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Rafa roars to final four
AO 2009 champion into fifth Melbourne semi after downing Milos Raonic.
Nadal v Raonic match highlights (QF)
R. Nadal M. Raonic
TOTAL POINTS
117 Points 95 Points
DISTANCE COVERED
2.4 km 2.5 km
R. Nadal M. Raonic
NET APPROACHES
R. Nadal M. Raonic
WEAKNESS
DOUBLE FAULTS
4 2
21 UNFORCED ERRORS 32
Few players respond to losses better than Rafael Nadal.
When Tomas Berdych beat him at the 2006 Madrid Masters and put his index finger to his lips to silence to Spanish crowd, Nadal and the thousands watching were infuriated. Nadal then beat Berdych the next 17 times they played.
After losing to Roger Federer in the 2006 Wimbledon final, Nadal played the Swiss much tougher in their 2007 final rematch and then upended Federer in the 2008 decider, growing more adept on the lawns each year to counter Federer’s more natural grasscourt game.
After being blown off the same court by Nick Kyrgios in the 2014 Wimbledon fourth round, Nadal was prepared for the Aussie’s explosive power the next time they met, in Rome, and turned the tables.
If you can see where this pattern is going, then you know what happened when Nadal faced Milos Raonic in the Australian Open quarterfinals after falling to the towering Canadian two weeks earlier at the Brisbane International.
Nadal recorded a 6-4 7-6(7) 6-4 victory over the No.3 seed to advance to the last four, where he will tackle Grigor Dimitrov, a straight-sets winner over David Goffin earlier on Wednesday.
AO Expert: Rafa masters the moment
“(Tonight) I received inside the court. In Brisbane I was receiving like six, seven metres behind the baseline,” Nadal said.
“I watched the match before, and I decided to go in, no? Talking with Toni, with Carlos, we know that we needed to change that. I felt that I was putting some pressure on him … Even for moments he played so good from the baseline, I was there trying to stop his aggressive shots and don't losing court, don't losing metres behind the baseline. That's important change for me.
“I feel very happy for my attitude and for the tennis, too. I hit some great passing shots. That's good news for me. When I make that happen, it's because I'm playing well.”
The five key moments from Nadal v Raonic
From the very early stages of the match, you could tell Nadal was on. Raonic was not. The highest seed remaining in the draw looked slow to react, lacking in feel and unsure at the net. When he missed, it was by a lot, and he frequently came into net behind questionable shots only to be punished by the Spaniard. That never seemed to change as the match wore on – Raonic came into the net 52 times in all, and won just 27 points.
Nadal, by contrast, was sharp. He kept his errors to a minimum and was aggressive from the back of the court, ensuring Raonic was kept off-balance and unable to dictate. In the seventh game, two passing shot winners helped him break for a 4-3 lead, which he consolidated in the next game. “Serve, return, backhand pass, forehand down the line,” British journalist Tumaini Carayol tweeted. “Rafa checking box after box so far.”
With the first set in hand, Nadal was forced to battle harder as Raonic found a more potent gear. The Canadian threatened to break in a lengthy second game that extended five deuces, and after departing the court for a medical timeout after the fifth game, returned to Rod Laver Arena and continued to hold serve unaffected.
Nadal’s level dropped, and when errors streamed from his racquet in the 10th game, Raonic earned three set points. He couldn’t convert, but when a tiebreak ensued, he held three more thanks to some more assured net play and a delightful lob winner.
Again, he failed to convert. From 7-6 up, Raonic committed three errors to hand Nadal a two-sets-to-love lead.
In the third set, you could see Nadal had even learned from his previous win two nights ago. In the fourth round, also leading two sets to love, Nadal became passive and let Gael Monfils attack his increasingly short forehand and work his way back into the match.
Not tonight. The Spaniard continued to hit out, and as games went on serve, he belted an inside-out forehand winner on his way to a 4-3 lead. Three games later, with Raonic serving to stay in the match, this aggressive approach worked again when a backhand winner seared past the Canadian at net to make scores 0-15.
Raonic erred on the next three points to hand Nadal a semifinal spot.
There awaits Dimitrov, the Bulgarian who beat Nadal in their last meeting at the China Open in Beijing three months ago.
You can be sure Nadal will have learned from that lesson. |
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Kul 11:00 Msia baru leh tgk women's SFs |
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RAFAEL NADAL'S CHANGED COURT POSITIONING HELPED HIM KNOCK OFF RAONIC
by: KAMAKSHI TANDON January 25, 2017
Rafael Nadal didn't stand as far back to return against Milos Raonic. (AP)
Rafael Nadal says he changed his court positioning against Milos Raonic at the Australian Open, which helped him win in straight sets in their quarterfinal.
