So now its time for my post on the men's tennis at the 2014 Australian Open and it will cover the quarter final and semi final action that took place on Days 10 and 11. So let's give it a look....
Right so starting with Day 10 we had up first on court Rafa Nadal who took on the Bulgarian new hope, Grigor Dimitrov, who has proved so far and last year that he is one to watch out for. Dimitrov has had comparisons of his gamestyle being similar to Federer's so much so that he has been nicknamed "Baby Fed". And it would be difficult to ignore them as Dimitrov does have a similar attacking style and a single handed backhand that is molded on Federer's own. And like Federer, Dimitrov actually did an excellent job at sticking it to Rafa out on the Rod Laver arena court as he took the opening set with a break. Rafa who still appeared to be suffering from a blister on his hand had to again have it redressed with tape during play, but he did what he had to do and soon got back into the match as he levelled at a set all winning a tiebreak. In the 3rd set play went to a tieberak again and this time Dimitrov had two set points to take the two sets to one lead, but in the end he couldn't take them as Rafa fought back and snatched the set instead. And in the 4th set Rafa soon found cruise control as he eventually wore down the gutsy Bulgarian after a tough four set battle, the World No.1 reached the final four with a 3-6, 7-6, 7-6, 6-2 win.
Well this once again proves you simply cannot dismiss Rafa in any given circumstance and even with a nasty blister on his hand, which at times even affected his serve badly, he still managed to dig deep and get the job done. Dimitrov it has to be said definitely played his part in the match and he proved in Melbourne that is one to watch in the future and with his aggressive style of play and growing belief, I think there's a fair chance that he can go on to become a major champion himself in years to come. As for Rafa well a blockbuster match awaits him in the semi finals as he will take on the winner of the next match I will discuss....
And this match was between Roger Federer and the Wimbledon champion, Andy Murray, who had a rematch of their thrilling semi final encounter at Melbourne last year. But would this match live up to expectations???? Well not quite. For starters with Andy having just returned from surgery he was never the favourite to win the title in the first place, especially as he had a lack of matchplay going into the event. Roger on the other hand plenty of matchplay experience throughout the tournament in Melbourne showed impressive form in reaching the quarter finals, especially after he dismissed Tsonga so easily in the previous round.
And in the quarter finals Roger started off where he left against Tsonga as he overwhelmed Andy with a powerful display of his sharpened net skills and great serving, which left Andy wilting as the Swiss maestro soon took a two set lead. And in the third set despite Andy becoming a bit more aggressive he ended up surrendering his own serve at 4-4 to hand Rog the break, which would see the former four time champion with an opportunity to serve for the match. However.... at this point Andy was not yet done as he started to raise his level just in time to break Fed for the first time in the match to get back on level pegging at 5-5 and keep his hopes alive. And play went to a tiebreak in the 3rd set where the momentum swung to and fro and Federer even had two match points, but out of nowhere Andy managed to dig deep and save both of them and go on to take fashion a break of his own to win the breaker and the 3rd set with it. In the 4th set the Rod Laver arena crowd were treated to a thrilling contest where Andy battled to hang onto his serve which he did to level 1-1 in an epic 19 minute game. However as play continued Andy started to show signs of fatigue and he began to fade as Roger eventually wore him down and managed to fashion the crucial break to go 5-3. And after this Roger finally managed to serve out the match at the second time of asking with an ace which sealed his place in the semi finals with a dramatic 6-3, 6-4, 6-7(6-8), 6-3 scoreline.
Well this match certainly showed more than anything that Roger Federer is back well and truly as in the first two sets he showed incredible form against Andy, who then had no answer for him at all. And with this win it sees Roger with a strong chance of keeping title hopes alive and with the opportunity to win that 18th grand slam. As for Andy well despite his disappointing loss he deserves a great deal of credit for how he fought his way back into the match, especially as he was staring down the barrell at two sets and a break down, before he managed to claw his way back into the match by taking the 3rd set, which was remarkable in itself as he was two match points down in that as well, and it was only the second breaker he'd ever won against Federer in out of nine! And it was fair to say it was also a match of two halves with the first being a cakewalk for Federer and the second a tight competitive scrap which finally saw Roger come through. So although Andy is out of the Australian open he did in some ways exceed expectations as there were some people who thought he wouldn't even make it into the second week. So the signs are encouraging for Andy's return to the tour so far as making the last eight of a grand slam on just his second tour event is a good result and we will see how goes from here.
