Tag: Federer

Roger And Rafa Return To Game’s Greatest Stage

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Serena Williams is the 2017 Australian Open women’s champion after defeating older sister Venus in last night’s final at Melbourne Park. Tonight, it’s another battle of veteran rivals as Roger Federer resumes his Grand Slam rivalry with Spanish great Rafael Nadal.

Men’s Final: #17 Roger Federer (Switzerland) v #9 Rafael Nadal (Spain)

It seemed unthinkable at the start of the Australian Open that the last two men standing would be a pair of thirty-somethings who dominated the Grand Slam scene in the previous decade. With Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray dispatched in the earlier rounds, great rivals Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal grabbed the opportunity to face-off in their first major final since 2009. On that night, Nadal prevailed and finished the night consoling an emotional Federer in scenes that cemented the legacy of their historic battles. But it’s not as if the pair completely disappeared from the rankings. Rafa was ranked no. 1 as recently as 2014, while Roger finished 2015 at no. 2 and reached the finals of Wimbledon and the U.S. Open. They arrived in Melbourne this year as the no. 9 (Nadal) and no. 17 (Federer) seeds after injury-interrupted 2016 campaigns.

A rich history of rivalry

From the French Open in 2005 to the US Open in 2010, Federer and Nadal shared a staggering 21 Slam titles between them of the 23 available to win (Novak Djokovic and Juan Martin Del Potro were the only other winners in that period). But in an era where Federer was the sport’s Superman, Nadal was his Kryptonite. The Spaniard owns a strong 23-11 edge in their matches, including going 6-2 against Federer in their eight Grand Slam finals matches. The last time the pair met in a Grand Slam final was at the 2011 French Open, where Nadal won his sixth title. Federer holds the record for the most men’s Grand Slam singles titles with 17, while a win tonight would be Nadal’s 15th, and would break a tie with Pete Sampras for second all-time. Should Nadal win the title here, he will become the first man in the Open Era to win every Grand Slam title twice or more. Federer did win their last match, on indoor hard courts in Basel in 2015, but their dynamic has always favoured Rafa.

Proven performers over five sets

Federer defeated top-10 players Tomas Berdych, Kei Nishikori and Stan Wawrinka on his way to the final, with the latter two going the distance. Two of Nadal’s matches both went to five sets – his third-round battle with young gun Alexander Zverev before requiring almost five hours to dispatch Grigor Dimitrov in the semis. The Spaniard enjoyed two particularly impressive wins against top-10 players Gael Monfils and Milos Raonic where he gave neither a sniff. It’s worth noting that Federer has enjoyed an extra 24 hours of rest since KO-ing Wawrinka but it could be argued that, with a five-year age gap between the Swiss and Nadal, he needs it. An analysis of their Grand Slam head-to-head matches away from clay reveals that this duo has played six best-of-five set matches on hard courts or grass, and four have gone the distance, one decided in four sets, and just one in straight sets. We’ll be taking Nadal straight up ($1.80 with William Hill) and the +41 game-total ($1.85 with Crownbet).

Thirty-Somethings Continue Dream Run At Melbourne Park

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Just eight players remain in the running for the respective Australian Open singles titles with three of the four semi-finals scheduled for Melbourne Park’s Rod Laver Arena today. The fourth, between Rafael Nadal and Grigor Dimitrov, will be played on Friday night (AEDT).

Men’s SF1: #17 Roger Federer (Switzerland) v #4 Stan Wawrinka (Switzerland)

To say these players know each other well is a huge understatement. This semi-final match-up is their 22nd at the top level, with the head-to-head count 18-3 in Federer’s favour. His record against Wawrinka is even more impressive on hard courts, a perfect 13-0 while winning 28 of 32 sets. Federer, who’s aiming to reach his sixth Australian Open final, beat Wawrinka the last time they played on hard courts at a Grand Slam, a straight-set win in the 2015 US Open semi-finals. Wawrinka is out to reach his second Australian Open final and his fourth in a Grand Slam. He has a 12-match Grand Slam winning streak dating back to his US Open title last September. Given Federer’s huge edge over his compatriot on this surface, he’s actually nice value at $1.70 straight up on Sportsbet.

