Tag: Nadal

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).

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).

Wimbledon 2014 Preview

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Andy Murray defends his Wimbledon title after becoming Britain’s first Men’s Champion in 77-years. He reached the semi-finals of the French Open before being comprehensively beaten by Rafael Nadal but he will be more at home on this surface. He appears to be fully recovered from his back surgery and now has a new coach in the form of former Wimbledon Ladies Champion Amelie Mauresmo.

Rafael Nadal was brilliant in Paris but he is not the same player on grass. He is still good enough to have secured two Wimbledon titles but could be vulnerable in the opening rounds. Roger Federer is still a force to be reckoned with but it is difficult to see him winning at the age of 32 while Djokovic is the man to beat. He was beaten in straight sets by Murray in last year’s final but had been taken to five sets in his semi-final and I believe that proved crucial.

Recent history tells us that it is a waste of time looking beyond the big four but I’m tempted to put up three-time 2014 winner Grigor Dimitrov as an each-way alternative. He won at Queen’s Club last week and arrives here at the top of his game. He is young and fearless and could give us a good run for our money.

There is no doubt that the Ladies provided much the better entertainment in Paris and Maria Sharapova was superb. She fought back from a set down through all of the closing rounds including the final against Simona Halep and thoroughly deserved her second French Open title.

Serena Williams is the short-priced favourite and her early exit from the French certainly helped to make it a more interesting contest. You simply cannot back her at the current odds but she is obviously going to be tough to beat as she goes for a sixth Wimbledon title.

Williams has an incredible record against Sharapova, winning their last 15 meetings and they are due to meet in the quarter-finals. Beaten finalist Halep is the third seed here and she is likely to have another good tournament. She is well worth supporting at around 16-1.

The best value may be last year’s runner-up Sabine Lisicki who loves this surface and has reached at least the quarter-finals in her last three appearances here. There are any number of good players including Li Na, Jelena Jankovic and Agnieszka Radwanska that are capable of doing well in another excellent event.

Grigor Dimitrov at 20-1 Bet365, Paddy Power

Simona Halep at 18-1 Sportingbet

Sabine Lisicki at 25-1 Sportingbet

Each-way ½ odds 1,2