I was watching Rafa's 3rd round match last night against Bosnian Damir Dzumhur and he's in awesome form and is quietly sending the message that he's the man to beat in this year's Australian Open. I have seen Damir improve a lot these past few years and I think he's in a career-ranking high. I guess all those matches pitting him with top players like Roger and Rafa has put a positive spin in his game.
Interestingly, Rafa only has one Aussie title to show for and had lost to Novak, Roger and Stan in his other title matches.
In the next few rounds, Schwartzmann, Cilic and Dimitrov are the guys who may stand in his way to a final slot and with his current form, these guys may have to bring their A-game, and more to prevent another looming Roger-Rafa finals showdown.
The fans would certainly want that but some of the new guards (Dimitrov, Thiem, Zverev) may have other ideas. It may just boil down to how much the new guards want it right now because as Rafa's current form shows, the old guards aren't yet ready to let go off their Grand Slam title victory quest.
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