2017 Australian Open Day 10: Wednesday, Jan 25 - Order of Play

[isabelle]

Manacor's bull plays well, maybe the help of Lord Carlos gave him a new self confidence. great start of match for him,

 

[rafanoy1992]

While Nadal played exceptionally well in the 1st set, he tends to get hiccups in his play meaning he will lose serve by playing a bad service game. So at this point, it depends on Nadal's level of play. If he starts to play tentative, then I could see Milos winning the 2nd set.

 

[rafanoy1992]

If I were Milos, while he did not break Nadal there, I would stay aggressive and patient because at some point Nadal will blink and lose serve.

I am really surprised that Milos is not pumping up his 1st serve.

 

[isabelle]

If I were Milos, while he did not break Nadal there, I would stay aggressive and patient because at some point Nadal will blink and lose serve.

I am really surprised that Milos is not pumping up his 1st serve.

I'm surprised too, is Milos injured ???

 

[rafanoy1992]

If I were Milos, while he did not break Nadal there, I would stay aggressive and patient because at some point Nadal will blink and lose serve.

I am really surprised that Milos is not pumping up his 1st serve.

I'm surprised too, is Milos injured ???

It looks like he is injured because he just called the medical trainer. It seems like a upper leg/thigh issue for him.

That's why he was not pumping up his 1st serve as usual...

 

[isabelle]

omg, hope he won't retire...bad luck for Milos

 

[rafanoy1992]

omg, hope he won't retire...bad luck for Milos

He seems fine now...

As I suspected, Nadal is starting to spray his forehand...it will be interesting to see if it might cost him the set.

 

[Puppet Master]

Milos is not injured, don't be ridiculous guys and gals. He probably thought he was losing intensity and needed a quick break. His serve speeds have dropped, he might be tired.

 

[rafanoy1992]

The one thing that Nadal should do is to move back a little bit on Milos second serve. Nadal has missed a lot of 2nd serve returns in the 2nd set. Part of it is Nadal's positioning. He is standing too close so Milos is using a slider or kick serve to throw Nadal's rhythm off.

 

[rafanoy1992]

If Milos were to win this set, that 15-30 point that Nadal just barely missed will be the focal point.

 

[mrzz]

^I guess he is surprised how slow Raonic second serve is (to his own standards)

 

[kskate2]

I agree. I don't think Milos is injured. He's jogging to his chair for the changeover.

 

[rafanoy1992]

Here's the other take: If Raonic were to lose the 2nd set, that backhand the down the line on set point would come back to haunt him.

The good thing about Raonic is that it looks like his first serve came back at the right time.

Now let's see if Nadal can hold his nerves...

 

[Puppet Master]

Nadal looks so tired. The pace of his shots has massively dropped off and his serve is a bit iffy now. But no way is Rafa losing a 2:0 lead. Very important tiebreak.

 

[rafanoy1992]

See, I was right! Nadal just missed an easy forehand after returning Milos second serve...

 

[rafanoy1992]

Wow! Milos just double faulted on set point...!

Even though I am happy that Nadal won that set, Milos choked that set away. Double faulting on set point is just wow...!

 

[Puppet Master]

Wow, Nadal outclutches somebody hahahaha. I can't believe it. Good work Rafa!
The semifinals will be very interesting, no doubt about it.

 

[rafanoy1992]

I would say that the underrated part of Nadal's game in this match is his serve. While I know that Raonic is not a great returner by any means, Nadal has been placing his serve to where he is in position to set up a winner.

Just like in the Zverev match, he is playing a very smart match.

 

[lob]

This is over. Go Rafa. The final will be interesting if Stan can take out Roger.

Sent from my 6045O using Tapatalk

 

[atttomole]

Pathetic.