Men’s SF2: #9 Rafael Nadal (Spain) v #15 Grigor Dimitrov (Bulgaria)

In a year where the veterans have occupied all the headlines, can the highly touted 25-year-old Dimitrov finally deliver on the promise he’s shown to reach his first career Grand Slam final? He’s won his past six sets, and to go with no less than 75 per cent of first set points in his past three matches. The Bulgarian has also won 10 successive matches on hard court. In his path stands one of the game’s greats. Nadal is into his first Grand Slam semi-final since the 2014 French Open as he eyes his fourth career Australian Open final berth. He barely put a foot wrong in his straight-sets win over Milos Raonic and has been broken just six times in his past four matches. Look for this one to go the distance (five sets at $3.50 on Crownbet).

Women’s SF1: CoCo Vandeweghe (USA) v #13 Venus Williams (USA)

This all-American affair pits the unseeded world No. 35 against one of the legends of the game, who is making her first appearance at this stage at Melbourne Park for 14 years. Vandeweghe (priced at $800 to win the tournament pre-post) came through one of the toughest draws possible to reach the semi-finals, while Williams faced just one seeded player (Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova) and has won each match in straight sets. In their one previous meeting (on clay in Rome last year), Williams emerged victorious 6-4, 6-3. The market appears to have this match completely wrong with Vandeweghe priced a $1.57 favourite. The seven-time Grand Slam winner has a huge edge on return in hardcourt events over the past 12 months, negating the slight advantage of Vandeweghe on serve. Take Venus to win ($2.40 on Centrebet).

Women’s SF2: Mirjana Lucic-Baroni (Croatia) v #2 Serena Williams (USA)

The world No. 2 Serena Williams has won 22 Grand Slam titles, level with Steffi Graf and just two away from Margaret Court’s all-time record. In stark contrast, a staggering 18 years after her first Slam semi-final appearance, Lucic-Baroni has reached the last four of a major at the ripe old age of 34. These two players have faced each other twice, but both contests date back to 1998! Williams, who is yet to drop a set in Melbourne this year, put in her best performance last time out as she cruised by World no. 9 Jo Konta. The world no. 79’s stunning run has featured wins over third seed Agnieszka Radwanska and World no. 5 Karolina Pliskova. Given Lucic-Baroni’s fighting qualities, she can keep this close (+5.5 game-total is $2.10 on Unibet).

Veterans Turning Back The Clock at 2017 Australian Open

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The quarter-final line-ups in the Australian Open men’s and women’s draws have been decided, and they look nothing like the expectations that most pundits held a little over a week ago. On the men’s side, unseeded German Mischa Zverev faces the giant task of defeating Swiss great Roger Federer (17) to reach the semis while another former Australian Open champion Stan Wawrinka (4) takes on Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (12). In the bottom half of the draw, Rafael Nadal (9) will meet the highest seed remaining in the tournament, Canada’s Milos Raonic (3) with the remaining semi-final berth going to the winner of the David Goffin (11) v Grigor Dimitrov (15) match-up.

In the women’s tournament, a Williams v Williams final is still in play but it’s Serena who faces a tougher path through the next two rounds. She plays in-form Brit Johanna Konta (9) in the quarters with Karolina Pliskova (5) taking on Mirjana Lucic-Baroni in the other quarter. In the top half, it’s CoCo Vandeweghe v Garbine Muguruza (7) while Venus Williams must defeat Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova to reach the last four.

Swiss on a roll

Four of the eight quarter-finals will be played today, with Wawrinka v Tsonga the last game of the day session on Rod Laver Arena with Zverev v Federer first-up for the night session. There’s not much to take from the head-to-head history between Wawrinka and Tsonga as five of their seven match-ups have been on clay. Their only clash on a hard court was a decade ago! Statistically, Tsonga has slightly better numbers on hard courts – he holds serve 91 percent of the time compared to Wawrinka’s 85 per cent while their ability to break opponents is almost identical. A four-set contest is a reasonable expectation at $2.35 (thanks to bet365).

