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Roger Federer VS Rafael Nadal Australian Open 2017 Preview:



              The Match that will predict who is the greatest player of all time (GOAT) ?? Probably Yes! Its been more that 5 years since Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal faced off in a grand slam final ! The last time they played each other at a grand slam final was at the French Open 2011, which off course Nadal won. Now a whole lot of things have changed. At that time Nadal was around 25 years of age and Federer was 30. Now Nadal being 30 will face a more difficult challenge to beat Federer and at 35 years of age, Roger might get a mental boost from the fact that he hasn't played Rafa for a while. So lets see who has the potential chance of winning the Championship. 


RAFA : 15                                        OR                                       FEDERER: 18


Freshness and Fitness : 


           Lets first look at who is the more fresher player coming into this final, Roger or Rafa? Federer had an extra day off so its obvious that Roger will be pretty fresh coming into this match. Coming to Nadal, he was engaged in a grueling battle with Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov for almost 5 hours. It is interesting to see how well Nadal recovers because he might be looking at another potential 5 set match. 

Conclusion:


         Here definitely Roger has an edge over Rafa even though Roger is 5 years older to Rafa. If the match goes the distance then Roger might outlast Rafa.



Head to Head :


           This is pretty much lop sided. Overall Rafa has a 23-11 advantage over his great rival Roger Federer and that is a big psychological advantage for Rafa. Their last grand slam final meeting on a hard court was at the Australian open 2009, exactly 8 years back, which Rafa won in 5 sets and made Roger cry! 
        
          Will Rafa make him cry again or will Roger avenge the defeat by winning his 18th slam is to be seen.  Their last meeting was at the swiss indoors final in 2015 which federer won in 3 sets. Apart from the Australian open 2009, the pair have also met at the Australian open 2012 and 2014, both at the semi final stage with Nadal coming out on top on both the occasion. So in this aspect Nadal definitely has an advantage. 


Conclusion: 

         Rafa has the psychological advantage in terms of head to head, but since their last meeting at a slam was at 2014 Australian open, and after 2014 Rafa has showed a considerable dip in Grand slam form ( this is his 1st grand slam final since 2014 French Open ), it might not be a deciding factor. 


Tune up to the Australian Open: 

Roger Federer:


        Coming to their tune up to the Australian open, Federer chose to warm up at the Hopman cup, which is an exhibition event but he was in decent form losing only to rising star Alexander Zverev. 
       
          At the Australian open he played pretty average in his first two rounds and every one expected him to be ousted by Thomas Berdych in 3rd round, but it was not to be! He produced some of the best tennis of his life and beat Berdych in just 90 mins. 
   
         Next he was up against Kei Nishikori which was a tough ask for Roger, but his managed to beat him in 5 sets. God saved Roger from facing Murray in the quarters ! He thrashed Murray conqueror, Mischa Zverev, in straight sets. In the semis Wawrinka pushed him all the way but somehow Roger managed to escape but he will have to be at his absolute best if he wants to entertain any chances against an opponent who knows his game from inside out ! 


Rafael Nadal : 



           Coming to Nadal, he started off by winning the Mubudala world tennis championship by defeating Goffin, Raonic and Berdych. He then chose to play at the Brisbane where his campaign was halted by an inspired Raonic. 

           At the Australian open, he won the 1st two rounds in straight sets. His real challenge was against rising star Sasha Zverev, but Rafa showed why he is the holder of 14 grand slams by defeating Sasha Alexander Zverev in 5 tough sets. He then held off a spirited challenge from Gael Monfils and manged to beat Raonic in straight sets. He showed great determination in his 5 set win against Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov to set up a dream final against Roger Federer. 

  Conclusion : 

           Both Players are in great form and it is difficult to predict based on the current form of both the players.



             So to summarize this post,

1) Roger has an edge in terms of freshness.
2) Rafa has the head to head advantage, but it might not matter.
3) Both players are in great form.




PREDICTION: Roger to lift his 18th Grand Slam title in 5 sets !





Regards
TennisGuru18