It’s a dream semifinal lineup for Canada, with two of its own joining Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal for Saturday action. A surprising matchup on the bottom half of the Montreal draw pits Milos Raonic against Vasek Pospisil.
(1) Novak Djokovic vs. (4) Rafael Nadal
Djokovic and Nadal will be squaring off for the 36th time in their careers when they collide in the semifinals of the Rogers Cup on Saturday night. Nadal leads the head-to-head series 20-15, but Djokovic has won 11 of their 16 hard-court meetings. They have faced each other twice this season, with Djokovic ending Nadal’s Monte-Carlo reign courtesy of a 6-2, 7-6(1) victory in the title match before the Spaniard earned revenge with an epic 6-4, 3-6, 6-1, 6-7(3), 9-7 triumph in the French Open semis.
Although this is by no means his best tournament, Nadal has been in outstanding hard-court form in 2013. The world No. 4 captured the title in Indian Wells and has remained undefeated on hards for the season thanks to straight-set scalps this week of Jesse Levine, Jerzy Janowicz, and Marinko Matosevic. Nadal is the only one of the four Montreal semifinals who has not dropped a set, while Djokovic surrendered one to Denis Istomin during a disappointing third-round performance. That was sandwiched in between blowouts of Florian Mayer and Richard Gasquet. The top-ranked Serb is 42-6 for the year; Nadal is an outrageous 46-3.
Nadal may have a slight edge in current level of play, but–as their past history suggests–surface seems to be the most important factor in this rivalry. The eight-time Roland Garros champion is 13-3 lifetime against Djokovic on clay and a mere 7-12 on all other surfaces. Nadal has played unusually aggressive so far this week, a strategy that propelled him to his lone U.S. Open title in 2010 and one that he must employ again to have chance versus Djokovic. It’s a more difficult tactic to implement, though, against an opponent like Djokovic who can consistently keep his groundstrokes deep in the court and with plenty of pace. Nadal had enough trouble with Djokovic on clay earlier this season, so the advantage should go to the two-time defending champion of this event.
Pick: Djokovic in 3
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(WC) Vasek Pospisil vs. (11) Milos Raonic
It will be an all-Canadian semifinal when Raonic and Pospisil clash for the first time in their careers at the ATP level on Saturday afternoon. They have played one another four times as professionals, three times on the Futures circuit and once in a Challenger event. Pospisil leads the head-to-head series 3-1, including 2-1 on hard courts. They have not met since 2010, when they split a pair of hard-court matches.
It has been a dream run for Pospisil, who needed a wild card just to get into the main draw before showcasing a flair for the dramatic. He upset an in-form John Isner in a third-set tiebreaker, crushed Radek Stepanek, edged Tomas Berdych in another third-set tiebreaker, then got a first-set retirement from Nikolay Davydenko. On fire right now in the immediate aftermath of a Challenger title in Vancouver, the world No. 71 will likely be seeded for the U.S. Open if he wins this one. Raonic, meanwhile, is finally heating up after a relative rough patch on clay and grass. Montreal’s No. 11 seed had been 2-5 in his last seven matches prior to this week, but he is back on track thanks to defeats of Jeremy Chardy, Mikhail Youzhny, Juan Martin Del Potro, and Ernests Gulbis.
Raonic has never played in a Masters semifinal, but he has been to the quarters on two previous occasions (Toronto and Cincinnati last summer). Pospisil, of course, has never been anywhere close to this stage of such a tournament. Furthermore, an emotional Pospisil has used a raucous crowd to fuel his amazing trip in Montreal. He won’t get the same support against a fellow Canadian in Raonic, who has relied on a huge serve, some opponents’ gifts (from Gulbis), and some controversy (against Del Potro). Against a more experienced player with the fans not entirely on his side, this may be where the dream ends for Pospisil.
Pick: Raonic in 3
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—The world No. 4—
Rafa will rise to world No. 3 on Monday. After beating M.Matosevic, Rafa is 90 points ahead of D.Ferrer.
currently No. 4
Anyone else feel Ferrer is fading a bit? Apparently he’s picked up an injury, unheard of.
Andy has megga points to defend at the USOpen so if he fails to defend and If Rafa does well…..eek!
As far as the semis are concerned I think Nole has more on the line than Rafa so am going with Nole in 3. Should think Raf will be well pleased he’s got to the semis. Way past my bedtime so hope it’s a brilliant match for all you fans of both players.
And stop scoffing you lot, I can hear you from here…;)
As far as the other match goes, really want Pops to win but am going for Raonic in 3.
Yes, very happy with Rafa’s showing so far. He will be #3 when the new rankings are announced on Monday. I do not expect him to win but am hoping he does. I am staying up for this one…………will be scoffing too!
Vamos Rafa!
Rafa is not firing on all cylinders yet, but nor is Novak. Rafa will have to serve better to win today.
