I’m going to kick his b@#$,and leave a romantic message on it..”that’s for torturing,toying and meddling with our feelings for the past two years…love==amy and mira andi..”How’s that amy?There’s still time to add or delete any part in the message!
Yeah. The compounding rituals to find calm as Rafa put it had nothing to do with injury. Rafa explained it honestly in his bio long before his problems over the past couple of years.
Only continued to worsen when the new time violation rule came into play after fed complained and recent injuries only made it worse but it wasn’t the source even if some want to “explain” it as such.
Amy knows her stuff Miri Andy!
mira andi…you make me laugh and cheer me up so much!! love it!
ps hope you are not attacking any poor defenceless cows today!! haha….
thanks hawks. you cheer me up so much as well. thank god you are here….
You’re welcome Amy!
Nice to see most not taken in by fake news being “explained” by someone here!
Amy are you watching today’s final?
what time is it on hawks?? have been working today…sigh…
Starts in ten minutes.
Hey amy…To cheer you up even more,i got you this…
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/4d/2f/3f/4d2f3f337dd3db93de7845cf8f492edd.jpg
Now,don’t be so sad about Rafa loss anymore,okay?
mira andi
thanks honey!
am ok about rafa now…just have to keep hoping…
Have to go with Rafa in three again but Milos pushed him last week and could win if serves well.
And Dimitrov in three.
I got it right , sort of…
Hope Stan wins Brisbane, and Murray wins Doha ….
Uhuk!uhuk!uhuk!….have to agree with Luckydoggy…i don’t understand,how everything’s turned 360 degree in just 24 hours?Where’s the full of confidence Rafa of yesterday?Rafa seems revert back to his old self…If he play like this at AO,he will bound off again in the first round…But,let see how he’s gonna fare there…In a way i feel glad that Rafa lost…he maybe wants to give a warning to his fans not to hope too much..Thank you Rafa for the warning!
Dont mind him losing, its the smug ones that say I TOLD YOU SO!, that are beyond irritating ….
alison hodge (AT 1:49 PM);
?
Smug ones as in plural?
I thought it was just Me.
#Humb1e
amy in action, hating on Rafa and Uncle T! I wasn’t expecting Rafa to start winning everything so soon so I am not disappointed. Hey amy don’t relax. Rafa is aiming for RG.
I heard about Rafa’s loss. I guess it’s not that surprising with Raonic. My only concern is that Rafa isn’t able to get more match play at this tournament. It’s like a vicious cycle with him. He needs wins to build up confidence and get into better form. He can gain points if he can keep winning matches. Now with his ranking, he’s going to have tougher draws.
I am not expecting much from him at the AO. It’s too early in the year. I would love to see him get some wins and maybe gain points there.
I am not going to get my hopes up yet. It will take more time for Rafa to try to get it together.
It’s disappointing because if Rafa played the way he played at Abu Dhabi, i.e. more aggressive and steps inside the court more often, I’m positive he could reach the final or even winning it here.
He just had to be a bit more steady and hit his shots better, he could have held off Raonic; it’s not like it’s a beat down but Raonic had to work so hard to beat a more defensive Rafa and that’s the point! A win by Rafa here would have given him so much more confidence and self belief, yet he came out short again. It would not make things better for him and we’re back to square one, after all the positive built up at Abu Dhabi. Maybe Rafa can only win exhos when on HCs. Still a long way to go for Rafa and he has to endure such beatings again.
Dasco giving Novak the run around, all those MPs 5 lost, mental toughness from Novak, hope he doesnt give up in this third set, and still keeps it competitive ….
Dasco missing more and more now ….
Laver speaks about confidence towards the latter part of Fed’s career and I think this applies as much (if not more) to Rafa as it does to Fed despite the age gap. Laver speaks from experience.
Roger Federer missed the second half of 2016 through injury, how difficult will it be to return to the top?
“It’s hard. Someone like Roger has so much talent. At 35 he might not of lost a step but you’ve lost that confidence that you can retrieve what you used to get so easily,” stated the ‘Rocket’.
“You have to think about it a bit more and that perhaps creates any apprehension in his game. I think that’s the only thing he needs to think about, not about whether I’m fit enough, but can you play confidently when the chips are down?
“I think he’s capable here, it depends on the draw really. If he has a lot of tough matches early on, then he might not have the best left in him nearer the final. But I think he’s certainly capable of winning another slam.”
http://www.ausopen.com/en_AU/news/articles/2017-01-05/rod_laver_on_statues_federer_stadiums.html
Further to my comment at 7:40 pm,
It is not just Rafa and Uncle T , as troll family would have us believe. Rafa has a team and a family and close friends. Even the most credulous should find it hard to believe that no one in this entire bunch of people has as much sense as amy or hawkeye who I am sure have never coached anyone even to one slam win, let alone 14.
Mary (AT 8:46 PM),
?