Why did this particular match mean so much to both players? For Nadal, the last couple of seasons have been filled with a steady line of disappointments. Since capturing his 14th Grand Slam tournament singles title at Roland Garros in 2014, Nadal had played eight majors on his way to Melbourne this year, and not once had he advanced beyond the quarterfinals. For a man of his stature and a fellow accustomed to success on the highest level—he set a men’s record by winning at least one major a year for ten consecutive seasons starting in 2005 and ending in 2014—the notion of not even reaching the penultimate round at the preeminent events for so long was inconceivable. That was why he wanted to win so badly in this showdown with Raonic.
As for the burly Canadian, he had his own reasons for giving his all to secure a triumph on an important stage. The 26-year-old reached his first major semifinal at Wimbledon in 2014, and his second here in Melbourne a year ago. At Wimbledon last July, he advanced to his first major final. The game’s foremost authorities have been anticipating a Raonic breakthrough at a Grand Slam event all through these last couple of years as he has grown more comfortably into his talent. He did not want to let an opportunity to move into another semifinal at a Grand Slam event elude his grasp. And having just beaten Nadal on hard courts in the quarterfinals of Brisbane—coming from behind to prevail in three sets—Raonic had every reason to believe in himself and his chances. Despite a 2-6 career deficit against the Spaniard, Raonic had been victorious in two of their last three meetings heading into his latest clash with Nadal here.
Making the encounter even more intriguing was this: Raonic is the No. 3 seed here and he wants to demonstrate that he can move higher and threaten the status of world No. 1 Andy Murray and No. 2 Novak Djokovic. The pressure was squarely on his shoulders when he confronted Nadal tonight, in stark contrast to the way it has been through much of the rivalry. Raonic has long been an individual who has seemed somewhat fragile in the way he has carried himself on the court. He often seems almost too aware of the score and the situation. That is not to say that he is not a formidable competitor, but the fact remains that he often reveals high tension when big matches are excruciatingly close. He has improved markedly in that regard, but his issues have not yet been fully resolved.
As for Nadal, his injuries over the last couple of years to his wrist especially have done damage to his psyche as well. He built his gigantic reputation largely around a mental toughness that no one else could match. His capacity to deal with adversity and move past his demons was always second to none, but since his triumphant journey at the French Open in 2014 he has been found wanting frequently when it has counted. His career five set record is 18-8 but in 2015 and 2016 he suffered no less than three defeats in five set skirmishes at ” Big Four” tournaments, starting with a deeply wounding defeat against Fabio Fognini at the 2015 U.S. Open, continuing with a debilitating loss here last year to Fernando Verdasco and concluding with a hard setback at the 2016 U.S. Open to Lucas Pouille, when the Spaniard served with a 4-3, 30-0 lead in the final set and also reached 6-6 in the tie-break, standing two points away from victory.
In this tournament, Nadal made amends for that series of five set losses. He rallied from two sets to one down to oust Alexander Zverev in the third round. To be sure, he was fortunate that Zverev started cramping at 2-2 in the fifth set, but to the Spaniard that was inconsequential. He sorely needed a win under those circumstances, and he got just that. He followed with a four set victory over Gael Monfils. Raonic, meanwhile, was pushed to four sets by Gilles Simon in the third round and dropped another set to No. 13 seed Roberto Bautista Agut in the fourth round. He has been battling the flu. So how he would approach this appointment psychologically was an open question.
