Ok doke, now its time to look at the men's remaining quarter final matches and my look ahead at the semi final matches at the Aussie Open. So let's get on with it then....
QUARTER FINALS MATCHES
Grigor Dimitrov vs David Goffin
Right so to kick off we first up had Grigor Dimitrov take on David Goffin for a place in the semi final and both players were looking to reach the last four the first time in their careers, so this match had alot riding on it for both players. And going into this match it was Dimitrov that held that advantage as he won their only previous meeting (they had previous qualifying and challenger matches all won by Grigor but they aren't counted here on the main tour) but Goffin is now a much improved player so it promised to be a real battle. However the match itself was far from a great battle as Grigor simply dominated Goffin from the very start and the Belgian could nothing against Grigor's game who beat him in straight sets to reach the 2nd grand slam semi final of his career with a convincing 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 victory.
This match was certainly another reminder that Dimitrov is now really beginning to find his feet again as he struggled badly for two years there but now he is finally starting to get his game back together and proving once again he really is a future major contender.
As for Goffin well it was a good run to get to the last eight but in the end Dimitrov simply had too much for him but regardless he should take much encouragement from his performance down under.
Now we get onto the second match....
Rafael Nadal vs Milos Raonic
So the second quarter final match saw Rafa take on the highest seed left in the draw, the world No.3, Milos Raonic in what promised to be a highly intriguing contest as both men looked to reach the final four.
And the match itself proved to be a very entertaining encounter with some very competitive play from both men but it was Rafa that bossed the majority of the match as he took the 1st set with a break. In the 2nd set however, Raonic battled to keep things on serve and pushed play to a tiebreak where he held set points against Rafa but double faulted at 6-5 to lose his chance to level the match and Rafa went on to break Raonic and grab the two sets to love lead. And in the 3rd set, Rafa made the decisive break and went on to serve out the match and he sunk to his knees full of emotion as he reached his first major semi final for almost three years with a commanding 6-4, 7-6, 6-4 win.
Well there is no doubt from the evidence of this match that Rafa is truly getting back to his best form and it has been quite some time since we have seen Rafa in this kind of form and it could very well be an indicator for what is to come for him this season. And on the basis of his performances so far in the event, Rafa has shown that he has not lost his desire to compete and fight for the biggest titles and now after nearly three years you really would have to say he is now a legitimate contender for the title in Melbourne.
As for Raonic, well no doubt he will be disappointed with the outcome of the match especially as he had set point in the second set to level the match and maybe from there things might have been different. However in the end I guess it wasn't to be for Raonic but he can still come away from the Aussie Open with some positives. However Raonic did say he wasn't sure he would play the Davis cup next week as Canada take on Great Britain and with Andy Murray already confirmed as not playing, it remains to be seen how Raonic's team will get on without him.
SEMI FINAL PREDICTIONS
And so this brings me onto my predictions for the men's semi finals, which are now set up with the first semi finalists playing tomorrow and the second semi finalists playing on Friday (why they don't play both semis on the same day like the other slams, I will never know!). So let's take a look at how they might go....
Roger Federer vs Stan Wawrinka
First up is the all Swiss semi final, which will be a highly anticipated match that promises to deliver much as Roger Federer will take on his good friend, Stan "the man" Wawrinka as they will duke it out for a place in the final. But how will it go???
Well to be honest this one could be a bit tricky to call as on his day, Stan can beat anyone and he could certainly beat Roger if his game is firing on both wings and he is able to hit through his good friend Rog. However the main problem for Stan is that he has never beaten Roger on a hard court in all their meetings and his only victories over Rog have come on a clay court, so this leaves him at a bit of a disadvatange straight away.
As for Roger well he has shown so far in this tournament that any concerns over his 6 month lay-off have been well and truly put to bed as his impressive form has just gotten better and better with every match in Melbourne. And Roger here again has a big opportunity to beat Stan and reach another slam final with a real shout of claiming that 18th grand slam that has eluded him for five years now. However he is still playing against a three time major champion in Stan, who now knows a thing or two about winning big matches, so Roger will certainly have to serve well and play a clean match to beat his good friend.
So for my final prediction......well I have to go with Roger because he is looking in great form and I have to take the fact onboard that Stan has never beaten Roger in a hard court match and this could be the main over riding factor that will hamper Stan's chances. Stan could certainly beat Roger tomorrow but he showed when they played at the o2 arena in the ATP world tour finals three years ago, he had five match points and let them all slip and I think its possible that Stan could put himself a similar situation again tomorrow when push comes to shove.
So I think Roger will win this match in four close sets and reach his 28th grand slam final to give himself a real shot at winning a 5th Australian open title.
Rafael Nadal vs Grigor Dimitrov
So the next semi is of course between Rafa and Grigor Dimitrov and the two of them have both in very good form throughout the tournament so far, so this should promise to be a real cracker of a match . So how will it pan out???
Well....again this could be a tough one to call because Grigor has shown great form so far in the tournament and he even beat Rafa last year in Beijing (albeit when Rafa was ailing with his wrist injury) so its enough to suggest he could upset Rafa again in Melbourne. Grigor is also on an unbeaten 10 match winning streak this season so far as he won the title in Brisbane, so that will also give him alot of confidence going into this match with the belief that he can beat Rafa and reach his maiden major final.
As for Rafa well he has definitely recovered his form so far in 2017 and shown in Melbourne alone that he is starting to fight and compete just like he did in glory days when he was the No.1 player in the world. Rafa however will need to be still wary of Dimitrov, who remains unbeaten so far in 2017 and he will still need to play a very high level match to beat the Bulgarian.
So for my final prediction.....well I have to still go with Rafa simply because of his extensive experience in the majors at the deep end have seen him fight through some tight corners in the past and it should certainly help him fight past Grigor now. And when push comes to shove, Rafa should be able to handle the clutch points better than inexperienced Dimitrov will.
So I think Rafa will win this one but it will also be very tough and it wouldn't surprise me if it went at least four sets or maybe five. However in the end I think Rafa will come through with his great experience, grit and determination to try and win a 2nd Australian open title.
SIGN OFF
Right so that's it for now and I will be back on here again with an update on the ladies semi finals once they are over and done with tomorrow and after that I will post up about the results of the men's semis and my prediction for the finals.
So until the next one, its ciao for now!
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