VINTAGE RAFA WINS EPIC
Blockbuster Sunday: Nadal sets up final with Federer after five-set win over Dimitrov
Melbourne, Jan. 27: Rafael Nadal set up an Australian Open final against his great rival Roger Federer after edging Grigor Dimitrov in a classic fiveset semifinal which stretched for nearly five hours on Friday.
The 14-time Grand Slam champion pulled off one of his toughest victories in denying Bulgaria’s Dimitrov, 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (7/5), 6-7 (4/7), 6-4 in four hours and 56 minutes in front of a rocking Rod Laver Arena crowd.
Nadal showed his incredible fighting qualities to claw back from behind in the ninth game of the final set and break Dimitrov’s serve, making two tremendous chases to put away the winning volley.
In scenes of high tension, Dimitrov bravely saved two match points as Nadal served for the match before the gutsy Spaniard finally clinched victory, sinking to his knees in relief and jubilation.
Nadal is now into his fourth Australian Open decider and his 21st Grand Slam title match. He leads Federer leads 6-2 in their major finals. Nadal, 30, has been out of the Grand Slam limelight since his last title success at Roland Garros in 2014, as injuries sidetracked his glorious career. On Sunday, he can win his second Australian Open title.
Nadal and Dimitrov played each other to a standstill in Friday’s epic, with two tiebreakers going either way in a match that ran to nearly 1 am on Saturday.
Nadal broke in the fourth game and cruised to the opening set, but he was given a time violation warning for slow serving and was broken for the first time in game four of the second set.
Dimitrov gave back the break with a double fault in the seventh game, before Nadal fought off four set points in a titanic 10 minute-plus game to stay in the set. But the Spaniard came under attack in his next service game and Dimitrov levelled the match when Nadal’s forehand sailed over the baseline, ending a 63-minute set.
Nadal broke Dimitrov early in the third but Dimitrov broke back and it went to a tiebreaker, when the Bulgarian paid for a poor, netted forehand on set point to go 2-1 down on sets.
There were no break points in the fourth set and Dimitrov played a masterful tiebreaker to take it to a fifth set as excitement grew in the stadium.
Both players fought off break points but Nadal got the winning break in the ninth game with two lung-busting chases to the net, and then clinched it in the following game.
SANIA-DODIG IN MIXED FINAL
Sania Mirza put herself in contention for a seventh Grand Slam title as she breezed into the mixed doubles final with Ivan Dodig, beating local favourites Samantha Stosur and Sam Groth on Friday. The secondseeded Indo-Croatian pair won 64, 2-6, 10-5 in the semifinals.
Sania has won three mixed doubles titles, the last being the 2014 US Open with Brazil’s Bruno Soares. With Dodig, she had an opportunity to win last year when she reached the French Open final but lost to Leander Paes and Martina Hingis in the summit clash.
It’s special to play with Roger again in a final of a Grand Slam. I cannot lie, it’s great. I really don’t think about what happened in the past. I think the player who plays better is going to be the winner. — RAFAEL NADAL