RAFA NADAL BEATS MILOS RAONIC, JOINS DIMITROV, FEDERER, AND WAWRINKA IN AUSTRALIAN OPEN TENNIS SEMI’S

Written by: Staff on 25th January 2017

RAFA NADAL BEATS MILOS RAONIC, JOINS DIMITROV, FEDERER, AND WAWRINKA IN AUSTRALIAN OPEN TENNIS SEMI'S

epa05748868 Rafael Nadal of Spain celebrates after defeating Milos Raonic of Canada in their men's Singles quarter final match at the Australian Open Grand Slam tennis tournament in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 25 January 2017. EPA/FILIP SINGER |

Nadal takes down Raonic, joins Dimitrov, Federer, and Wawrinka in Australian Open semis

By Ricky Dimon

Rafael Nadal still has several significant roadblocks in his potential path to the Australian Open title, but he is arguably the tournament favorite after overcoming an especially big one–literally–in the quarterfinals on Wednesday night. Nadal beat world No. 3 Milos Raonic 6-4, 7-6(7), 6-4 in two hours and 44 minutes to reach the last four in Melbourne for the first time since 2014.

Consistently playing much closer to the baseline–especially on return–than he did in a recent Brisbane International setback against Raonic, Nadal fired more winners than his opponent (40 to 39) while finishing with fewer unforced errors (21 to 32). He also won six of seven total break points in the contest, four of four saved on his own serve and two of three converted at Raonic’s expense.

It was all but over for the third-seeded Canadian when he failed to capitalize on any of six set points in the second, one of which he threw away with a double-fault at 6-5 in the tiebreaker.

“I am competitive and playing well,” Nadal commented. “Just excited about be back in final rounds of the most important events. I [fought] and I worked hard to try to make that happen. [It] is a special thing for me, especially here in Australia.”

“There were some opportunities in that second set,” Raonic admitted. “Other than that, there wasn’t much for me to hold onto. I thought he did some things well. I thought he took the match to me. He did something a little bit different than he normally does.”

Up next for Nadal on Friday is Grigor Dimitrov, who rolled over David Goffin 6-3, 6-2, 6-4. An all-Swiss semifinal showdown featuring Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka will take place on Thursday.

Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria in action against David Goffin of Belgium during the Men’s Singles quarterfinal match at the Australian Open Grand Slam tennis tournament in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 25 January 2017. EPA/LYNN BO BO

“Let me enjoy today, the victory, being in (a) semifinal,” Nadal responded when asked about a potential title match against Federer. “For me [it] is great news; a good start of the season. Now I have a very tough match against Dimitrov. What happens on the other side of the draw, I think is great for tennis that Roger is there again after an injury, after a lot of people talk about always the same thing, that probably he will never be back.

“He’s back and he’s probably ready to win again, fighting again to win a major. That’s the real thing, and that’s good for the fans because Roger is a legend of our sport. I am happy to be there, too.”