Nadal

Serena, Nadal Bookend Stellar Day Down Under

... No. 2 Serena Williams versus No. 16 Barbora Strycova , 7 p.m. ET on Rod Laver Arena ( Watch ). Serena is trying to join Venus in the quarterfinals of a major for the 24 th time. In 18 of the previous 23 majors in which they've both made the elite eight, one of them has won the title. No. 8 Dominic Thiem versus No. 11 David Goffin , following Williams-Strycova ( Watch ). They've split two matches in majors, with both meetings coming last year. Goffin won at the Australian Open, Thiem at the French Open. No. 9 Johanna Konta versus Ekaterina Makarova , second match on Margaret Court Arena ( Watch ). Konta might be the hottest player on tour in 2017, having strung together an 11-1 record heading into her fourth-round match. No. 15 Grigor Dimitrov versus Denis Istomin , following Brady-Lucic-Baroni ( Watch ). Not only did Istomin stun Novak Djokovic in the second round here, but he is the only Uzbek player, male or female, to ever reach the ...

Federer-nadal Could Be Nureyev And Fonteyn Dancing For Last Time

... fragile about Roger god help us all”. It becomes personal then. I also have to say, from a metrosexual perspective, my man-crush on Roger grows. He’s much better looking as the years have passed. He’s more handsome. He used to be very goofy and almost unprepossessing with his blubbering and crying and his big nose. Now he’s much more of a style icon. He’s growing into looking like a super hero. I was standing about 15 feet away from him in Dubai once. He was doing a TV interview. I considered going up to him and doing a fan thing but decided to leave him alone. The thing I noticed about him was he looked much taller in real life. He’s 6 ft 1 in but he looks 6 ft 3 in or 6 ft 4 in. He’s really long. He was other-worldly. There are very few that have a body shape like him. He’s extremely slender, extremely long. Sinewy. Muscley. Even in sports clothing he is different. There is something other-worldly about his physical presence. He’s like this thoroughbred. When he walks, ...

Milos Raonic Knocked Out Of Australian Open By Rafael Nadal

... Martina Hingis. After her run to the Wimbledon semifinals the following year, however, Lucic-Baroni's career was sidetracked by personal issues and financial problems. She was largely out of the sport for several years before launching a comeback in the late 2000 s. "I know this means a lot to every player to reach the semifinals, but to me, this is just overwhelming," she said, in tears, after the match. "This has truly made my life and everything bad that happened, it has made it OK.". The 79 th-ranked Lucic-Baroni is the third-lowest-ranked player to reach the semifinals of the Australian Open after Justine Henin (unranked, 2010), Claudia Porwick (No. 81, 1990) and Williams (No. 81, 2007). Report Typo or Error Send Feedback. To encourage thoughtful and respectful conversations, first and last names will appear with each submission to CBC/Radio-Canada's online communities (except in children and youth-oriented communities). Pseudonyms ...

Nadal Breaks Fifth-set Hex With Confidence-building Win Over Zverev

... clutch player. Nadal, for all of his legendary heart and fight, had been the cautious and careful—and, at this point, losing—player. Still, Rafa had been brilliant for long stretches of this match. He had hit and run with the panache of his glory years, and the forehand that had grown tentative in 2016 had become a reliable weapon again. While he couldn’t match the power of Zverev, who would finish with 19 aces and 58 winners, Nadal was still the savvier tactician. He had spun his serve away from Zverev’s two-handed backhand. He had flattened out his forehand and used the quicker pace of this year’s Aussie Open courts to his advantage. And he had turned the momentum in his favor in the second set by mixing spins and trajectories. Yet Nadal had been unable, as he had been unable in so many other close contests over the last two years, to come up with ...

Nadal Advances To Set Up Showdown With Raonic

... past six years at Melbourne Park - upset in the first week, Wimbledon finalist Raonic is the highest-ranked player left in the draw. He advanced to the last eight here for third straight year with a 7-6 (6), 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 win over No. 13 Roberto Bautista Agut. Nadal, 30, is the only major winner still in contention on the bottom half of the draw, although he hasn't added to his tally of 14 majors since the capturing the French Open in 2014. Federer, in the top half of the draw, plays Mischa Zverev on Tuesday, and would have to beat him and either Stan Wawrinka or Jo-Wilfried Tsonga - the other quarterfinalists playing Tuesday - to advance to the final. Nadal's 6-3, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 win over US Open semifinalist Monfils in the fourth round was his first over a top-10 player at a Grand Slam since that run to his last title at Roland ...

Rafael Nadal V Roger Federer Australian Open Final In The Making With Both Into Quarterfinals

... quarter-final since the 2015 French Open and could make his first semi-final since the same event in 2014. "The match was tough. He had chances then. Is true that I had my chances before, but I had some mistakes. He started to serve huge, no?" said Nadal. "Sometimes is tough to play against Gael when you don't know what he going to do. First two sets were a little bit more normal, normal tennis. Then he start to play more aggressive. "He start to serve huge and play big shots. He combines mistakes with great shots, no? Make you feel that you don't know if you have to go for the points or if you have to wait little bit for his mistake. "You see that the opponent is playing a little bit more 50/50, you know. So is not an easy way to play. "But I made it. Positive thing, I keep fighting with positive attitude. Finally I played last few games good.". CAN NADAL WIN IT. Beaten in the first round in Melbourne last year, Nadal now has the chance to move into a semifinal against Grigor Dimitrov or David Goffin, should he make his way past Raonic. Nadal ...

