It will be a rematch of a recent Laver Cup contest when Rafael Nadal and John Isner meet again on Friday, this time in official competition in Beijing. Alexander Zverev and Andrey Rublev are also aiming for a place in the semifinals.
(1) Rafael Nadal vs. (6) John Isner
Nadal and Isner will be going head-to-head for the seventh time in their careers when they clash in the quarterfinals of the China Open on Friday. All six of their previous meetings have gone Nadal’s way and he is 8-1 in his last nine sets against Isner dating back to the 2011 French Open. The two veterans have not faced each other since the 2015 clay-court swing, when Nadal prevailed 7-6(6), 4-6, 6-3 in Monte-Carlo and 6-4, 6-4 in Rome. It is actually the Spaniard, however, who may be out for a measure of revenge in this one. They recent collided at the inaugural Laver Cup in Prague, where Isner beat Nadal 7-5, 7-6(1) even though Team Europe eventually clinched the overall victory.
Isner appears to have maintained momentum from that performance, as the 6’10” American has not dropped more than three games in any set while crushing Malek Jaziri and Leonardo Mayer so far in Beijing. He is a solid 33-17 this season and currently registering at 17th in the world. Nadal twice came within one point of exiting in the first round, but the top seed recovered to beat Lucas Pouille 4-6, 7-6(6), 7-5 before defeating Karen Khachanov 6-3, 6-3 on Thursday. Although Nadal is often vulnerable this time of year and also staring at an in-form opponent across the net, the head-to-head history between these two is too glaring to overlook.
Pick: Nadal in 3
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Andrey Rublev vs. (2) Alexander Zverev
Zverev also participated in the Laver Cup and played a couple of tough matches last week in Shenzhen (lost to Damir Dzumhur in the quarterfinals), but a pair of straight-set wins in Beijing is just what the doctor ordered. The fourth-ranked German got off the court in relatively swift fashion against both Kyle Edmund (via a 6-3, 7-6(3) decision) and Fabio Fognini (6-4, 6-2). Zverev is now an incredible 50-16 this year with five titles–including two of the Masters 1000 variety in Rome and Montreal.
Next up for the No. 2 seed on Friday is second career showdown against Rublev. The two rising stars previously collided last spring on the red clay of Monte-Carlo, where Zverev cruised 6-1, 6-3. Rublev has since taken off, with a current ranking of 39th that is primarily due to a recent quarterfinal run at the U.S. Open. The 19-year-old Russian is going full steam ahead in Beijing, where he has ousted Jack Sock and Tomas Berdych both from a set down. Zverev, though, has generally owned his up-and-coming contemporaries and there is no reason to think anything will be different against Rublev.
Pick: Zverev in 2
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who ya got?
Nadal in 2, going to be two tough sets. 6-4, 6-4
Rafa in 3.
Rublev in 3. Feel it!
Agree with rc!!…Rafa in 3…BUT…BUT…Sascha might pull this off in 2 i think…Don’t feel anything yet Smartest pants!!…U can feel AFTER the match okay??..hahahaha….
LOL, MA
okay….. 😀
Zverev wasn’t convincing lately , yeah I do feel a possible upset.But, I cant back Rublev this time, I picked him to win Chengdu and he didn’t .
Big Al,
Yeah I’m watching the replay of Rublev v Berdych right now — and it’s not a great match from either player.
I have not watched Sascha but he should beat this Rublev unless … well, Berdych won the first set 6-1 and looked to be an easy win for the Czech but Rublev decided he’d try…. and started blasting every ball. lol That’s what I like to see from Rublev!
Ouch, that had to hurt – poor Berdych. He lost 1-6 in the decider. Rublev is pumped up lol
Sascha v Andrey might be fun.
Isner in three Zverev in two
A. Zverev will definitely win.
J. Isner will definitely win a set.
R. Nadal might lose or win in 3 sets, i think he will lose.
Hmm… Rafito will lose.
Uh-oh not sure but Rafa can’t win this match in 2 sets, never ever ever lol!
Ha, so much for Rafa couldn’t win in 2 sets!
Stay focused and energized, be confident and strong, Rafa!
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DLbmYCrWsAAbh5P.jpg
Yes! Way to go, Rafa! Rafa playing smart tennis with high confidence!
Vamos Rafa!
Rafa is playing sublime tennis.
Vamos!
Brilliant TB Rafa 😉
Rfa played a perfect match.
Vamos Rafa!
Wow! Rafa demolishes Isner in that TB!
Great match, Rafa! Vamos!
Couldn’t watch as I was preparing for a presentation. Just saw the scoreline!!! 6-4 7-6 (0) ! wow! Rafa must have been on fire!
He continues to improve and the confidence he is carrying from the USO win has really propelling him.
I think he’ll beat Dimitrov as well and then Kyrgios/Zverev will be tough.
You said it. He is just so confident. Had a real tough draw. Just hope he is not spending too much energy here.
vamosrafa OCTOBER 6, 2017 AT 8:32 AM
I think he’ll beat Dimitrov as well and then Kyrgios/Zverev will be tough.
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Kyrgios maybe, but I’m not bothered about Sasha.
Want to see Rafa Kyrgios. Its about time Kyrgios is shown where he belongs.
@nadline, yes NK is the bigger threat but I won’t count out A.zverev as a potential big threat. He has a big game but I agree that Rafa should be able to handle him given how well he is playing.
I just came back from fishing and Jonh my bestfriend lost in the woods haha, not sure where he is at right now. My bad, was in a hurry to get home.
Vamos Rafa.
Rafa shows isner the difference between playing in an exho vs real tournament .
Having said that still nervous for rafa vs dimitrov and zverev /kyrgios.
Its what seperates the good and the greats of the game ….
Watching Zverev and Rublev, i think im seeing double lol 😉
I am just watching Rafa-Isner. There are so many positives to take but my favourite point so far has been that MONSTER 2nd serve ACE up the middle on 15-40 down!! I can’t believe I am seeing this from Rafa! It was a monster 2nd serve on a break point and we know losing serve against Isner kind of means losing the set. This is how much confidence Rafa now has in his improved second serve.
Even though it is one point, it sums up how much Rafa has improved his second serve and how much more faith he has it now! I KNEW it! Have been shouting about his second serve for month and months and months. I took a while to really show results but it is so obvious now. It won’t stop and Rafa will continue to make it more of a weapon.
just to add to that, the man won 82% of his second serves!
Just finished watching. Rafa’s ROS was SO sharp. He got the court positioning strategy perfectly right this time. His focus level was 110% in this match! Brilliant! If Rafa can play like this, he will win the title.
Dimi is on form and will be tough but I see Rafa winning. The biggest threat is NK who is a bad bad match up for Rafa. However, the way he is playing, anything is possible for him to achieve.
I give Carlos Moya a lot of the credit for Rafa’s improved 2nd serve. Way back in Rafa’s book (2010), Moya was quoted as saying Rafa didn’t serve as big as he could because he wanted to keep 1st the serve % high because he didn’t trust his 2nd serve. I don’t know what they did, but his 2nd serve is better than his first now!
I never want to see Rafa lose – and I love seeing him at #1 – but I’m not really worried about the fall tournaments. I’d rather see him stay healthy. Federer’s being smart about trying to keep fit. I want Rafa to stay fit too.