2011 Australian Open Quarterfinal Preview: Rafael Nadal vs. David Ferrer
2009 Australian Open Champion, Rafael “Rafa” Nadal moved one step further towards a title win after defeating Marin Cilic to arrange a quarterfinal meeting with compatriot David Ferrer. .
Only three matches away from the title, Rafa might just pull off the “Rafa Slam”. A feat dubbed so by the media involves the Spaniard holding all four majors at once. Already holding the championship titles at Wimbledon, Roland Garros and the United States Open, Nadal only needs to win the Australian Open title this week to become the only other male tennis player since Rod Laver to achieve this feat. The latter achieved the said feat in 1969; though in Laver’s defence, the Aussie held all four during the same calendar year.
Having debuted at the event in 2004, Nadal is making his fifth straight appearance at the event (the Spaniard was absent from the event during 2006 on account of an injury). Rafa’s career best at the event came in 2009 when he made it all the way to the final and defeated former world number one, Roger Federer to clinch his first Australian Open title.
Rafa started 2011 playing at the Qatar ExxonMobil at Doha, but failed to clinch a title win as he was ousted in the semifinal by defending champion, Nikolay Davydenko. Coming into the first Grand Slam of the year on the “Rafa Slam” quest, the Spaniard met with much success as he received a walkover into the second round after his first round opponent, Marcos Daniel retired due to a knee injury. Moving past qualifier Ryan Sweeting, local wildcard entrant Bernard Tomic and 15th seed Marin Cilic, Nadal lost only 23 games in 10 sets.
His toughest challenge came in the third round when Tomic, backed by a cheering local crowd, put up some fight, though Rafa was eventually able to dismiss the rising local.
Coming into the quarterfinals, top seed Nadal plays compatriot Ferrer. This will be the pair’s 15th meeting on the court. Rafa not only leads the career head-to-head 11-3, but also enjoys a six-match winning streak over his countryman. Their last meeting on the courts had come in 2010 when the two met for a final match at the Rome Masters. Rafa succeeded in blasting Ferrer away in straight sets.
This is the first time since 2007 that the pair will meet at a Grand Slam. Their last meeting had come in the round of 16 match in 2007 at the United States Open, where surprisingly Ferrer was victorious. Although Nadal enjoys a lead in the career head-to-head, we see that the head-to-head score for hard court matches rests at 2-2.
Opening his ATP Tour with a title win at the Heineken Open, Ferrer came into the event in full form and moved into the quarterfinals losing only two sets.
Meeting Canadian qualifier, Milos Raonic in the fourth round, Ferrer bounced back from being one set down to prevail 4-6, 6-2, 6-3, 6-4 and setup a quarterfinal clash with Nadal.
Prediction: Nadal is clearly the favourite to win the quarterfinal match. However, the number one Spaniard has been feeling under the weather lately after effects from an illness he contracted in Doha. Maybe a weakened and profusely sweating Nadal might play to Ferrer’s advantage.
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