So this sets up a tantalising semi final between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal as two of the greatest rivals in the history of the sport will clash for a place in the final. Now it begs the question who will win that one???? Well its tough one to call, as Roger hasn't won against Rafa in a grand slam match since the 2007 Wimbledon final so he really has his work cut out here to try and do so again. On the other hand with Roger's new coach, Stefan Edberg, he has been given a new lease of life and maybe with his help, Rog can rekindle that form he had back then and find a way to get the job done. Also another factor is Rafa's blistered hand, which has affected his serve somewhat badly in Melbourne over the last two matches, and that is something that Roger could exploit to his advantage if Rafa is off his game, he could use it to help him win. However Rafa has time and time again always found a way to get it done against Federer in the past and you can't help but think no matter how far down he might be in the match he will find a way to win it, which is what makes him the great champion he is.
But.................... having said all that this tournament so far has seen plenty of upsets and I'm willing to wager that we might just see another tomorrow and I will predict that Roger will triumph this time over Rafa in either four or five sets. This is simply because in Melbourne alone he has shown a tremendous new lease of life and having already beaten two top 10 players in the event his belief will be pretty high just now, so I think if he can maintain his high level, serve well and stay aggressive then he has a chance to win this one and if he does he will surely be the favourite to win the title. I might very well be wrong of course but we will soon find out and whatever happens let's hope the match is a cracker.
And lastly I will get on to the first men's semi final match which was between two unlikely semi-finalists, Tomas Berdych and Stanislas Wawrinka, neither of whom had ever reached the last four in Melbourne before now. So there was alot riding on this match for both men and it was only Tomas Berdych who had previously reached a grand slam final at Wimbledon four years ago with Stan having never reached one himself. And the match itself was a tight and competitive one as both guys slugged it out on the Rod Laver arena for a place in the final. And it was Stan that got off to the better start as he broke Berdych to take the 1st set, but from here things got tighter as both men hung on to their service games in the 2nd and it went to a tiebreak, which Berdych took 7-1 to level the match. In the 3rd set play went to a tiebreak yet again except this time Berdych handed the initiative back to Stan as he double faulted to give him the minibreak to nab the two sets to one lead. And in the 4th set play yet again went to a tiebreak and this time it was Stan who made his move and he sealed the match to reach his first ever grand slam final with an impressive and hard fought 6-3, 6-7, 7-6, 7-6 victory.
So this sees one half of the men's final set up and I can't think of a more deserving finalist than Stan Wawrinka, who has worked incredibly hard to get to this point. And Stan has shown tremendous resilence and confidnce in reaching this stage and the fact that he got past the three time defending champion Novak Djokovic enroute to do is even more remarkable. And I would like to see Stan win the title here in Melbourne as he certainly has shown he has the heart of a champion in reaching the final and it would be the perfect end to his dream run down under. As for Tomas Berdych well he has also done very well in reaching the last four, however overall it has to be said that he lacks that mental edge that all but stops him from making that final hurdle to reach the final. And whether or not Berdych can do this in the future remains to be seen, but I'm sure he can continue to do well in the future.
But in the meantime I will say a big congrats to Stan on reaching his first grand slam final and he thoroughly deserves his place in the finale. He has a very daunting task ahead of him however in trying to defeat either Roger or Rafa, but then again nothing is impossible (well almost!) and he might just yet do it, especially if he can maintain the level he has shown, particularly when he played against Djokovic. But it has to be said that Stan's record against Roger and Rafa isn't good to say the least as he has only beaten Roger once and he has NEVER beaten Rafa and he has never even taken a set off him, so if he meets Rafa in the final then the signs might not be good, unless he plays the match of his life. But sooner or later something has to give and just maybe this tournament has one or two upsets left before its all over and we shall soon find out what will happen.
Right so that's it for now. I will be back with the result of the Roger and Rafa semi final tomorrow, which promises to be an absolute belter. Whether or not it will live up to expectations we will need to wait and see but both players are highly motivated right now and playing good tennis, so it should be one to watch. And if Roger wins then we will have for the first time in the history of the sport an all Swiss grand slam final, now how about that?! ;-)
So until the next time, bye for now!
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