Nadal delighted fans in Melbourne with recent displays of his prime self. He’s now seen off back-to-back top-10 players— No. 6 Gael Monfils and No. 3 Milos Raonic—to earn a Grand Slam semifinal ticket for the first time in three years and to a fifth final four berth at the Australian Open.
Against Raonic in the quarterfinal, the ninth-seeded Spaniard needed just three sets to advance, winning 83 percent of his first serve points and 52 percent of his second serve points while never having his serve broken. He also blasted in 40 winners, which gives him a total of 104 in his last three matches.
But Nadal’s service game, by far, has looked the most lethal. He’s only been broken six times in the previous four rounds. It’s hard to see him lose anytime soon as long as he continues playing at such a high level.
The 30-year-old veteran is 7-1 all-time against Grigor Dimitrov.
Dimitrov is up against unfavorable odds here, considering that he has never gone beyond the semifinals at a major event and has only defeated Rafael Nadal once—at the 2016 Beijing Open—in eight career matches. However, the 25-year-old Bulgarian’s current form begs to differ.
No one has yet to take him down this year. He’s 10-0 thus far, including consecutive wins over three top-10 names in No. 8 Dominic Thiem, No. 3 Milos Raonic and No. 5 Kei Nishikori en route to his first title in over two years at the Brisbane International.
Dimitrov also got the better of 11th seed David Goffin in the quarterfinal, blowing past the Belgian in three quick sets (6-3, 6-2, 6-4). Dimitrov has now won his last six sets and at least 75 percent of his first serve points in the last three matches.
