Rafael Nadal will make his return to the match court for the first time since the Australian Open when Spain hosts Germany during Davis Cup quarterfinal action on Friday in Valencia. The first rubber features David Ferrer and Alexander Zverev.
(ESP) David Ferrer vs. (GER) Alexander Zverev
Zverev and Ferrer will be facing each other for the fifth time in their careers and for the third time already this season when they kick off the Davis Cup quarterfinal tie between Germany and Spain on the red clay of Valencia on Friday afternoon. The head-to-head series stands at 2-2 following a pair of recent wins by Zverev; 6-4, 6-3 in Rotterdam and 2-6, 6-2, 6-4 less than two weeks ago in Miami. Ferrer clobbered Zverev when the youngster was just starting out on tour in 2014 (6-0, 6-1 in Hamburg) before getting the job done in 2016 (6-7(4), 6-1, 7-5 in Beijing).
After beating Ferrer in Miami, the 20-year-old German also ousted Nick Kyrgios, Borna Coric, and Pablo Carreno Busta en route to a runner-up performance (lost to John Isner 6-7(4), 6-4, 6-4 in the final). Zverev is a solid 13-5 this season and registers at fourth in the world. Although Ferrer’s 6-7 record in 2018 is mediocre at best, he is playing far better tennis than he did in 2017. The 35-year-old Spaniard reached the Auckland semis and has not lost to anyone ranked lower than No. 49 while suffering a string of competitive setbacks. Now back on his favorite surface, Ferrer should also benefit from home-court advantage to avenge his recent losses at Zverev’s hands.
Pick: Ferrer in 4
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(ESP) Rafael Nadal vs. (GER) Philipp Kohlschreiber
Nadal has finally recovered from a hip injury that forced him out of his Australian Open semifinal showdown against Marin Cilic while they were locked in a fifth set. The top-ranked Spaniard showed up in Acapulco a little more than a month ago but ended up withdrawing from that event and ensuing Masters 1000 tournaments in Indian Wells and Miami. But there is, of course, no better way for Nadal to make his return than on a clay court in Spain. He resumed his dirt dominance in 2017, capturing titles in Monte-Carlo, Barcelona, Rome, and at the French Open to help him finish the year at No. 1 in the world.
A 16th career ATP-level encounter with Kohlschreiber awaits Nadal on Friday. The 34-year-old at least owns one win over the 16-time Grand Slam champion, but that is where the good news ends. Kohlschreiber is 1-14 lifetime and has lost six in a row following a 6-3, 6-4 victory on the grass courts of Halle in 2012. The 34th-ranked German is showing no signs of tuning things in his favor, with a modest 5-6 record this season with opening-match losses in three different tournaments. Unless Nadal is well less than 100 percent, and he would not be playing if that was the case, this will be one-way traffic in front of the home fans.
Pick: Nadal in 3
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who ya got?
Well I want Spain to win the DC, however I want to see Nadal vs Zverev in Sunday and Rafa taking them through to the Semi Finals. Don’t see the Lopez/Looez losing at doubles so David needs to lose. Honest predictions: Ferrer in 5, Nadal in 3
Last I checked Marc Lopez isn’t part of the team this time around. Not sure who will play doubles. Maybe PCB and Feli.
I’ll go with Ferrer in 4 and Rafa in 3. Ferru must be looking good in practice or the captain would not be starting him since PCB and RBA are both available.
Oops, just checked again! Marc Lopez is on the team and PCB is not and according to the DC website the Lopez “brothers” are indeed scheduled to play doubles.
PCB withdrew due to a thumb injury.
Bruguera, the captain: “Pablo’s thumb issue has been there for quite some time & bothers him when he hits the BH. When he arrived here he felt pretty bad & we’ve taken the decision to replace him with Marc.” (Translated by GSS)
Ferrer in five Nadal in four
Hard to see Nadal not being a bit rusty, even if he is fully healthy – a pretty big “if”. How long the match goes also depends on which version of Kohl shows up. Even on clay, he can present some problems if he is really on. That bagel he served up to Rafa on a slow HC in their previous match may still be on both their minds.
I’d say Rafa in 4, with a non-trivial chance of a Kohlschreiber win due to Nadal retiring.
Kohlscreiber in 5 (Nadal not fit yet)
Zverev in 5 (Zverev will win in 5 again similarly to the one earlier this year against De Minaur)
Ferrer in four; Rafa in straight sets.
Rafa did show some rust now and then – LOTS of UFE’s – but also some great shots! Ferru was mostly rust, sadly. Zv looked good – Rafa will have to pick it up if he wants to keep his DC win streaks alive. Rafa now holds the record for consecutive DC match wins (that’s counting both singles and dubs). My guess is he had no idea about the record. When told on Monday that he was #1 again he was a bit surprised – said he didn’t pay attention to rankings when he wasn’t competing.
Rafa is rusty no doubt but he’s simply so good on clay that he still could win in straight sets. He hits 28 winners off his FH and that’s impressive for a 3 set match.
I like the way he uses all sorts of varieties – drop shots, sharp angles, moving up the court when possible etc – and he’s just so good in anticipating his opponent’s moves ie he’s thinking a few steps ahead.
I watched Ferrer and sad to say he looked one dimensional even on clay! All Ferrer did was to hit from the baseline almost for the whole match, not moving up to the net to at least rush Zverev a bit but instead allowed Zverev to hit his powerful ground strokes to push Ferrer back. He was hitting CC to Zverev’s BH so often and got burnt by that, when Zverev was hitting his DHBH so well!
It’s a mistake that the Spanish DC captain let Ferrer played the first rubber; should get Agut to play if PCB couldn’t. Now the pressure is on the Spanish team, to win the doubles and Rafa to win against Zverev (which will be a tough one when Rafa is still rusty and Zverev is hitting so well).
Based off of what I saw from both Zverev and Rafa, I predict Rafa winning in either straight tight sets, or maybe Zverev manages to get 1 set. Of course Rafa was a bit rusty having been off the match court for so long, but he looked totally healthy to me. And a healthy Rafa just cannot be stopped on clay these days.
If he could nearly sweep the entire clay season last year, then he could certainly take it a step further and truly sweep the whole lot this year, especially given that the field is even more decimated than it was last year. The way Rafa looked on clay last year, I wouldn’t be surprised if he had had the same exact results even if Novak and Andy had never fallen off. Sure, Thiem may have the game to beat Rafa on clay in best of three, but he needs to play incredibly well while also needing Rafa’s level to drop considerably.
Assuming he stays healthy, I see no reason for RG title #11 and at least 2 clay Masters on their way soon!
Zverev plays his best when he’s not the perceived favourite which is why he beat Ferrer (and lost to Isner).
Massive assumption about Rafa staying healthy, but he’d be the clear favourite at the French (Big 4 or not) as is Federer at Wimbledon this year.
Fed favourite for Wimbledon but not clear favourite if Rafa goes on a roll like last year ok Clay
You’re right about Zverev, Hawks. Although he was by far the perceived favorite over Ferrer, by a mile, so that’s not a good example. Maybe if this were 5+ years ago Ferrer would be favored over Zverev, but not now!
*on clay he would be second or joint favourite
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