Nadal, Federer Set For Special Open Final

... square off in a grand slam final many - including themselves - felt was beyond them. "It's special (to) play with Roger again in a final of a grand slam. I cannot lie. It's great," Nadal said. QUINN ROONEY/GETTY IMAGES. Rafael Nadal of Spain serves in his first round match against Florian Mayer of Germany. "It's exciting for me and for both of us that we are still there and we still fighting for important events. So that's important for us, I think. That's very special.". Ad Feedback. Former world No.1 Andy Roddick earlier in the week described a Nadal-Federer final as potentially "the biggest match ever in Australian Open history - and maybe grand slam history". The decorated duo, who have won a combined 31 grand slam singles titles, last met in the final of a major at Roland Garros in 2011 when Nadal prevailed in four sets. Nadal holds a 6-2 lead over the Swiss maestro in grand slam deciders and was also the victor in the duo's only previous Australian Open final, prevailing in a five-set epic in 2009. But Nadal said his past triumphs counted for little considering how much time had passed since they last ...

Nadal Survives Zverev In Melbourne

... able to produce great shots. He's already one of the best players in the world. He can be even better. He can be fighting for the most important things. So I think he will do it. "For the confidence, for lot of things, it is very important to win these kind of matches. I worked a lot during all of December to have the chances to compete well in these kind of moments. Even if I started the match with some nerves, I think I was able to came back well. "Mentally I have been very positive during the whole match. In terms of physical performance, I felt great, ready for run for every ball. In terms of level of tennis, I think I finished the match playing much better than how I started the match. That's a very important thing.". Nadal goes on to face sixth seed Gael Monfils, who recorded a 6-3, 7-6(1), 6-4 victory over Philipp Kohlschreiber in just under two hours. Monfils has dropped only one set in ...

Rafael Nadal Turns Attention To Roger Federer After Semi-final Epic In Australia

... play his greatest rival Federer in a grand slam final, their ninth together, and 35 th career meeting. Nadal is closing in on a 15 th major title while Federer is hoping to extend his lead on the Spaniard to four by instead claiming his 18 th. "It is special to play with Roger again in a final of a grand slam, I cannot lie," Nadal said. "It is great. It is exciting for me and for both of us that we are still there and still fighting for important events. So that's important for us, I think. That's very special. "After that it is a final. It is a very important match for both of us. I hope to be ready to compete well again. I need to go back to the hotel, to rest well, and to recover from now.". Dimitrov came within a whisker of reaching his first grand slam final but showed why many have the 25-year-old down as a future major champion. "For sure it's a disappointment to me," Dimitrov said. "But I don't want to get too down on it because it's just my second grand slam ...

Rafael Nadal Sets Up Classic Aussie Open Final With Roger Federer As He Edges Tough Semi Wearing £720k Watch

... to come out on top in the tie break 7-6 and put himself within one set of facing Federer once again. Grigor Dimitrov was being roared on by the small number of Bulgarians in the crowd. And keeping with the trend of the previous two sets, the pair matched each other all the way. Nadal was tiring which was evident of a couple of sloppy forehands and a ripple of chants came from the small section of Bulgarian fans in the crowd trying to cheer on their compatriot. With the score tied at 4-4, Nadal continued to work him over and was just a game away from his fourth final in Melbourne. But Dimitrov proved an extremely tough nut to crack. He levelled the set to 5-5 and then 6-6 before winning the tie break and taking it to one last set. Five hours of epic tennis finally looked like it was coming to a conclusion when Nadal broke Dimitrov in the ninth set of the fifth game. A mouth-watering clash with old rival Roger Federer awaits. Serving for the game he held his nerve and fist pumped the air. He knows it could be his last Grand Slam final and what a way to do it. Federer will go into the final on Sunday with an extra day rest but even non-tennis fans can ...

Imagine If Federer And Nadal Exchanged Letters

... prepare for this match, I want you to know how much I have appreciated your place in my life. I needed you the way Martina needed Chrissie, or Magic needed Bird, or Athens needed Sparta. The contrast in our styles, between my magical, fluid game and your bullish power and retrieving, it took tennis to another level. What I do not particularly need, though, is a threat to my secure status as the Greatest of All Time in the men's game. And I must say that's a bit of a cloud that passes now and then over our wonderful friendship. This is an awkward issue to bring up, and one I didn't expect to have to face, but here we are. I have heard the whispers, some of them from prominent people like Andy Roddick , suggesting that if you win this match and close the gap in Grand Slam singles titles to 17-15 in my favor, the GOAT conversation is automatically reopened. Look into your heart, Rafa - do you think that would be fair. Sure, a win would boost your lead in head-to-head matches to 24-11. But let's be honest, it's a lopsided number partly because, while you are the ...