AO Semifinals: Raonic Once More the Bridesmaid, But for How Much Longer?

Hey Y'all. Galileo here.

Milos Raonic is the first Canadian to reach four slam quarters, though he has not yet reached that stage at the U.S. Open. He reached the fourth round there from 2012-14. With a second career semi-final (w/ Wimbledon '14) in this Australian Open, I think he will eventually get the ‘Nalbandian Slam’ of semis in all four slam events.

The strange thing about the young Canuck is that he is boring. He’s so very dynamic but also dull. His big forehand, big serve game is simple. It’s easy and so effective. But he is such a Canadian. If you wanted a stereotypical Canadian, then look no further. But he is Canada’s best ever player and he is likely slam title-bound at some point, probably at Wimbledon.

He came onto the scene along with Pospisil, Marino and Bouchard. All four and Nestor brought in a great time to be a Canadian tennis fan. But with Bouchard on the comeback trail, Pospisil a doubles specialist, Nestor getting older and Marino retired, Canada’s tennis future is a more uncertain. They will do well in the Olympics, but what about in 2020? Only time will tell.

We’ll go straight into the semi—finals and then do a preview of the final.

*Suicide Picks*
MS 1st Rd: Dimitrov d. Lorenzo {W}
MS 2nd Rd: Kyrgios [29] d. Cuevas {W}
MS 3rd Rd: Tomic [16] d. Millman {W}
MS 4th Rd: Monfils [23] d. Kuznetsov {W}
MS QF: Raonic [13] d. Monfils [23] {W}
MS SF: Murray [2] d. Raonic [13] {W}
MS F: Djokovic [1] d. Murray [2]
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WS 1st Rd: Gavrilova d. Hradecka {W}
WS 2nd Rd: Mladenovic [28] d. Gibbs {W}
WS 3rd Rd: Beck d. Siegemund {W}
WS 4th Rd: Keys [15] d. Zhang {L}


ROD LAVER: DJOKOVIC D. FEDERER
...With the scandal about Lance Armstrong and other athletes, it would not surprise many if it turns out Djokovic was doping. Of course, that sounds crazy, but just think about it. It would explain a great deal, like how he suddenly became a fantastic player and all those physical issues just disappeared. That is not an accusation, merely one possible explanation for how he has risen so fast. Of course, the reason others may actually begin to accuse him is because he continues to blow opponents away. He beat Federer 6-1, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 to make his 6th Australian Open final. He has yet to lose one. He has beaten Murray in three, none of them being memorable. When Federer won the toss, he let Djokovic serve first. Novak won the game, got the momentum and never looked backed. He just rolled right through. Federer won just over 20 per cent of second serve points in the first two sets. Federer wasn’t bad and even gutted out a tough third set. He fought hard but Djokovic just played at a higher level. He never even let the 17 time champion get a foothold. He even made the Swiss star's serve ineffective. And now he rolls on to face an opponent he has never lost to here. He is currently playing supreme tennis and will be a huge favourite for the tournament.
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RLA: MURRAY D. RAONIC
...The Scot triumphed 4-6, 7-5, 6-7[4], 6-4, 6-2. It took him three minutes over four hours to get through. The Scot denied Raonic here but this feels like, well it feels like Raonic is inches away from being a slam favourite. This could be the last time Murray denies him. At next year’s Australian Open, Murray will be on the brink of 30. It just gets harder and with all his injuries, this could be his last shot. But he still crafted 16 break points, converting a quarter, and he still ground out a tough win just like he always has done. The Canuck went 72-78 on the errors, playing exactly as he was supposed to. Murray only went 38-28 but then he is not ever going to hit out. Raonic only broke once as both served very well. The area which proved to be the Canadian’s biggest weakness was on the second serve where Murray won more points than is the North American number two. He came to net 74 times and Murray just 28 times. He still won 50 of those 74 points, which is impressive. Milos is a future world number one, but this time it was not to be. He will be one of the favourites at the next three slams. And Murray must now run the gauntlet.
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So, the final. Djokovic’s semi-final lasted 2 hours and 19 minutes. Borg played four U.S. Open finals and lost them all. My beloved, favourite female player of all time, Evonne Goolagong went to four consecutive U.S. Open finals. She lost the first three in tight three setters but lost the fourth badly. Nobody seemed to mind because losing in four consecutive finals was just so Evonne.

But Murray could be the first in the open era to go 0-5 in a particular slam’s final. Imagine making five finals and losing them all. He’s barely won sets. None of his finals have been memorable. His most memorable moment here was him falling short to Novak in the semi-final in 2012. Djokovic has bested him here in 2011-13 and in 2015. He is 4-0 here and 21-9 overall. Their rivalry is like the Peyton Manning and Tom Brady match-up. Not close and calling it a rivalry is generous. In five different seasons, Djokovic has beaten the Scot at least twice. He did it in 2007, 2011-12 and 2014-15. The Scot did it in 2008 and 2012. This decade, the Djoker is 17-6. In three years, since their dull and forgettable 2013 Australian Open final clash, Muzza has won twice. That’s abysmal. It is unforgivably dreadful. It is poor. It is embarrassing and it is not good for our sport. An old man and a broken man who can’t even beat Verdasco should not be Novak’s main competition. The useless Scot should be. It’s pathetic that Wawrinka, who has never even been number two, does better against Noel.

Murray is going to lose tomorrow. He going to lose in a mundane, average, final in four ordinary sets. It’s going to be Serena and Djokovic again. We need new blood. We need players who can beat these guys. Players like Sharapova and Murray are dreadful because they beat everyone else but cannot beat the biggest players when it really matters. It’s all mental for Murray and he is a head case against Djokovic. This is his last chance to win the Australian Open. That’s what it feels like, it has a ring of an ultimatum to it. It is do it now or you won’t get another chance for Murray. But more than that, it could be his last shot at a major. He will never be world number one. He will never achieve what he should have. But here he has one last definite shot at redemption. But folks, don’t bother staying up to watch him miss it. Who stays up till three in the morning to watch a grown man cry after losing in four?

When doing this last year with Dellacqua, the results were not as infuriating. Part of the reason was because Dellacqua was not a top 15 talent and rarely a big seed. So expectations were tempered. Here, however, Kiki should be alive until at least the quarters of the doubles and third round of the singles. The way she had been playing, I thought she was a lock for the semi-finals in the doubles. But this is the WTA. She and Garcia lost to the inconsistent pair of Goerges/Pliskova 6-1, 7-6[5]. Six doubles and 28 errors saw them lose serve four times. Their 13th seeded opponents thoroughly outclassed them from start to finish. This was pretty embarrassing and the French pair will have to do better as the year goes on.


Thanks and visit WTA BACKSPIN.

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