UPDATE: Nadal beat Nishikori 6-4, 6-4 after previously losing the doubles with Granollers doubles 6-4, 6-3
Rafael Nadal and Marcel Granollers looked good in the first round in seeing off the strong Croatian pair, and now will come up against Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna of India.
Then on Tuesday, Nadal will play Kei Nishikori, who he has played and beaten three times before.
Rafa had this to say about his opponent:
“He’s a fantastic player and it will be a very difficult match for me,” said Nadal. “He has a big talent to hit the ball very early, to play very aggressive. So he will be a really tough opponent.”
Below are a few links to free TV streams - nadalvsfederer.com does not host these streams and does not take responsibility for the legality of the linked sites.
Miami – Links to Free Live TV Streams
Rafael Nadal vs Kei Nishikori, Tuesday 11am (3pm GMT)
Rafa has his chance to advance against the veteran Czech, Radek Stepanek.
Rafael Nadal has played and beaten Radek Stepanek in five straight matches dating back to 2004, with the latest win being in three sets at Queens last year.
Below are a few links to free TV streams - nadalvsfederer.com does not host these streams and does not take responsibility for the legality of the linked sites.
Miami – Links to Free Live TV Streams
Rafael Nadal vs Radek Stepanek, Sunday, second match of afternoon, probably after 4pm (8pm GMT)
UPDATE: Results – Rafael Nadal and Marcel Granollers beat Marin Cilic and Ivo Karlovic by 6-1, 6-3 on Friday. He then beat Santiago Giraldo in the singles, 6-2, 6-0 on Friday
Tomorrow (Friday) he will play Santiago Giraldo, who he has beaten four out of four times in the past.
Roger Federer earned an extra day’s rest after the great title he claimed at Indian Wells last weekend, and will debut against Ryan Harrison on Saturday.
Rafa and Roger will have to advance as far as the finals at the Sony Ericsson Masters event in Miami if we are to see a rematch of last week’s semifinal in Indian Wells.
Roger Federer has been drawn in the top half of the draw: meaning he could face as potential likely seeded opponents Roddick, Monfils, Fish and in the semis, Djokovic.
Rafael Nadal is in the bottom half, and the top seeds he could face would be Stepanek, Nishikori, Tsonga and Murray.
UPDATE – Result: Roger Federer beat Rafael Nadal 6-3, 6-4
Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer have played 27 times now before, with Rafa leading 18-9. On hard courts however, the head to head is in the balance, with each having won five times in the past
Interesting to see also that whereas Nadal was a fantastic starter in his ATP, Masters and Major careers, piling up the titles from a young age, Fed has been a more consistent performer over the years, and if you compare the two by age, they are now at Nadal’s current age quite similar in terms of age. Yes, Roger is “catching up”!
Below are a few links to free TV streams - nadalvsfederer.com does not host these streams and does not take responsibility for the legality of the linked sites.
Indian Wells – Live TV Streams (Free)
Rafael Nadal vs Roger Federer, Saturday second semifinal probably around 1pm local time (8pm GMT)
Fresh from his title in Rotterdam, Roger Federer heads “home” to Dubai where he will play a very strong field featuring last year’s champion Novak Djokovic, as well as Andy Murray.
Last year Roger Federer lost in the final to Novak Djokovic as the Serb primed himself for an incredible year. Federer will hope to take the title to maintain the great momentum he has shown since the end of 2010.
The men’s first round starts on Monday, 27th February.
Following their bruising semis and finals at the Australian Open, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal have chosen different paths for the month of February.
We’ll see Federer reappear first as he features in the Switzerland vs USA Davis Cup tie on home ground in Fribourg from February 10th to 12th. With a win hopefully under his belt he’ll head to Rotterdam for the ABN AMRO ATP 500 event, and then on to Dubai at the end of the month.
Rafael Nadal on the other hand has chosen (perhaps out of necessity?) to take some rest, and we hope to see him rejuvenated and mentally toughened after that extremely demanding final in Australia against Novak Djokovic when he kicks off the USA hard court section of the tour in Indian Wells from March 8th.
One thing for sure is that we’ll see a fantastic match of tennis in Sunday’s Australian Open final. What are the points to consider in who will win? Here is how they stand:
In Nole’s favour:
- “Owned” Rafa in 2011, destroying him in six finals, dropping only three sets
- Has won twice at Australian Open, making this his most successful Major
- Undisputed Number One, riding high on confidence
- Superb all round game, his serve and backhand are superior to Nadal’s, and is able to match him in defensive play. Spectacular form in attacking from the base line.
In Rafa’s favour:
- Despite the memory of 2011, still leads the head to head 16-13. Rafa remembers beating Djokovic, if not the 2011 model Djokovic
- An extra rest day, with a relatively easy 4 set win compared to Nole’s almost five hour marathon finishing 43 hours before final time
- Ten Grand Slams, 14 finals – superior experience when it comes to the crunch of five set Majors
- Enormous confidence boost from a fantastic win over Fed in the semis.
- The guy you just cannot grind down over five sets, the rough and tumble spirit of body and mind that will see him win
Yes, I pick Rafa to win this one, and start a great year with Majors in Australia, France, and possibly Wimbledon.
UPDATE: Result, Nadal lost to Djokovic in the longest final in Grand Slam history, finally going down to 5-7, 6-4, 6-2, 6-7, 7-5. Congratulations to both, and especially Nole for this tremendous performance which will surely go down in history as one of the very best tennis matches ever.
Nadal leads 16-13 in the head despite losing six finals on the trot to Djokovic in 2011.
Below are the best links for free TV streams over internet that we could find in our wide scan and evaluation of various sources. We do our best to check these and update these as the games start, so do hit refresh in your browser from time to time.
Australian Open Final- Live TV Streams (Free)
Rafael Nadal vs Novak Djokovic, Sunday, 7:30pm (8:30am GMT)
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