Raonic beats Nadal, keeps Brisbane title defense on track

BRISBANE, Australia — Rafael Nadal was up a set and had a break point against defending champion Milos Raonic when he sent a forehand just wide.

It was a mistake the 14-time Grand Slam champion wouldn’t recover from.

Raonic made the most of the reprieve, holding serve in that fifth game of the second set and then attacking Nadal’s serve in the eighth to swing the momentum his way in a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 quarterfinal win Friday at the Brisbane International.





The top-seeded Raonic broke Nadal’s serve again to start the third set, and calmly held on for only his second win in eight matches against the Spaniard.

Raonic served 23 aces and hit 50 winners to just 19 for Nadal, who could only convert one of his seven break-point opportunities.

As well as the big, deep service returns, Raonic also repeatedly went to the net, trusting his instincts and putting pressure on Nadal.

“Today the mentality behind the match was what sort of kept me around,” Raonic said. “Some moments things weren’t looking great. I wasn’t efficient coming forward. I was missing some shots I shouldn’t be. I was rushing.

“But at least I kept myself there, and I was able to always recuperate the next point. That’s what I have to be most proud of.”

Nadal, coming back from a layoff after an injured left wrist curtailed the end of his 2016 season, beat Raonic in an exhibition tournament last week. But Raonic played with more intensity in Brisbane, and Nadal said a couple of lapses were costly.

“Probably if I put that passing shot forehand cross, I had the break in the second set, big chance that we will be here one hour before with a victory,” Nadal said. “That passing shot was long, and that’s it. Then he had the break and match changes.”

Nadal said three wins at the exhibition tournament, two wins and a close result in Brisbane gave him confidence his progress was good ahead of the Australian Open, where he is desperate to make amends for a surprising first-round exit last year.

Still in contention to start back-to-back seasons with a Brisbane title, Raonic will play seventh-seeded Grigor Dimitrov – a 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 winner over No. 4 Dominic Thiem – in the semifinals.

US Open champion Stan Wawrinka and third-seeded Kei Nishikori will meet in the other semifinal match.

The second-seeded Wawrinka beat unseeded Kyle Edmund 6-7 (2), 6-4, 6-4 to reach the semifinals in his first trip to the Brisbane tournament.

In the previous three years, Wawrinka won the title in Chennai in the first week of the season before heading to Australia for the season’s first major.

Wawrkina has a 4-3 lead over Nishikori in career head-to-heads, including the semifinals at the US Open last year, but Nishikori won two of the three meetings in 2016.

Nishikori has now reached the semifinals four times in seven visits to the Brisbane International, needing just an hour for a 6-1, 6-1 quarterfinal win over Australian wild-card entry Jordan Thompson.

“I think I played one of the best matches so far, really dominating from the baseline and serving good today,” Nishikori said. “Everything was working well.”

US Open finalist Karolina Pliskova will play Alize Cornet in the women’s final on Saturday.

Cornet was leading 4-1 when French Open champion Garbine Muguruza retired with a right thigh injury. Pliskova beat sixth-seeded Elina Svitolina 6-2, 6-4 in the other semifinal match.

“A little bit of luck never killed anybody,” said Cornet, who finished last year ranked No. 46 but now expects to be seeded at the Australian Open. “I’m just going to take it. I really enjoy the fact that I’m in the final. It’s a big day for me, yeah.”

Muguruza didn’t think the injury setback would trouble her at the Australian Open.

“It will not stop me,” Muguruza said. “Cornet was playing good. I couldn’t match her level today. I had some pains, and I thought it was smarter to take care of my body.” –John Pye

source: sports.inquirer.net

Djokovic comes from same stock as other sport icons

Tennis star Novak Djokovic, who won a record fifth Indian Wells title on Sunday, says when he is at the top of his game it feels like he is “in the zone”.

Djokovic has been ranked No. 1 in the world since July 2014 and credits his magical run of success to not only a strict routine off the court, but incredible instincts on the court.

Djokovic describes it as “pattern recognition” — reacting and remembering both consciously and subconsciously to what his opponent is doing then capitalizing on that.

“Subconscious and conscious are directly linked. When you’re able to understand both and grasp both sides, you’re able to be in the present moment, which I think most of the professional athletes call in the zone kind of moment,” Djokovic said following his 6-2, 6-0 demolition of Canadian Milos Raonic on Sunday.

“Conscious, I think touches the material, physical part, where you can actually do something that’s tangible, which means prepare yourself mentally with video analysis, the data, the stats, the previous experiences.

“Subconsciously, I think it relates to yourself and how well you’re moving and how focused you are on the court and on your opponent.”

