Nitto ATP Finals 2020: Rafael Nadal vs Dominic Thiem Preview, Head-to-Head and Prediction
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Rafael Nadal, 2nd seed at the Nitto ATP Finals, will face the Austrian, Dominic Thiem in the second round of the robin-robin stage on Tuesday. Both the players got off to a winning start on Sunday. The Spaniard breezed past Andrey Rublev, in straight sets whereas, Thiem had to dig deep to grind out a victory against the Nitto ATP Finals 2019 champion, Stefanos Tsitsipas. A victory in this match-up will almost guarantee a place in the semifinals.
Match Details:
- Date: 17th November, 2020
- Tournament: Nitto ATP Finals 2020
- Match: Rafael Nadal vs Dominic Thiem
- Venue: London, United Kingdom
- Category: ATP Finals
- Surface: Indoor Hard-Court
- Prize Money: $5,700,000
Rafael Nadal vs Dominic Thiem: Match Preview
There were several doubts regarding Rafael Nadal before his match on Sunday, whether he could overcome his years of disappointment at the O2 Arena. The Spaniard pushed aside all the doubts, and got off to a winning start in the round-robin stage. At the Nitto ATP Finals, it is always an advantage to get the points early on board, to avoid the pressure in the latter matches. Nadal defeated Rublev in straight sets, giving the Russian no chance to stamp his authority. Although, it was Rublev who served 9 aces, the Spaniard managed to break him once in each of the 2 sets, that sealed him his victory.
Dominic Thiem, came into the Nitto ATP Finals with concerns of a foot injury. His first round encounter against Stefanos Tsitsipas was a rematch of the title clash last year at the O2 Arena. It was another three set thriller, but this time it was the Austrian who triumphed. Dominic Thiem scrapped through the 1st set in the tiebreaker, but was nowhere close to playing his best tennis until the 3rd set, where he outplayed the Greek, winning 6-3 and getting off to a good start in London.
Rafael Nadal vs Dominic Thiem: Head-to-Head
The duo have faced each other an incredible 14 times, but it is Rafael Nadal who has been victorious on most occasions. He leads the head to head record 9-5. Out of their 14 matches, 12 of them have been on clay courts. The duo are known to be specialist clay courters, and there is little surprise that they have met so often on clay. Their last meeting came at the Australian Open 2020 quarterfinals, where Dominic Thiem defeated the Spaniard in 4 sets. The match was a tightly contested affair, with Thiem winning 3 sets via tiebreakers.
Rafael Nadal vs Dominic Thiem: Match Prediction
Rafael Nadal has always had a upper hand against single handed back hand players, which shows in his head to head record over Roger Federer and Dominic Them. The Spaniard had a morale boosting victory over Rublev in the first match of the round-robin stage, and hit the ground running from the word go. Rafael Nadal served tremendously well, offering no break point opportunities to the Russian. He is expected to defeat Dominic Thiem in a hard fought contest. The Austrian has played Nadal enough times, and will exactly know how to get the better of the Spaniard.
Match Prediction: Rafael Nadal to defeat Dominic Thiem in straight sets
Also Read: Nitto ATP Finals 2020: Novak Djokovic vs Diego Schwartzman Preview, Head-to-Head and Prediction
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Nirmit Mehta
(2425 Articles Published)