Rafael Nadal will continue his Shanghai campaign on Friday against Stan Wawrinka. Kevin Anderson and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga are also hoping to snag a spot in the semifinals.
(8) Rafael Nadal vs. (4) Stan Wawrinka
Wawrinka and Nadal will be squaring off for the 15th time in their careers when they collide in the quarterfinals of the Shanghai Rolex Masters on Friday. Nadal is dominating the head-to-head series 12-2, but the tide has begun to turn. Wawrinka captured his first of two Grand Slam titles at the 2014 Australian Open by upsetting a hobbled Spaniard 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3. The Swiss won his second in a row at Nadal’s expense by getting the job done 7-6(7), 6-2 earlier this season in Rome. They have faced each other twice in Shanghai, with Nadal coming out on top 6-4, 6-4 in the 2010 second round and 7-6(10), 6-1 in the 2013 quarterfinals.
The world No. 7 has done well to back up a solid runner-up showing in Beijing, although his week almost never got off the ground. Nadal needed in a third-set tiebreaker to survive Ivo Karlovic 7-5, 6-7(4), 7-6(4) before taking out another huge server–Milos Raonic–via a 6-3, 7-6(3) decision on Thursday. Wawrinka got past Viktor Troicki 7-6(3), 6-3 and Marin Cilic 7-5, 6-7(7), 6-4 to reach the last eight. The fourth seed and recent Tokyo champion is 14-1 in his last 15 matches dating back to the start of the U.S. Open. But so much tennis may be catching up with Wawrinka, who dealt with a shoulder injury against Cilic and will not be helped by spending two hours and 54 minutes on court. This sets up nicely for Nadal to continue his upswing in both form and confidence.
Pick: Nadal in 3
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(12) Kevin Anderson vs. (16) Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
Anderson appears to be playing inspired, statement-making tennis after breaking into the top 10 for the first time in his career on Monday. A run to the U.S. Open quarterfinals helped propel him to 10th in the world, although he has been consistent almost the whole season with a 42-20 record. The 6’8” South African has bounced back nicely from an opening-round loss in Tokyo to score straight-set victories in Shanghai over Tommy Haas, Fabio Fognini, and Kei Nishikori.
Up next for Anderson on Friday is a second-ever meeting with Tsonga. Their only previous encounter came last year on the clay courts of Rome, where the Frenchman prevailed 7-6(14), 7-6(5). An otherwise lackluster 2015 campaign saw Tsonga pick up momentum with a quarterfinal showing in New York followed by a title in Metz. The world No. 15 looked lifeless in his Beijing opener last week but he is back on track in Shanghai with defeats of Tommy Robredo, Victor Estrella Burgos, and Albert Ramos-Vinolas. Anderson has enjoyed a more routine week at the office and a confident, well-rested No. 12 seed should maintain his perfect record as a member of the top 10.
Pick: Anderson in 3
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They flashed up Rafa’s average pre serve time. It was 45 secs. And yet he is posting excellent serve stats. Another encouraging sign of his progress.
Rafa said he was going to do it his way. And what’s more he has. Once may be a fluke. Twice may be good luck. Three times is a Trend.
Correction: 24 seconds. No idea why I typed 45 secs 🙁
It did seem to me that Rafa was serving more quickly. It’s good to know that this is correct. Rafa has not gotten any time violations in a while.
maybe it took you 45 secs to write 24 secs and you know time is relative 🙂
lol
Stan was watching the Tsonga vs Anderson match so he must have been trying as he expected to be in the SF.
Ah yes, get your point now nadline, I read one thing and processed another. I just felt, and maybe this wasn’t your intention at all, that we’re telling people off just because they’re making wrong predictions about Rafa. Benny’s one was very civilised.
Wow, SOOOOOOOOOOO delighted for rafa. Just had to drop by and say many congrats to all rafans … may this be the bump start he needs to get right back to the top of his game. The rest of the top seeds will no doubt now be remembering what the fear of rafa was like. long may this continue:-0
alex,
Nice to see you again! Can I expect you to be here live blogging with us for Novak/Andy? That should be a good one!
Also, I appreciate your kind words to all of the long suffering Rafa fans here! 🙂
Hey NNY, thanks for welcome:-) Tbh I’m not hopeful for anyone against noble these days, not even muzz:( If Rafa can pick up where he left off today and muzz puts nole through the grinder before losing, nole could be your man’s for the taking on Sunday – nobody would be more delighted than I if he did.
OOP for Saturday:
http://www.protennislive.com/posting/2015/5014/op.pdf
Highlights/ 2015 Shanghai Masters QF Rafael Nadal vs. Stan Wawrinka [Not in English]
http://rutube.ru/video/2d05d9c071550a89643cf0c314b89ae2/
https://twitter.com/Tennis_Now/status/654958865818062848/photo/1
yeah, that is really outstanding achievement!
