A very quick look at the men’s QF no .2 today: Rafael Nadal vs. Tomas Berdych: The match record is 10-3 between both of them and on hard court- it is 5-3 ( With Berdych winning all the 3 matches back in 2006).
Below are the statistics till now in Australian Open for both these players:
| Stats | Nadal | Berdych |
| 1st Serve % | 73 | 55 |
| Aces | 17 | 70 |
| Unforced Errors | 64 | 148 |
| Winning % on 1st Serve | 81 | 86 |
| Winning % on 2nd Serve | 58 | 58 |
| Winners | 125 | 205 |
| Receiving Points Won % | 47 | 37 |
| Break Point Conversions | 46 | 37 |
In my view, Nadal will be all over Berdych today as Berdych strong point is his serve which is a mere 55% in this tournament. With the crowd’s support fully behind Nadal, I think Berdych will have to play two opponents today following his inappropriate behavior in the 4th round.
Nadal needs to attack on Berdych’s serve and make sure he is not able to set in any rhythm with his serve. If Berdych wants to win, he will have to put in more of his first serve, winners and hope that Nadal is not 100% fit so that he can dictate play.
Just one word of caution: Berdych has hit 80 more winners than Nadal so Rafa needs to be aggressive right from the start and take on his chances.
My pick Nadal in 4!
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