ATP Barcelona Open 2021: Rafael Nadal vs Stefanos Tsitsipas – Preview, Head to Head and Prediction
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Rafael Nadal will take on Stefanos Tsitsipas in the Final of the ATP Barcelona Open 2021. Nadal is currently the World no.3 on the ATP rankings while Tsitsipas is the World No.5.
Match Details
- Tournament: ATP Barcelona Open 2021
- Match: Rafael Nadal vs Stefanos Tsitsipas
- Round: Final
- Date: 25th April, 2021
- Prize Money: $199,357
- Venue: Barcelona, Spain
- Surface: Clay Court
Rafael Nadal vs Stefanos Tsitsipas: Preview
Rafael Nadal has not started this clay court swing as he usually does, with a lot of confidence and a bit of arrogance. There seems to be something off with his game. His first tournament on clay this year was the Monte Carlo Masters, where he got beaten in the Quarter-finals. Andrey Rublev played a good match but was aided aplenty by Nadal’s unforced errors and terrible serving.
In the initial rounds at Barcelona, Nadal continued his struggles. He couldn’t seem to get his serve right and made a lot of unforced errors on his backhand. But he seems to get better with each match. In the semi-finals, he defeated fellow Davis Cup teammate Pablo Carreno Busta in straight sets 6-3,6-2.
His opponent, Stefanos Tsitsipas is without a doubt the best Clay court player this season. He is currently on a nine-match winning streak and hasn’t dropped a set in those 9 victories.
He won the Monte Carlo Masters last week and has looked as promising as ever this week too. In the semi-finals, he got the better of young Italian Jannik Sinner in straight sets 6-3,6-3.
Rafael Nadal vs Stefanos Tsitsipas: Head-to-Head
This will be the 9th meeting between the duo. Nadal leads the H2H 6-2. They last met at the Australian Open earlier this year where Tsitsipas came from 2 sets down to win the match.
Rafael Nadal vs Stefanos Tsitsipas: Prediction
This could very well turn out to be the match of this Clay season. Tsitsipas is currently brimming with confidence and is the best player so far on Clay this year. He would want to hunt down Nadal in his own den and has every weapon to do it.
It is no brainer that Nadal would walk in as the favorite to win any match he plays on Clay. But he has shown signs of weakness on his backhand in his last few matches. Tsitsipas will exploit that and the ‘King of Clay’ would be concerned by it. But Nadal’s forehand has been perfect all week and countering that will be a huge challenge for the Greek. Expect a cracker of a match with Nadal coming off a winner given his experience.
Prediction: Nadal to win in three sets.
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Lakshya Chopra
(2595 Articles Published)