Djokovic, who is one of just three players to have more than 700 career wins, shares the same championship pedigree as a Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, LeBron James or Tom Brady.

Thinking the same thing

“I can see that there is a lot of professional athletes at the very top level in different sports that explain it in maybe different words, but they are thinking about more or less the same thing that I’m thinking about,” Djokovic said.

“It all comes down to more or less the same thing, being able to use and maximize your potential as an athlete in every aspect of your being.”

Djokovic needed just 77 minutes to take down the hard-serving Raonic, who regularly clocks first serves at 140 mph (225 km/ph) and is off to a career best 14-2 start this season.

“All the top players have a very high level of sports and tennis intelligence otherwise they wouldn’t be here.

“There are people who rely more on the mathematical side and there are people who rely more on gut feeling, instinct and kind of figuring out the situations and doing what they think is most appropriate at the time.

“I believe the best way is somewhere in the middle.”

It is going to take that kind of dedication and devotion to get Djokovic over the next big challenge in his career  — winning a French Open.

He is hoping his third straight Indian Wells crown will finally be a stepping stone to his maiden win in Roland-Garros, completing the career Grand Slam.

“Roland Garros has been and is this year again one of the top priorities of the season,” he said.

“I grew up on clay, I love playing on clay. I still haven’t won that Grand Slam played on clay courts, but I have gotten very close a couple of times and I know that it doesn’t take too much more to win the trophy.”

source: sports.inquirer.net

Djokovic sees off Federer fight-back to reach Australian Open final

Top seed Novak Djokovic saw off a thrilling fight-back by his great rival Roger Federer to reach his sixth Australian Open final and fifth consecutive Grand Slam title match on Thursday.

The Serbian world number one downed third seed Federer 6-1, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 in two hours, 19 minutes and will face either Andy Murray or Milos Raonic in Sunday’s final.

It was the 45th meeting between the two greats with Djokovic now edging ahead of Federer 23-22 in their head-to-head duels.

The amazing Serb continued his recent domination over the 17-time Grand Slam champion and on Sunday, he will become the first man in the Open era to contest six Australian Open finals.

“I played an unbelievable first two sets but that is what is necessary against Roger as he has been playing at a very high level in this tournament,” Djokovic said.

“I knew he was going to be aggressive and mix up the pace and try to come to the net, but I came out with the right intensity with great concentration and I executed everything perfect.

“But it was a battle in the end.”

It will also be Djokovic’s 19th Grand Slam final overall and he moves into equal-third place with Ivan Lendl on the all-time list of most appearances in major finals, which is headed by Federer.

The 10-time Grand Slam champion was in sensational form in the opening two sets, carving up Federer in their 15th Grand Slam encounter with his fabulous groundstrokes for the loss of only three games in just 54 breathless minutes.

He broke Federer’s first service to 15 and then held his serve to lead 3-0, winning 12 of the first 14 points.

The Swiss third seed was broken again in the sixth game, netting a forehand with Djokovic in full cry.

Djokovic’s 6-1 first set was his easiest opening-set win over Federer. He won 24 points to 11, with the rushed Swiss making 12 unforced errors.

Federer was broken to love in the third game in a similar start to the second set, with the world number one able to do no wrong. He broke again in the fifth game and made it two sets to love with less than an hour gone.

Four-time winner Federer probed for a way back in, with the Australian crowd urging him on, and he broke Djokovic for the first time in the sixth game of the third set.

The Swiss was finally putting pressure on Djokovic and he claimed the third set on his third set point, to a thunderous roar on Rod Laver Arena.

But both players had to cool their heels as play was delayed to enable the stadium roof to be closed ahead of expected rain, making for indoor playing conditions.

Djokovic broke Federer for a fifth time in the match in a sensational eighth game of the fourth set, featuring a forehand return winner for the break, and he safely served out for the match in the following game.

source: sports.inquirer.net

Raonic beats Berdych to Thailand Open title

BANGKOK — Canadian Milos Raonic used his thumping serve to ace his way to victory over top seed Tomas Berdych Sunday, with a 7-6 (7/4), 6-3 win at the Thailand Open.

Third seed Raonic took full advantage of his big serve to beat his Czech opponent, firing 18 aces — his last to set up a pair of match points.

After winning the first set in a tiebreaker, the Canadian tightened his grip in the second to earn the fifth title of his career.



The trophy, his second of the season, will help the 11th-ranked Canadian as he bids for a place in the eight-man season-ending championships in November in London.

Raonic beat Berdych, who is ranked 6th in the world, at their last meeting in Cincinnati in 2012.

Berdych remains the only member of the ranking top 10 without a title in 2013.

source: sports.inquirer.net