In a rematch of one of the best men’s Grand Slam matches of recent years, Rafael Nadal faces Dominic Thiem in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open on Wednesday.
Date: January 29, 2020
Match time: 7:30 PM local time / 3:30 AM EST – New York, Montreal / 8:30 AM GMT – United Kingdom / 9:30 AM CET – Spain, France, Germany, Italy. To convert to your local time, use this website.
Rafa and Domi have played 13 times before, including twice in the final of the French Open in 2018-19. But 12 of those 13 matches have come on clay.
The last time they played one another on hard court, they produced one of the most memorable Grand Slam matches of recent memory. In the 2018 US Open quarter-finals, both men ripped the cover off the ball for four hours and 49 minutes, with Rafa ultimately triumphing in a fifth-set tie-break.
Rafa on playing Domi:
I expect a very tough match. He’s playing well. I saw him play Monday against Gael Monfils. He was playing a very high level [of] tennis. We know each other well. He’s a player who I like a lot, the way that he works, the way that he plays, and the way that he tries his best always. It’s a match that is going to be a tough one, but it will be interesting.
I am excited to play this quarter-final against Dominic. I know I have to be at my best to have chances. I think I am moving in the right direction. Every day I’m playing a little bit better.
GOOD LUCK & VAMOS RAFA!
What will it profit Nadal to defeat Thiem and (strategically) lose to Zverev? What will it profit Nadal to allow Zverev play the finals against Djoko’witch?
The benefits to Nadal are truly and indeed immense as we see below:
Nadal needs to reach at least the semi-finals to keep his No 1 ranking.
More importantly, by not playing Djoko’witch’ Rafa gets to keep the H:H with Djokowitch as 29:26; if he plays Djokowitch, the H:H increases t0 30: 26 in Djoko’witch’s favour and diminishes Rafa’s claim to G.O.A.T.
Rafa avoids another embarrassing loss to Djokowitch. He is down by 3 losses on the H:H and 0-9 on Hard Courts to Djoko’witch’. If he plays Djokowitch, H:H on hard courts will further worsen to 0-10 which is disgraceful.
Truth be told, tennis is better served as I believe that Zverev truly has the game to beat Djokowitch. And the Djikowitch H:H with Sasha is respectable at 3-2 in Djoko’s favour.
All Rafa Fans (especially the great FAN LOVE) are deliriously happy at the end of the day as long as the great Djokowitch does not increase his GS tally at the expense of Nadal. By ‘strategically’ avoiding to play Djokowitch, Rafa’s H:H will be maintained and suffers no further diminution.
By allowing Zverev to play Djokowitch, Rafa does not get his well-deserved 20th GS and so does not equal RF’s tally of 20 GSlams yet. But more importantly, Djokowitch also does not get his 17th GS!!! Like I remarked in (4) above, Zverev is better placed game-wise to play and defeat the Serbian Star.
Rafa can lose to anybody, but not the Djoker. Losing to Djokovic every time can potentially affect Rafa’s claim to GOAT title. I do hope all Rafa fans out there will understand and accept the outcome of Rafa’s match on Friday with A. Zverev. It has all been figured out.
I use this opportunity to hail the brand new Australian Open 2020 champion, Alexander Zverev ”Sasha”
But, as always, we go game by game, match by match, and day by day……cheers y’all!!!!
There is no way Rafa would ever deliberately lose a match. It’s very insulting to him, and also to both Sascha and Nole, to suggest otherwise.
0-9 H2H on hard courts? Where do you get your stats from?
Keep it up Rafa please
He better keep it up. Nothing comes easy against Thiem. In this second set Rafa just needs to protect his serve. Our champ needs to unleash the beast.
Haha, way to put yourself into a corner Rafa!
Now our champ will have to dig very deep to get out of this one. Thiem is no pushover.
So disappointed! You blew it Rafa. Set donated to Thiem. It’s all uphill for Rafa now because Thiem is very strong and will continue to go for his shots.
I thought this first set was in the bag! Wow Rafa needs to sharpen that killer instinct. Strong in the tiebreak Rafa!
Here we go again – down to the breaker. Rafa is making life hard for himself again.Get it done champ!
I thought we’d got past this thing with not being able to serve out sets and matches 🙁 . Vamos …
Good luck, Rafael. All the best🤛👏👍💪❤️
All the way, Rafa!
Rafa good luck Cham you can do it vamossss all the way 🎾👍❤️😘🇺🇸🎾👍❤️😘🇺🇸
Wishing you the very best of luck Rafa, Vamos x
Yay!
Good luck Rafa!
I still remember not fondly what Thiem did to Rafa in the first set of their match at USO 2018 (BAGEL!) Even though Rafa won, I hope 2018 USO first set Thiem does not show up tomorrow:) That guy scares me.
STEADY ON RAFA!
Hi fans..in Ireland and UK..Rafa match is 8.30a.m…..not 9.30 as printed. The time difference is 11 hrs..so go back from 7.30 p.m.
Both Ireland and UK are 1hr behind European time.
Rafa is the best UNTIL he meets the Serbian Star.
Wamos Rafa.
Cannot be worse than playing against Kyrgios.
Wamos Rafa, you are the best.
Suerte para mñana, sois dos buenos jugadores, pero claro quiero que ganes tú, tú tambien estas en buena forma y jugando bien, SIEMPRE CONTIGO RAFA!!!
Vamos Rafa!
Good luck and Vamos Rafa.
Vamos Rafa!💪🍀❤️
If you live in USA it’s 3:00 am eastern time…so it comes on at my home at 2@m I’m on Central time zone here…hope this helps you…
Nice. Thank you, Karen.
Thiem is rampant and, so far, Rafa can’t handle him. Don’t know why i put myself through this torture watching Rafa. Just holding my breath!
Tough loss for Rafa. These blue courts are like his kryptonite. Hopefully one of the youngsters can take out Fed or Novak.