Bravo Rafa!
Vamos!
Bravo Rafa, indeed!!!! Keep keeping on!!! Stan may not have been at his best but a win is a win is a win!
too bad rafa didn’t get a bad back pain today and lost the match….
wait…
if that meant he didn’t at AO 2014 ! And had started that year injury free and having completed a 2nd career slam
If Berdy loses, Rafa moves up to #5 in the race.
consider it done…It’s Berdy…
Thx for the highlights Augusta.. it looks indeed as if as the game progressed Stan got worse and worse.
Rafa’s preparing for battle:
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CRb5WLIWwAA4Pda.jpg
🙂
perhaps he should keep this haircut 😉
Wow 2 and 1 ??
great result for rafa. i wonder if the fact that this is always his worst time of year results wise is actually helping him a bit as there is least pressure and expectations right now??he himself said recently he didn’t have many expectations for this part of the year given his weak results even when at his best…maybe that has actually relaxed him?
its possible
amy,
First, great to see you here posting! I hope you will continue to do so. I think you make an excellent point about there being less pressure and expectations. I said myself that I did not have expectations for Rafa. That was not meant as a dig. I just did not know what to expect and this has been a time of year that has not been good for Rafa.
I didn’t realize that Rafa did say he doesn’t have many expectations. So I guess what I said wasn’t that far off.
I do think it’s part of why Rafa is playing better. But I also think that he has been working with his team on different things. Since there’s nothing to lose at this point in the year, why not try to work on some things. One example is Rafa choosing to serve first. He did say that he’s trying different things. But he has also said that his focus is on 2016. So I think the fact that there is little pressure now, combined with some changes and work that Rafa has done with his team, is now showing results.
nny, hope you are feeling better now health-wise?? have been worrying about you….
how many times did i say earlier in the year that rafa should serve first….!! glad he’s finally come round to my way of thinking….! better late than never…!
is this the twist in the movie titled rafa redux!! let’s hope so….
Amy, I agree, but I would add that Rafa losing early in all those Spring-Summer tournaments means he is not mentally and emotionally exhausted.
jeu nadal..thanx for that… i always like reading your comments..
do think though that the stress rafa has been under must have taken it out of him at every level…poor lamb!!
Video by ATP. Nadal Growing In Confidence:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YxLgePH_nJI
ATP Staff, Oct. 16, 2015: ¤¤ Nadal Surges Past Wawrinka Into Semis¤¤
http://www.atpworldtour.com/en/news/nadal-surges-into-shanghai-semifinals
Excerpts:
¤¤ “Being in the semi-finals is a great result for me,” said Nadal. “I hadn’t played the semi-finals on hard court all year and now I am playing two weeks in a row in the final rounds. That’s a big improvement for me. In terms of confidence, in terms of level of tennis, I am playing better. Very happy for that because I am working so hard.”
…the Spaniard will face Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, whom he has beaten in eight of their past 11 meetings.
“It is a court that he [Tsonga] likes to play on,” said Nadal. “The court is quick. He feels comfortable on these surfaces because he has a huge serve, very, very good forehand. He likes to hit the serve and then hit the forehand and go to the net. He’s a very competitive player. When he’s in the semi-finals it’s because he’s playing well. So it will be a very tough match. I hope to play well, keep doing like every day, playing a little bit better every day. I hope tomorrow to continue with that improvement.” ¤¤
Rafa, I know you can do it!!! Your calm demeanour gives me confidence…….. its been a long time since i’ve had this sense about you. I like when you’re like that….your results are always good!!! Vamos!
https://tenngrand.com/2015/10/16/shanghai-sf-preview-and-pick-nadal-vs-tsonga/
When Rafa loses no excuses are made on his behalf the doomsayers line up to deride him, but there is no shortage of people coming out in Stan’s defence. ?
At least I don’t have to endure people saying Rafa is not in Stan’s league because, clearly, it’s Stan who is not in Rafa’s league.
You man the bad Stan is out of Rafas league.
Stan is not in Rafa’s league when Rafa is at 100%.
When has Rafa ever lost when at 100% lol.
#TooFunny
Not only good result but awesome draw for Rafa too. He is too motivated to lose this imo.
No one can say Rafa didn’t have a tough draw in Shanghai. He’s passed the test every time.
No I mean this is good draw to have Tsonga in semis. His draw as a whole was tough though.
Hope Murray beats Novak and hope its a Rafa Murray final.
That would be awesome. But Novak seems too locked in right now even though he wasn’t all that great against Bernie.
No its not a lock in against Murray. Anything can happen.
Novak has not been challenged really; the small challenge from Tomic exposed the fact that a pumped up player can take him out.