Rafael Nadal and Horacio Zeballos will be facing each other for the third time in their careers when they battle for a place in the final of the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell on Saturday. The head-to-head series is tied up at one win apiece, with Nadal cruising 6-2, 6-2, 6-3 at the 2010 French Open before Zeballos pulled off a 6-7(2), 7-6(6), 6-4 upset in the 2013 Vina del Mar title match.
That still marks the only title of Zeballos’ career, which he won by victimizing a rusty opponent. Nadal was making his first appearance since infamously losing to Lukas Rosol at Wimbledon during the summer of 2012, after which he took the rest of the year off due to injury and also missed the Australian summer to begin 2013.
Nadal’s latest layoff–at various points during the spring, summer, and fall of 2016–seems to have reinvigorated him for this season. The fifth-ranked Spaniard boasts a 27-5 record, including a perfect 8-0 mark on clay that features his 10th career title in Monte-Carlo. Nadal is not slowing down in Barcelona, where he is 51-3 lifetime and also going for title No. 10. So far this week he has taken out Rogerio Dutra Silva, Kevin Anderson, and Hyeon Chung in straight sets.
A favorable draw now continues in the form of Zeballos, who has advanced with victories over Santiago Giraldo, Joao Sousa, Benoit Paire (in a third-set tiebreaker), and Karen Khachanov. The 84th-ranked Argentine had previously been a mere 5-10 at the ATP level this year.
Zeballos’ 2013 defeat of Nadal remains the only top-10 win of his career. He is since 0-3 against such opponents and 0-7 in total sets. This is obviously a much different Nadal that the surprising unseeded semifinalist will be running into on Saturday, so a swift end to his stellar week will likely be in store.
Pick: Nadal in 2 losing 3-4 games
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