Winners in the two Women's Semi Final matches on Day 11 has just turned the Australian Open back around, but a couple more are going to be needed to come away from the opening month of the 2022 season with a positive start.
The Men are going to take centre stage on Day 12 with the two Semi Finals scheduled to be played on the same day, although the Australian Open have followed the French Open path in putting one in a Day Session and one in a Night Session. It doubles up the fee that spectators will have to pay to watch both Semi Final matches, but I still believe it is exploitative of the fans and much prefer the Wimbledon approach of paying for the day when both are scheduled to be competed.
That is for another day and I guess these Grand Slams are making up for losing out on revenue over the last couple of years, but I simply don't like it.
What I do hope to like is the two selections from the Men's Semi Final matches which are to be played on Day 12 at the tournament.
Rafael Nadal - 1.5 sets v Matteo Berrettini: I am not entirely sure what happened to Rafael Nadal midway through the Quarter Final win over Denis Shapovalov, but you have to imagine the day of rest between matches is very important to the player chasing 21 Grand Slam titles. He looked to be cruising through another Round when leading 2-0, but Rafael Nadal didn't convert early opportunities in the third set and surprisingly went missing physically and mentally in the match.
He will be hoping the conditions are not as brutal as they were on Day 9 when Nadal wilted a little bit, but I also think it is a big bonus that Matteo Berrettini was forced into a fifth set decider on the same day. Like Rafael Nadal, the Italian looked to be well on the way to the Semi Final when leading 2-0 in sets against Gael Monfils, but instead had to expend unnecessary energy in winning a fifth set decider.
It has been a tough tournament for Matteo Berrettini, but he has underlined his position as a threat on all surfaces and now is looking for a really big win at a Grand Slam. The Italian has been a little fortunate in three of the five matches he has won at Melbourne Park and he has spent a considerable amount of time on the court already.
Rafael Nadal did need over four hours in tough conditions to win his last match, but he has not really been pushed too hard prior to that and I do expect that to make a difference in this Semi Final. He is a player that has struggled at the business end of the Australian Open too many times since winning the title here in 2009, but I think the match up is one that Rafael Nadal should be comfortable with.
He will know he is going to be bludgeoned by some huge serving and big forehands, but Rafael Nadal's natural position is to go into the Matteo Berrettini backhand and we all saw the damage that was done by a loopier shot Gael Monfils was playing into that wing. Rafael Nadal won't just use that loopy approach, but his ball will be spinning plenty and it may make it tough for Berrettini to control.
Despite the tough nature of the Quarter Final, Rafael Nadal is producing much better numbers than Matteo Berrettini in this tournament. His serve has largely been effective and Nadal is the superior return player.
You can't rule out Matteo Berrettini as we have seen players capable of overpowering Rafael Nadal on the hard courts and there is no doubting the power that Berrettini possesses. He may not be breaking at the same rate as the Spaniard, but Matteo Berrettini is building pressure with a serve that he has held 91% of the time in the Australian Open.
Even then, that is a number below Rafael Nadal's mark at Melbourne Park and the biggest unknown is how the former World Number 1 is feeling physically. With the day of rest I am expecting Rafael Nadal to be as close to his best as he can be at 35 years old and although he is playing an opponent who is much younger, I think Nadal's experience can see him close the door on Matteo Berrettini in a three or four set win.
I do expect a closer match than when these two met in the US Open Final in 2019, but I also think Matteo Berrettini has to be much better than we have seen in this tournament to win two or more sets.
Daniil Medvedev - 1.5 sets v Stefanos Tsitsipas: It was a tough, gruelling Quarter Final and Daniil Medvedev had to fight back from 2-0 down to beat Felix Auger-Aliassime in almost close to five hours on the court.
The World Number 2 has an opportunity to move past Novak Djokovic with a win at the Australian Open, but admitted he tried to get into the same mindset as the great Champion in a bid to turn around a match that had gone completely against him through the first two sets. The numbers back up the fact that it feels like Felix Auger-Aliassime missed a big opportunity to move past Daniil Medvedev and the big question for the Russian is how much time he has had to recover for this Semi Final.
Is one day going to be enough for a player that has not really reached the heights we know he is capable of at Melbourne Park? At least the schedulers have helped by placing Daniil Medvedev in the second Semi Final on Day 12 at the tournament, but he is going to have to be a lot better if he is going to get the better of Stefanos Tsitsipas, who enjoyed a much more comfortable passage through to the Semi Final.
It has been a tough tournament for Stefanos Tsitsipas at times, but he will be receiving an overwhelming support and may not have a better chance to get one over on his rival on the hard courts. In their previous matches, it is Daniil Medvedev who has been the much superior player and that includes a very easy win here at the Australian Open in the Semi Final in 2021.
Both have served really well in the Australian Open and that is going to be a major factor in this match- the player who can get behind their rhythm the best on serve is going to be the player dominating rallies and ultimately winning this match.
Stefanos Tsitsipas has the better returning numbers of the two players in the Australian Open this year, but he seems to have played the big points better than Daniil Medvedev. While both have won around 36% of return points played, it is the Greek star who has broken in 22% of return games compared with Daniil Medvedev's 18% mark.
However, you can't help feel there is more room for improvement for Daniil Medvedev and he has broken in 23% of return games played against Stefanos Tsitsipas on the hard courts. That is much better than the 11% mark produced by Tsitsipas and I do think the match up is one that the World Number 2 enjoys.
Much is going to depend on how fit Daniil Medvedev feels, but I think he is capable of winning this match and will likely have to get the job done relatively quickly after the effort needed in the Quarter Final. He is capable of doing that as long as he serves better than he did against Felix Auger-Aliassime, and I think Daniil Medvedev can be backed in this second Semi Final to continue his dominance over Stefanos Tsitsipas on a hard court.
MY PICKS: Rafael Nadal - 1.5 Sets @ 1.83 Paddy Power (2 Units)
Daniil Medvedev - 1.5 Sets @ 1.80 Paddy Power (2 Units)
Australian Open Update: 39-31, + 6.38 Units (140 Units Staked, + 4.56% Yield)
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