Rafa has clearly been testing out new strategies this week, and will continue to do so next week, so this is a hard one to call. Nole has certainly not put his heart and soul into his matches so far – still cant decide if he is sandbagging or his form has really dropped off in spite of his bravado about being “As close to perfection………” after the Gasquet match.
I’m plumping for Rafa in 3
It will be intriguing to see who does prevail. I can’t see either Raonic or Popsi upsetting Nole or Rafa in the final!
Have to agree w/clayqueen…Rafa just not ready for a hard court win up in Canada today, and Joker actually has more to prove this year. Joker in straight.
I havent seen any of Djoker’s matches. So cant really call upon this one. I saw Rafa’s against JJ. Though being competitive, both the players looked way off from their best touch. Rafa’s serve strategy though was the plus point.
Rafa will have to serve reallly well today against Nole. If Nole has the tendency of breaking someone’s serve at will, it’s of Rafa.
I’m hoping for this match to be worth the tick in an otherwise dissapointing tournament.
Djokovic has the Cincy title in his sights which would make him the first person since 1990 to win the Golden Masters accolade. So, with the USO also on the horizon, he might well be reluctant to bust his guts against Rafa tonight.
to continue my theme…………..if Rafa can come out strongly and win the lst set, the rest might be easier than we’ve been thinking.
Why is it called a Golden Masters? Is there a gold medal masters Novak has I am not aware of? Seems to me more accurate to say a Career Masters Title, just as there is a Career Slam, with Golden applied when you also have an Olympic gold medal. Answers please.
rafa.. My heart says its rafa this time.. he is playing aggressive and that’s the way I like 😉
Rafa has promised to fight: “I am happy the way that I am playing this week. I am gonna fight for the match tomorrow. I am excited to play against a very tough opponent, one of the best, the best today. I need to play my best tomorrow if I want to have any chance.”
Keep your mind sharp, stay strong and fight bravely, Rafa!!!
“I need to play my best tomorrow if I want to have any chance.” Haven’t heard that one before!
Rafa clearly thinks he has a chance! Which means he has a good chance!!!
Anyway, I am cool about it either way. Main thing is how he plays. The big prize is USO. But if he beats Nole, at least we would be spared the silly question from morons asking when did Rafa last beat Nole on a non clay surface!
well well well..enjoyed reading the previews above by Ricky and fellow rafa fans….
I think rafa is definitely on the right track but I am not sure if eh can show enough improvement in one day. His performance agaisnt matosevic was tactically a good preparation for novak but rafa is making too many errors. The balls move through the air very quickly here and I noticed that rafa is having problems dealing with flat forehands hit to his forehand…Matosevic had success using that shot…Rafa did not control it well..
Rafa’s ROS has been the stand out part for me…he is taking the ball much earlier…he was experimenting with different return positions in the second set against matosevic though so I am not interested in seeing what he does against novak…My guess is that he will start the match returning on the baseline and if that fails badly, he’ll retreat and try to send in deep returns. .. forehand and backhand have been aggressive but he seriously needs to cut down the errors…
USO’s preparations are well on track… but for this match, lack of time makes rafa a clear underdog..novak was brilliant yesterday so I guess it will be novak in 2 most prob…IF rafa can cut down the errors, he is in with a decent chance 🙂 VAMOSSSSS
Caveat: Reeshad has not taken a set off Novak since 2007, so let’s not read too much into yesterday’s whitewash. It is clear Reeshad enters the court with a white flag held high each time he plays Novak.
Argh ** I AM interested in seeing (line 3 2nd para)
Ricky, you have not read enough rafa pressers if you have not heard this one before lol…I have certainly heard/read rafa say this for multiple opponents
um that was a joke. Rafa has said that exact same thing before all 755 of his career matches.
Ricky’s preview is a very good one though ! *thumbs up*
oops, that was dumb of me ! lol… I wsa trying to figure out what particular part of taht phrase made you say that because rafa says this so often ..lol
not interested as such in the other one but I am going the underdog Pospisil.. he has been really brave this week ans he’l pull this one off..
Pospisil in 3
Nole once again gets a cake draw at cincinnati, i am pissed now ! gasquet as a potential qtr finalist and either ferrer/delpo in the semi…delpo is injured so not sure if he even makes it there !
fedal qtr final seeded, winner potentially taking on murray in the semi…
Gulbis-murray rematch seeded in rnd 2 !
@vamosrafa
The tennis gods are having some fun re Andy/Ernst….but am NOT laughing…:(
Vamos, Rafa!!! Highly anticipated match!!! I know Rafa will bring out his best! I really want him to win but I believe Rafa wont either bcos he might want to try his new game moves in this match and use it as a barometer for preparing for the bigger prize: US Open!!!
Go Rafa, go, go, go!!!!
VAMOS!!
“I believe Rafa wont either”…………meant that Rafa wont mind if he loses bcos of his agenda!