ATP Paris Bercy: Rafael Nadal vs Feliciano Lopez Preview, Head-to-Head and Prediction for Rolex Paris Masters 2020
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Rafael Nadal, top seed at the Paris Bercy Masters will return to court once again as he faces his fellow Spaniard, Feliciano Lopez in the second round. Nadal returns to action for the first time after he lifted his 13th French Open title defeating Novak Djokovic in the final of the Roland Garros. As for Feliciano Lopez, he has had a busy indoor hard court season, playing 2 tournaments prior to Paris Masters. Lopez defeated Filip Krajinovic in the 1st round on Monday in a comfortable straight sets victory.
Match Details:
- Date: 4th November 2020
- Tournament: ATP Paris Bercy 2020
- Round: 2nd Round (Round of 32)
- Match: Rafael Nadal vs Feliciano Lopez
- Venue: Paris, France
- Category: ATP 1000
- Surface: Indoor Hard-Court
- Prize Money: Approx. €3,151,145
Rafael Nadal vs Feliciano Lopez: Match Preview
The Paris Masters has never been a good hunting ground for Rafael Nadal. In a city where he was won 13 French Open titles, he has failed to clinch a single Paris Bercy title. However things might turn into Nadal’s favour this year in the absence of Novak Djokovic and Dominic Thiem. The Spaniard also had 3 weeks to recover after his French Open triumph which will find him without any prevailing injury or exhaustion.
Rafael Nadal has just played two tournaments prior to the Paris Masters, and this is his first hard court tournament in over 9 months. He played at the Italian Open 2020 where he lost in the last 8 to Diego Schwartzman. However, he came back in style winning his 13th French Open title, defeating Novak Djokovic in the final.
Feliciano Lopez was knocked out in Round 1 of the French Open and has since played two tournaments in Petersburg and Antwerp. He was defeated in Round 1 of the Petersburg Open by eventual runner-up, Borna Coric and suffered a 2nd round loss to Alex De Minaur at the European Open two weeks ago. At the Paris Masters, the 39 year old defeated Filip Krajinovic in straight sets on Monday to progress into the second round.
Rafael Nadal vs Feliciano Lopez: Head-to-Head
The duo have faced each other an incredible 13 times with Nadal leading the head to head record 9-4. Their first meeting came at 2003 Basle where Lopez won in 3 sets. Rafael Nadal won majority of the matches between the pair between 2003-2011. However, Lopez cut the gap as he notched up 2 consecutive victories against Nadal at the 2014 Shanghai Masters and 2015 Cincinnati Open.
Rafael Nadal vs Feliciano Lopez: Match Prediction
Both the players are no strangers to each other, having played much tennis against each other. The pair have a similar playing style with both being left handed two back handed players. Rafael Nadal is the absolute favourite to claim a comfortable victory over his compatriot, Feliciano Lopez. However, Nadal will be a bit short on match practice as he has not played any hard court tennis in the past 8 months, which Lopez can exploit. With that said, Nadal is expected to sail into the last 16 without much of a problem.
Match Prediction: Rafael Nadal to defeat Feliciano Lopez in straights sets.
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