Federer is not surprisingly priced at $1.13 to defeat Zverev, although the quote would have been way shorter only days ago. Their previous two meetings are inconsequential (Halle on grass in 2013, Rome on clay in 2009) with Federer winning both. Zverev stunned Murray with his serve and volley game but the Swiss master will be wary should he attempt this strategy again. Credit to the German for his run here after a long run of injuries but Roger gets this done comfortably (3-0 at $1.67 with William Hill).

Venus rising

Venus Williams is first up on Rod Laver Arena today against the Russian 24th seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, with the CoCo Vandeweghe-Garbine Muguruza quarter-final to follow immediately after. As Federer, Nadal and Lucic-Baroni have shown, age doesn’t seem to be a barrier at this year’s Open and the 36-year-old Williams is yet to drop a set against Kateryna Kozlova, Stefanie Voegele, Duan Ying-Ying and Mona Barthel. Pavlyuchenkova is an improved player compared to 12 months ago, but her return statistics are considerably inferior to those of Williams. We’re staggered to find Williams rated the underdog here, and will be taking a fair slice of the $2.00 available at Sportsbet. Vandeweghe ($2.60) will be on a high after her straight-sets upset of world No.1 and defending champion Angelique Kerber. Meanwhile, seventh seed Garbine Muguruza ($1.50) has progressed to her first Australian Open quarter-final without the loss of a set. They’ve played three times, Vandeweghe winning twice. The market looks about right for this one with a slight lean to the American at the game-total line (+3.5 at $1.80 with Crownbet).

Nadal Turns Back Clock To Prevail in Marathon Five-Setter

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The 2009 Australian Open will always hold a special place in the scrapbook of Rafael Nadal. Already anointed the “King of Clay”, Nadal defeated Roger Federer in five sets to earn his first hard-court Grand Slam singles title. He was the first Spaniard to win the Australian Open title and became just the fourth male tennis player (with Jimmy Connors, Mats Wilander, and Andre Agassi) to win Grand Slam singles titles on three different surfaces. Nadal also became the first to hold Grand Slam singles titles on three different surfaces at the same time. Pickings have been slim for the Spaniard on his past eight visits to Melbourne but he turned back the clock yesterday, staging an incredible comeback after teen sensation Alexander Zverev looked odds-on to send the world no. 9 packing. The ninth-seeded Nadal came from two sets to one down to win 4-6 6-3 6-7 (5-7) 6-3 6-2 in an epic third-round encounter which lasted four hours and six minutes. Coincidentally, Zverev had butchered a match point before losing his only previous encounter against Nadal last year at Indian Wells.

Sir Andy to barely raise a sweat

Fresh from his dominant win over Tomas Berdych on Friday night, Roger Federer returns to Rod Laver Arena tonight to take on fifth seed Kei Nishikori. Federer holds a 4-2 head-to-head record over Nishikori, but the pair has never met in a Grand Slam. The 2014 champion Stan Wawrinka faces Andreas Seppi at Margaret Court Arena while ground pass holders will be able to see French star Jo-Wilfried Tsonga against Brit Dan Evans in the fourth match at Hisense Arena. Men’s top seed Andy Murray highlights the day session as he meets Mischa Zverev, the older brother of Alexander. Zverev has maintained a spot just inside the top 50 for several years but has never risen to the ranks of Murray, who presents a poor match-up for the Russian-born German. The Scot is a prohibitive $1.25 to win this in straight sets but backable at the -9.5-game handicap ($2.00 with William Hill). Having endured that circus that comes with Nick Kyrgios, Seppi enters his match-up against Wawrinka full of confidence. He has enough game to frustrate the Swiss from the baseline and should force this to a minimum of four sets +34.5 games is $1.80 with Unibet).

