Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic will be hoping to snag spots in the Paris semifinals when they take the court on Friday. Standing in their respective ways are Stan Wawrinka and Tomas Berdych.
(4) Stan Wawrinka vs. (7) Rafael Nadal
Nadal and Wawrinka will be facing each other for the 16th time in their careers and for the second time this fall when they meet again in the quarterfinals of the BNP Paribas Masters on Friday night. Nadal extended his head-to-head series dominance to 13-2 by hammering Wawrinka 6-2, 6-1 in last month’s Shanghai quarters. The Spaniard is 8-1 on hard courts (2-0 indoors), with his only such loss coming in the 2014 Australian Open final. Wawrinka’s second victory came earlier this season on the clay courts of Rome via a 7-6(7), 6-2 decision.
Nadal is through to a fourth consecutive quarterfinal, having previously reached finals in Beijing and Basel in addition to the Shanghai semis. But the world No. 6 almost bowed out of Paris on Thursday, when he saved one match point to overcome Kevin Anderson 4-6, 7-6(6), 6-2 in two hours and 26 minutes. Wawrinka has advanced with straight-set defeats of Bernard Tomic and Viktor Troicki. The fourth-ranked Swiss is 11-2 this fall and bouncing back nicely from a first-round Basel loss to Ivo Karlovic. Although the surface is conducive to Wawrinka’s game, by hard-court standards it also plays into Nadal’s hands. The world No. 1 should be able to bounce back in fine fashion from his third-round tussle, just as Anderson recovered to come within one point of beating Nadal after getting past Dominic Thiem in two hours and 44 minutes one day earlier.
Pick: Nadal in 3
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(1) Novak Djokovic vs. (5) Tomas Berdych
A similarly lopsided “rivalry” will be taking place when Djokovic and Berdych collide for the 22nd time on Friday. Djokovic owns a 19-2 record in the head-to-head series, including 16-0 on hard courts and 6-0 indoors. Both of their 2016 showdowns have required decisive third sets. Berdych pushed his opponent the distance in both Dubai and Monte-Carlo but lost 6-0, 5-7, 6-4 at the former and 7-5, 4-6, 6-3 at the latter. The Czech’s victories have come in the 2010 Wimbledon quarterfinals and at the 2013 Rome Masters.
Berdych had been thriving at 250-pointers while struggling at more prestigious events of late, so his 6-3, 6-4 rout of Jo-Wilfried Tsonga on Thursday came as a minor surprise. The world No. 5, who preceded that performance with a 6-3, 4-6, 7-5 defeat of Edouard Roger-Vasselin, is 57-18 for the season and 12-3 this fall. Djokovic has not yet reached peak form in Paris despite having showcased more than enough to see off Thomaz Bellucci and Gilles Simon in straight sets. The top-ranked Serb has not lost prior to the final of any tournament since the first tournament of the year in Doha (l. to Karlovic). Nothing suggests Berdych will be the one to end that impressive streak of Paris’ two-time defending champion.
Pick: Djokovic in 2 losing 8-10 games
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Taking Novak in two losing 5-7 games and Rafa in 3
Nadal is playing a different wawrinka then he did two weeks ago. Wawrinka was tired for that match, he had played two straight 2 and a half hour matches. You could see him physically tired during the match with Nadal, and completely uninterested. This wawrinka in paris is rested, he beat both Tomic and troicki in just over an hour each and had a day rest in between. Wawrinka at his best ball striking could easily overpower nadal, and expose his backhand. I am not so sure Wawrinka’s form is as good as when he plays a grand slam, but I really don’t see Nadal winning this match on an indoor hardcourt.
Wawrinka in 2
I was thinking same thing but I’m afraid Stan may be like oh well I’ve got some matches in I’m good for London and just not really be as motivated kinda like in Shanghai except that was more fatigue so I went with Rafa in 3.
this is a possibility
it will be much closer, but Nadal should win. this is not a typical indoor hard court. it’s not like an ice rink that opposing countries use to play against Spain in Davis Cup.
like Benny G, I also went back and forth on Wawdal
#Waffle
Stan isnt good on indoor HC, he can lose to anyone. Stan generally not so great on quicker courts. I think Rafa can handle Stan after getting past an inspired Anderson.
this iscorrect. Stan is best on clay. Second best plexicushion.
Stan is better on slower courts so the AO court suits him. His stats on indoor HCs isnt great, just made one or two SF indoors, at WTF.
Did you seriously delete my post?
Hilarious!
Rafa should be spent. He has played a lot in past 4 weeks..long matches.
I feel a loss against Wawrinka may be good to just give him a break.
What is the issue with the knee by the way?
I read the comments..Rafa atleast snatched a win..Fed could not even do that..
Stan isnt necessarily fresh either. I doubt any of the remaining players in the draw is physically fresh after a long season.
I think Rafa has problem with Anderson because of his big serve plus his net rushing or S&V and also one two punch. Stan is a different prospect, he prefers to stay at baseline and hit hard and penetrating shots from both wings. Unless Rafa is still serving poorly and playing from way behind the baseline, he should be able to deal with Stan using all his tennis intelligence and problem solving abilities.
I agree with Lucky. For the record, I do not think that a loss against Stan will be good just to give Rafa a break. Winning is important to Rafa. He now has a chance against the #4 player in the world. I say Rafa should just keep on keeping on. He’s gotten knocked out of so many tournaments so early this year, that he can’t possibly be tired. I think Rafa is thriving on these matches and getting more confident all the time.