The Spaniard decided not to stand as far back to return as he did in their meeting two weeks ago in Brisbane, which Raonic won in three sets.
"Talking with Toni [Nadal], with Carlos [Moya], we know that we needed to change that," said Nadal, referring to his coaches.
Going into the match, their tactic had been to move up towards the baseline on some of the returns, but Nadal did so more frequently when he saw the approach working.
"I felt that I was putting some pressure on him,” the 14-time Grand Slam champion said, “so I decided to stay in almost all the time.”
Even during rallies, Nadal often stayed on the baseline, not allowing Raonic's pace to push him back.
"I feel very happy for my attitude and for the tennis," he said.
That, according to his opponent, had a bigger impact than the return position.
"I don't think that was a big change, necessarily,” Raonic said. “It was more from the back. I just wasn't able to, sort of, push him back behind the baseline like I was able to do a few weeks ago.
"I thought, you know, he took the match to me. He did something a little bit different than he normally does."
Nadal plays Grigor Dimitrov in the semifinals. |
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RAONIC SUFFERED ADDUCTOR INJURY AGAINST RAFA, HAD FEVER DURING TOURNEY
by: KAMAKSHI TANDON January 25, 2017
Milos Raonic experienced an adductor injury during his quarterfinal against Rafael Nadal at the Australian Open, but indicated that it was not as significant as his previous problems.
Raonic said he has had four such injuries, and it began a year ago, in the Australian Open semifinals against Andy Murray. It flared up again at the warm-up event in Brisbane two weeks ago.
"Sort of the backstory is, another part of the adductor I damaged in Brisbane,” Raonic said. “I was healing that before this tournament. I got it to pretty good shape. We still had to monitor it. Then, today, I guess I hurt another aspect of it, but not by any means that serious.
He called the trainer for the injury during the second set, telling him, "I can't push up on it." The 25-year-old Canadian left the court to have his leg taped and had six set points in the second before falling in straight sets.
Raonic also had a fever during the tournament.
"First, dealing with the physical aspect, getting myself quite ready,” he said, “…then dealing with the health aspect, then now with this. It was quite a draining two-and a-half weeks."
Raonic is No. 3 in the rankings, and was the third seed at the Australian Open. |
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Mulan replied at 26-1-2017 08:29 AM
jom la weh buat rombongan cik kiah ke paris
Teringin nk tgk match kat grand slam secara live.. |
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Mulan replied at 26-1-2017 08:34 AM
Kul 11:00 Msia baru leh tgk women's SFs
Come on Venuss!! Williams sisters final plss. Hehe |
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Vee 6(3)-7, 3-1 Come on Vee!! Don't drop your serve!! VAMOS sista! |
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Kelakar la reaction Venus bila menang but i'm happy for her!  |
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Edited by Mulan at 26-1-2017 01:56 PM
hahaa... there is a tweet saying Venus' reaction is PURE ECSTASY! 
I sure would like to share that feeling... happy sgt2 oiiiii.... terharu tgk wpun kelakar pulak tgk tangan dia terjengkit2 camtu... 
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Venus reacts:
"Oh my god, it means so much. Mostly because she played so well. I had to play defence the whole time. There was never a moment to relax. A match like this makes me so excited about American tennis as well."
"It's more than a cherry on top. It's more than I dreamed of."
"I would love more than anything to see Serena across the net from me on Saturday" |
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Morning Rafans
one down,three to go
waiting for Serena,Rafa & Fed..
come on!!
pls make it happen..just for old time sake
the world deserves a Fedal & Williams sisters final.
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Lucic garang ni..seram i
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harap mektam tambah semangat nak jumpa akak vee kat final 
mektam pun pandai garang2 ni 
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kena tgk the whole celebration process |
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Happy for Venus
cekal betul dia ni ek
lama betul jatuh..hujung2 final terus.ambik kau
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sekelip mata je mektam dah menang |
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RESULT: Serena d. Lucic-Baroni 6-2, 6-1
Fifty minutes is all it took. Fifty minutes of blistering tennis to reach her 29th Grand Slam final. Serena Williams will take on Venus Williams in the 2017 Australian Open final after ending Mirjana Lucic-Baroni's fairytale run. I could type for the rest of the day about Serena and it still wouldn't be enough. The best? And then some. |
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nampak mcm dah ada sch utk esok Jumaat
tapi bila klik, Fault la pulak
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Author
Post time 26-1-2017 11:37 AM
