Rafael Nadal continues his quest for French Open title No. 14 against fellow left-hander Cameron Norrie of Great Britain on Saturday, while Spanish teenager Carlos Alcaraz faces big-serving German Jan-Lennard Struff.
(3) Rafael Nadal vs. Cameron Norrie
Rafael Nadal has faced Cameron Norrie twice already in 2021. The two men met at the Australian Open, while Nadal was nursing a back injury and again in Barcelona. Nadal won both matches in straight sets, but their encounter in Barcelona was a full-on drubbing–with Nadal dispatching Norrie 6-1, 6-4.
Nadal actually came close to dropping a set in the first round to talented Aussie Alexei Popyrin. The world No. 3 was forced to fight his way back from a break down to force a tiebreaker in the third, but break back he did; then he closed out the tiebreaker comfortably. Richard Gasquet, who has never beaten Nadal, was similarly sent packing in straight sets.
Perhaps on a low-bouncing hard court, Norrie would have a better shot at pushing Nadal. But in what has been Nadal’s playground for a decade and a half, the Brit simply doesn’t have the clay-court game to make trouble for the Spaniard.
Cheryl pick: Nadal in 3
Ricky pick: Nadal in 3
Jan-Lennard Struff vs. (Q) Carlos Alcaraz
Spanish teen Carlos Alcaraz captured the tennis world’s attention in Melbourne at the start of the season in one of the Australian Open tune-up events. He took out David Goffin 6-3, 6-3 in the second round. He struggled a bit this spring, but he had an impressive run to the semifinals in Marbella just prior to coming to Paris. Alcaraz earned his spot in the main draw through qualifying. He’s currently No. 97 in the world.
Jan-Lennard Struff scored a monster first-round upset win over No. 7 seed Andrey Rublev earlier this week, which went to five sets. He picked up a tidy straight-set win over Facundo Bagnis of Argentina in the second round, so he should have enough left in the tank for Friday.
Alcaraz has a bigger upside than Struff. He’s a teenager and poised perhaps for a Jannik Sinner-like breakthrough at any moment. However, Grand Slam results are often related to how well players handle pressure. In that sense, Struff has more experience and he has already exceeded expectations in Paris–owing to the difficulty of drawing Rublev in the first round.
Cheryl pick: Struff in 5
Ricky pick: Alcaraz in 5
Leave a Reply