I just don’t know if Rafa is going to have another one of his slow starts. I expect Stan to come out aggressive with his powerful groundstrokes. I would really hope that Rafa not drop his serve early in the first set, if at all possible.
I do think this will be a tough match. But in the end, I expect Rafa to prevail in 3 sets.
I agree with this. Because of how bad the year has been, Rafa needs matches. Usually it is the opposite this time of year.
Stan in 3.
Same with Ricky D., Novak in 2 losing 8-10 games.
Rafa in 3, Berdych in three based on Novak losing his serve five times against Simon
I agree with both lucky and native…Rafa needs more matches…he may be tired more due to mental exhaustion not physical…Rafa has always said that he was practicing well but needed to do better in actual matches…I think this one is important to him…
Wawa may be the different one but so is Rafa…he is more confident especially after this great win against Anderson…I expect this to be a tough match but I also expect Rafa to beat Wawa…it may go to three sets but if Rafa is focused and serving well from the start it may be done in 2 with one tiebreaker…
BTW, amazing how the crowd was cheering for Rafa…it was like he was playing in Madrid…I do not know about tonight but I expect at least 50% of them cheering for the cute Spaniard…
And how can someone not like Rafa’s tennis and his thrillers…he makes tennis so exciting and so tense…he brings the best in his opponents…the people who pay tickets for Rafa’s matches know it will be worth it…even when playing boring servebots Rafa makes it interesting to watch…
Vamos Rafa! Make it worth it tonight! Let’s see again that beautiful smile of yours…
^^That too.
Meant that to be under Shireling’s post. We’re in for another late night if it goes to three sets.
Exactly. Rafa makes tennis more exciting. His fighting till the last point, never give up, always thinking of how to solve problems out there – all these we can see with our eyes, and how many times we marvelled at how he managed to win that point, save that BP or even MP, or came ftom behind and edged his opponent for the win!
Its no wonder that Fed respects Rafa so much and cherishes his rivalry with Rafa, even though most of the times he (Fed) comes out short. The respect is mutual between them. Imo, only they can match each other in terms of coming up with ways to solve problems out there on the tennis court.
I think Rafa can beat this Stan, as long as he uses his tennis brain to solve any problem out there. I like the way Rafa came out with some gutsy and some clutch tennis to beat Anderson. Its strange that Rafa comes out with all sorts of varieties only when his back is against the wall. Quitr puzzling.
Nats: His habit of dropping the first set is wearing on the nerves (his as well as ours) and I’m sure you are right about him being tired mentally more than physically.
It is always hard to guage what degree of pain he is going through. I hope what we saw last night were momentary twinges and not the onset of an injury – U.Toni said as much in his interview – but it’s bound to prey on Rafa’s mind up to a point.
vis a vis WaWa I’m not sure what to expect from him tonight but I doubt he will have as much as 50% of the crowd behind him. Rafa has certainly conquered Bercy this year: were this to have been a Fedal encounter it would be a different matter.
PS: the drummer and his mates belong to the rent-a-crowd movement which travel to big sporting events purely to make as much noise as possible. I wouldn’t mind betting some of them barely know what sport they are watching let alone the rules of combat.
Rafa needs more matches, we all agree, but he could make his life easier and finish them up sooner.
He could if he doesn’t have to deal with one big server after another. Non of the other players had to play Karlovic, Raonic, Rosol (2), Pospisil, Sock, Cilic and Dimi in the last 2 weeks.
Well its a good thing in a sense that soon Rafa will get better at neutralising their serves and get better at retuning them esp if he want to go deep at Wimby….so its all good if you look at the big picture
I think the speed of the court is a figment of someone’s imagination. How can anyone tell by looking at it on TV. Even the commies are guessing because unless they actually play on it how can they tell?
There are plenty of sources online that have calculated all the court speeds, it worth a google.
Waste of time. Mahut said the court was slow after he lost in the 1st round then everyone latched onto that, but as soon as Federer lost to Isner, Annabel Croft declared that the speed of the court was a conundrum that it is now getting faster as time goes on. It’s a joke.
What do they base the calculation on? Multiply the days of the month by the cat’s age take away the number of times the cocks crow, throw it all up in the air and see what comes down?
Well, uve described the commies analysis perfectly!!…lol!!
Ricky said it’s slow so it must be fact.
Reblogged this on Tennis Abides.
http://rutube.ru/video/7e061f59c61b750d6967660e632dcc5e/
Good highlights
Is Rafa knee injury serious? That is the biggest worry now.
apparently it’s not the knee but the ankle, team Nadal say it’s nothing bad.
Tight 1st set between Murray and Gasquet.
Murray takes a tight 1st set TB to (7).
Gasquet almost had it at 6-5 and in control of the point
Gasquet overplayed the shot when the set was on his racquet and paid the price.
What a shame! I really like him, that Gasquet.
I noticed that Murray vs. Gasquet have their own thread…
I am hoping for a good match between Rafa and Stan…..want Rafa to play clean tennis and go for his shots. If he does that he should be ok! But if he chooses to languish behind that baseline Stan will deal with him appropriately in straights!
I also do take the point that Rafa needs more match play and that these tough matches can only do him good, but I am not sure if I really want him to meet Novak.
Vamos, Rafa!!
Gasquet leading 5:2 in the 2nd set. Murray to serve to stay in the set.
Murray blew up the Gasket
Nadal’s weak backhand will be exposed today.