How Rafa stepped up to topple Milos
MELBOURNE: Standing in close to face a Milos Raonic serve might seem a recipe for self-harm, but Rafa Nadal’s daring ploy helped him defuse the Canadian’s biggest weapon and book an Australian Open semi-final place yesterday.
The Spaniard broke the 26-yearold twice, but was impenetrable on his own serve to close out a brilliant 6-4 7-6(7) 6-4 win and reach the last four at a grand slam for the first time since his 2014 French Open title.
Nadal will play 15th seed Grigor Dimitrov for a place in the final and a shot at a 15th major title.
A dream decider against Roger Federer beckons if the Swiss master can defeat compatriot Stan Wawrinka in the first semi-final today.
“If I am not playing aggressive, then I am dead,” warned Nadal prior to his match against Raonic, who defeated him in three sets at the Brisbane International.
Nadal hired Raonic’s former coach Carlos Moya who parted ways with the Canadian at the end of last season.
The 1998 French Open winner Moya was undoubtedly invaluable in preparing for Raonic, but Nadal took his own counsel under the lights at Rod Laver Arena.
He stood inside the baseline to cut off the Canadian’s angles, relying on his reactions to counter the serving assault.
“Yeah, I received inside the court,” ninth seed Nadal told reporters. “In Brisbane I was receiving like six, seven metres behind the baseline. I watched the match before, and I decided to go in.
“Talking with (coach) Toni (Nadal), with Carlos, we knew that we needed to change that. Before the match we were talking about trying to combine returning sometimes very close to the baseline and sometimes back.
“But the real thing is I felt good from inside, and I felt that I was putting some pressure on him. So I decided to stay in almost all the time, no? So happy for that.”
A nervous Raonic, watching his serving rockets being fired back at him, appeared rattled by the tactic early in the match.
After saving a break point in the fifth game, he dropped serve in the seventh and lost the opening set.
The third seed still fired 14 aces in the match but his trump card went missing when it was needed most.
Serving to stay in the match at 5-4, Raonic was broken to love as Nadal tied him in knots with passing shots when the Canadian rushed forward in desperation.
Nadal’s victory means three of the men’s semi-finalists are in their thirties, with 25-year-old Dimitrov the exception.
Thirty-year-old Nadal, who was pushed all the way in a five-set match against German teenager Alex Zverev in the third round, disagreed that it was getting easier for the old guard at the grand slams.
“It’s going to be tough to make that happen again,” he said.
“I think now there is really a new very good generation.
“Probably a few years ago things were a little bit different, but now there’s lots of good young kids.”
There have been a few false dawns in Dimitrov’s career so it was no surprise that he spent so much time talking about how this year was going to be different after reaching his first grand slam semi-final in three years yesterday.
Being anointed “Baby Fed” because of the similarity of his game to that of 17-times grand slam winner Roger Federer means the Bulgarian had expectations heaped on his shoulders from early in his career.
High-profile relationships with former women’s number one Maria Sharapova and pop star Nicole Scherzinger have helped make him one of the world’s bestknown tennis players, but the grand slam titles many forecast have not materialised.
Now 25 and with another new coach in Daniel Vallverdu in tow, Dimitrov has started 2017 on fire with a winning run of 10 matches that earned him the Brisbane International title and has taken him to the last four in Melbourne.
“I feel like I have all the tools to go further, and my job isn’t over yet,” he said after beating 11th seed David Goffin 6-3 6-2 6-4 in their quarter-final yesterday.
“I’m looking forward to my match on Friday. I think I’m prepared. I think I’m ready to go the distance. I don’t shy away from that.
“I’m confident enough to say that I feel good physically, and overall like on the court. Just going forward with the confidence that I have built up also from the previous tournament.
“Now with each match I’ve been feeling better and better. It just all comes pretty natural right now.”
Dimitrov’s only previous grand slam semi-final was at Wimbledon in 2014, when he lost to Novak Djokovic, but he feels he is a better player now.
“I think I’m taking better decisions when I come out on the court, better decisions in terms of points or how I’m going to play certain players or how I’m going to prepare before my matches,” he said.
“Little things that are important for me in order to come to the court. I think my focus has been good. The mentality has been there. I’ve been present when I’m playing my matches.
“Just fighting. I keep on fighting. I have a good spirit on the court, being positive.
“There are obviously a lot of small things that when you put them up together it makes a big difference.”
“Distractions” has become a euphemism for Dimitrov’s fondness for the nightlife and he chuckled when asked whether there was anything, or anybody, diverting him from his focus on tennis.
“Nothing is distracting me so far. I mean, I know what you’re referring to, again,” he said. – Reuters