Sun hasn’t yet set on Venus

Women’s top seed Angelique Kerber takes on big-hitting American CoCo Vandeweghe after she dispatched Eugenie Bouchard in the previous round. Russian veteran Svetlana Kuznetsova opens the day session against compatriot Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, followed by Venus Williams against qualifier Mona Barthel. Seventh seed Garbine Muguruza will also be in action against Sorana Cirstea. It’s incredible to think the 36-year-old Williams first played this tournament in 1998, and she’s still knocking opponents off the court with some blistering groundstrokes. Barthel, who silenced the local crowds with her win over Ashleigh Barty, has already played and won six matches at Melbourne Park after coming through the qualifiers. Let’s ride this Williams bandwagon for at least one more round (2-0 sets at $2.10 on Crownbet). Vandeweghe is a dominant player when her serve is on song but not so hot when her opponent fires serves back with similar enthusiasm. That’s the case as the American takes on defending champ Kerber today. The German should have this decided inside 20.5 games ($1.83 with Ladbrokes).

Book Far From Closed On Career Of Swiss Master Federer

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The bookies didn’t have much love for Roger Federer when the markets opened on the 2017 Australian Open men’s singles title. To make the final he would most likely need to top Tomas Berdych, Kei Nishikori, Andy Murray and Stan Wawrinka. And if he could win through all those matches, Novak Djokovic would await in the final. Good luck Roger. Suddenly, Novak’s gone, Federer has dismantled Berdych and he’s been slashed from $21 to $13 to go all the way. What was supposed to be the real test of Federer’s first official tournament since last year’s Wimbledon and his recovery from knee surgery more closely resembled a walkover. The world No.10 Berdych was completely wiped off the court by a vintage Federer display, Roger winning 6-2, 6-4, 6-4 in 90 minutes. Berdych found himself laughing at some of Federer’s groundstrokes as they sailed past. Federer was two sets up inside the hour mark without facing a break point on his dominant serve. He wouldn’t all night, winning 39 of 41 points when his first serve landed.

Will Denis menace Spanish opponent?

On the other side of the men’s draw, Rafael Nadal has looked solid in his return to Grand Slam play, but rising German Alexander Zverev will offer a stern examination of his progress in the final game of the day session. Grigor Dimitrov and Richard Gasquet are scheduled to meet tonight with other action featuring Gael Monfils and Philipp Kohlschreiber while eighth seed Dominic Thiem takes on Frenchman Benoit Paire. The match that really catches the eye today is the battle of Denis Istomin and Spain’s Pablo Carreno-Busta. Backing up from a career-defining victory, as was the case with Istomin’s upset of no. 2 seed Novak Djokovic, is generally a tough ask in Grand Slam tennis. Remember that Istomin needed four hours and 48 minutes to dispatch Djokovic. Lower ranked players have a lousy record backing up after a long five-setter, and there is little reason to expect that Istomin won’t struggle today. Take the Spaniard at the handicap (4.5 games) at $1.73 on Sportsbet. We’ll also be taking the Canadian Milos Raonic to claim victory in straight sets over Gilles Simon – it’s available at $2.10 with bet365.

Aussie ‘Dasha’ to again prevail

Serena Williams will continue her charge for a record-breaking 23 Grand Slam titles when she takes on Nicole Gibbs on Day 6 of Australian Open 27. Williams’ clash with compatriot Gibbs is the second match at Rod Laver Arena with sixth seed Dominika Cibulkova opening the day session against 30th seed Ekaterina Makarova. Aussie hope Daria Gavrilova is first up at night against Timea Bacsinszky, Barbora Strycova will take on Caroline Garcia, former world No.1 Caroline Wozniacki faces ninth seed Johanna Konta, with Karolina Pliskova and Jelena Ostapenko in action tonight. Some reporter was silly enough to accuse Williams of a scrappy performance in her previous outing (and was duly delivered short shrift). Serena may flex a little muscle today, and it’s worth a play at the handicap (-6.5 games at $1.83 on Luxbet). The final Aussie in either singles’ draw is the Russian-born 22-year-old Gavrilova. She’s a scrapper and a fighter in the Lleyton Hewitt mould so had quickly become a fan favourite. She’s beaten Bacsinszky in both of their prior meetings, including their most recent in Beijing. Take ‘Dasha’ at $3.75 to win in three sets with William Hill.