AO Semi: Rafael Nadal (9) vs Grigor Dimitrov (15)

[Moxie]

Great, then Rafa wins, and I can sleep easy. xx

 

[shawnbm]

Keep on drinkin' in celebration, moxie!

 

[Moxie]

I keep saying I'm going to take a nap but I'm so excited and jacked up. This is rather beyond the Nadal fan's wildest dream, at this stage of the game. A long time coming.

 

[DarthFed]

^ And a Fed fan's worst nightmare. I thought we were done with these finals, hell I thought we were done with the matchup period.

 

[Moxie]

They'd both looked pretty good until their last matches, and then they looked vulnerable, and went 5. Roger has that extra day of rest. But the biggest intangible does go to Nadal.

 

[DarthFed]

Nadal played outstanding today, anything less and he was going home, he maybe should've anyways but he refused to lose. Roger did not look good against Stan but through the QF's I agree Roger looked like the better player. But ultimately form really doesn't matter here, history has shown that to be the case because there have been many matches including the 2014 AO semifinal where Roger comes in looking like the better player.

 

[britbox]

Rafael Nadal d. Grigor Dimitrov 6-3 5-7 7-6(5) 6-7(4) 6-4

 

[Vince Evert]

In case anyone missed the semifinal. This is the complete version. Not sure from which country this is from -

 

[Vince Evert]

and this is Set 1 of their quarterfinal in 2014. Note: No commentary -



That match also had two tiebreak sets but you notice a contrast in 2014 Grigor rolled over in the fourth set. Yesterday he stood tall and fought all the way. I think comparing the two matches shows Dimitrov's come of age

 

[Vince Evert]

 

[Vince Evert]

 

[Vince Evert]

hey there's no Set (part) 4 ! Oh well it's interesting to see and hear tennis match with no commentary, LOL

 

[britbox]

hey there's no Set (part) 4 ! Oh well it's interesting to see and hear tennis match with no commentary, LOL

Definitely gives you a different dimension with the commentary off. I find that with a lot of sports, particularly boxing.

 

[Vince Evert]

There is no set 4 but i found this french vid which has set 4 highlights won by Nadal 6-2. It fits nicely in context -

 

[JesuslookslikeBorg]

wow another fedal final..its back to the future.

all shots in final must be over 88mph or the flux capacitor gets it in the neck (but they don't have necks?!!!. )

sir grigor showed the play we knew he could reach. rafa showed the play we didn't know if he could reach again.

 

[isabelle]

sad for Grigor, he played the best he could, I'ld have loved to see him win (not only to avoid this awful final)

 

[brokenshoelace]

One thing that's really astounding about Nadal, he's made the semi finals 24 times now, and has reached the final 21 times. He only lost in the semis three times... That is absolutely incredible.

I've done some research (from pure memory) and here's Nadal's semi final stats:

2005 French Open, played Roger Federer: Won.
2006 French Open, played Ivan Ljubicic: Won.
2006 Wimbledon, played Marcos Baghdatis: Won.
2007 French Open, played Novak Djokovic: Won.
2007 Wimbledon, played Novak Djokovic: Won.
2008 Australian Open, played J. W. Tsonga: Lost.
2008 French Open, played Novak Djokovic: Won.
2008 Wimbledon, played Rainer Schuttler: Won.
2008 US Open, played Andy Murray: Lost.
2009 Australian Open, played Fernando Verdasco: Won.
2009 US Open, played J. M. Del Potro: Lost.
2010 French Open, played Jurgen Melzer: Won.
2010 Wimbledon, played Andy Murray: Won.
2010 US Open, played Mikhail Youzhny: Won.
2011 French Open, played Andy Murray: Won.
2011 Wimbledon, played Andy Murray: Won.
2011 US Open, played Andy Murray: Won.
2012 Australian Open, played Roger Federer: Won.
2012 French Open, played David Ferrer: Won.
2013 French Open, played Novak Djokovic: Won.
2013 US Open, played Richard Gasquet: Won.
2014 Australian Open, played Roger Federer: Won.
2014 French Open, played Andy Murray: Won.
2017 Australian Open, played Grigor Dimitrov: Won.

His only 3 losses in semis came to Tsonga, Murray and Del Potro. The Tsonga match was seriously one of the top 3 greatest performances I've seen in a major by anyone, as Jo played out of his mind. The Del Potro match was a step too far as Nadal was coming off the tendinitis, lacking in confidence, playing with an injured abdomen, and came up against a hot Del Potro. The Murray match from 2008 was the one match that Nadal would have been disappointed in, as he lost a second set tie break, won the third, and was up a break in the fourth to tie the match but lost. It also came at a time where he was the best player in the world and oozing with confidence.

The reason I bring this up is that Nadal when it comes to semi finals, has barely missed any opportunity he's had. In fact, the last time he lost in a semi was in 2009 which is absolutely amazing. He's won 13 semis in a row since. Out of his 21 semi final wins, 3 came over Federer, 5 over Murray and 4 over Djokovic.

 

[DarthFed]

That's what I touched on in a different thread. Nadal has made the most of his opportunities whereas Federer with a ho hum 28-13 semifinal record hasn't. That's why the slam race is still in play.

 

[teddytennisfan]

Nadal played outstanding today, anything less and he was going home, he maybe should've anyways but he refused to lose. Roger did not look good against Stan but through the QF's I agree Roger looked like the better player. But ultimately form really doesn't matter here, history has shown that to be the case because there have been many matches including the 2014 AO semifinal where Roger comes in looking like the better player.

AS FOR WAWRINKA...

how come a commentator said during the ROGER-WAWRINKA

''there it is again -- something we've become so familiar with for years now in their meetings -- STAN's COMPLETELY CAPITULATING -- AGAIN -- to his friend roger"...

(LIKE i have maintained for years) --

IT's inone of the versions of commentating,,,espn, or tennischannel replays -

i thought STAN is now a TOUGH MINDED grand slam champ ? such as beating nadal, nole, ? and ...............roger?.............
was stan somehow having an injury? didn't recover enough ?

how come STANIMAL became Stanley? was it because it wasn't NADAL across the court? or what?......................inquiring minds want to know...

 

[shawnbm]

That's what I touched on in a different thread. Nadal has made the most of his opportunities whereas Federer with a ho hum 28-13 semifinal record hasn't. That's why the slam race is still in play.

I don't know if I would say Federer has a ho-hum semifinal major record. I would venture to say that 4 or 5 of his semi losses have come since 2011 and he has won five semifinals since then and won a major once in 2012 at SW19. He basically lost one semifinal between the 2005 Wimbledon and the 2010 French Open. Before that SW19 in 2005, he had lost one time to Nadal in Paris in the semis, once to Safin in Melbourne and that may be it. I can't recall if he made the semis in 2003 in New York. I know he won the first 7 major finals he reached and I think that is still a record. Has he lost more semis in the last five or six years as he has slid down from his lofty peak? Sure, but come on. I give all the praise in the world to Nadal, as he deserves it, but to say Roger's record at the business end of slams has been anything less than superlative I take issue with. Rafa in semis is stellar, but he has a long way to go (years in fact) to equal Federer's appearances in semis or finals, for that matter.