Rafael Nadal will kick of his Madrid campaign when second-round action wraps up on Wednesday. Nadal is getting things started against Gael Monfils, while Juan Martin Del Potro is going up against Damir Dzumhur on Tuesday.
(1) Rafael Nadal vs. Gael Monfils
Nadal is taking a 12-match winning streak with him into the Mutua Madrid Open and he has won a ridiculous 46 consecutive clay-court sets dating back to last season. The world No. 1 recently captured his 11th tournament titles in both Monte-Carlo and Barcelona, and he is now bidding for his sixth Madrid winner’s trophy. Despite the heavy workload on clay, Nadal should be well-rested because he obviously skipped last week, missed most of the hard-court swing due to a hip problem, and has been positively cruising on the slow stuff. So far this season on this surface, only Martin Klizan has even taken five games in a set (Barcelona third round).
Up first for Nadal on Wednesday is a 16th career meeting with Monfils, who trails the head-to-head series 13-2. Unsurprisingly, the Spaniard is a perfect 5-0 on clay and 10-1 in total sets during those five matches. There is no reason to think anything will change on Wednesday, because Monfils has been inactive of late due to recurring physical problems. The 41st-ranked Frenchman is a respectable 14-7 in 2018 with a title in Doha, but he did not play in between Indian Wells and Munich–where he lost right away last week to Mirza Basic in three sets. Monfils scraped past Nikoloz Basilashvili 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 on Monday, but nothing suggests he is ready for Nadal.
Pick: Nadal in 2 losing 5-7 games
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(4) Juan Martin Del Potro vs. Damir Dzumhur
Nobody who has taken part in this clay-court stretch has been able to challenge Nadal. It is unlikely that anyone ever will, but Del Potro is finally back in action and perhaps ready to give it a try. The sixth-ranked Argentine, who has not taken the match court since a semifinal appearance in Miami, would have to reach the Madrid semis in order to get a shot at the No. 1 seed. He has advanced at least that far in four of six tournaments this season, with titles in Acapulco and Indian Wells to go along with a runner-up performance in Auckland.
Del Potro will begin his week on Wednesday against Dzumhur, who lost their only previous meeting 7-6(5), 4-6, 6-3 last year in Delray Beach. The world No. 32 from Bosnia and Herzegovina has cooled off this season on the heels of a stellar 2017 campaign, to the extent that his record stands at a mere 10-13. Dzumhur is still a horrendous 1-6 in his last seven tournament matches after beating Julien Benneteau 6-4, 6-2 in the Madrid opening round. Del Potro should have no trouble blasting a struggling opponent right off the court in these relatively fast conditions.
Pick: Del Potro in 2
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who ya got?
Rafa in 2 sets. Not sure about how many games he will lose. Monfils is not in good form right now, so Rafa could make short work of it losing only 5-7 games.
Delpo in 2 sets.
Monfils in 3.
Who am I kidding. Rafa in 2 with at least one breadstick and losing less than 5 games
Whoa, spot on! Rafa won losing less than 5 games and had given out one breadstick; he won 6-3, 6-1!
Be focused, be confident, be strong, be courageous, Rafa!
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Dcvi3zXXcAATk4y.jpg
Monfils in 2 losing 4-5 games 😂.
Oh! I’m sure you meant NADAL in 4-5 games. Hope you got it right when you placed your bet.
Rafa in a beatdown, and JDP in straight!
Rafa off to a scratchy start in his first service game. Not getting in his first serves. But he held serve.
Monfils looking pretty shaky and all over the place. Rafa gets the early break.
Rafa facing break point.
Rafa needs to settle down here. Monfils has break point again.
Rafa’s second serve is helping him here. But he just hit a great first serve out wide.
Rafa has to work for it, but he holds again.
3-0
This was really disappointing from
Monfils. He didn’t seem to be into thecnsrch at all. Like he knew he had no chance to win, so might as well clown around.
Rafa did serve better as the match went on. He seemed to settle down and play much better. He got a chance to get the fe if the court, but Monfils really did not put up much of an effort.
Sorry, autocorrect. Monfils did not seem to be into the MATCH.
I am in Madrid. Monfils played as well as he could. Rafa was nervous at the start and had trouble holding his first service game but after that, he was too much for Gael. Monfils didn’t play badly at all, he was trying to compete but couldn’t get past Rafa when he is in this mood.
Hahaaaaa, my prediction is going strong!! I’m telling you- he is NOT losing a set until at least Queens Club. It’s happening. 🙂
I am in Madrid for the tennis. Monfils started playing the TV rule when he knew he stood no chance of winning the match. He was constantly going up to his box and chatting with them during the match but Rafa didn’t complain. I was timing Rafa between points and he was averaging about 16 seconds between points. He seems to have cut out most of the shorts tugging and pulling back imaginary hair from his face. :
Rafa’s being so dominant from the let go right now,that’s truly unreal. I saw somewhere that his average first serve speed was way over 190 kph and his average second serve speed was 163 kph. That’s peak serving stats for Rafa,no?
Rafa’s serve stats improved quite a bit as the match went on. I think it was his first match and he might have been a little nervous and needed to get the feel of the court with the quicker conditions.
Rafa’s second serve has taken so much pressure off him these days. It’s really nice to see him be able to rely on it if he isn’t getting a high percentage of first serves in.
I thought Rafa relaxes after winning the first set and took it up a notch in the second set, he is now playing with real confidence after winning titles in MC and Barcelona. There is nothing like winning!
😀
Sure,first match in completely different conditions when compared to MC/Barça.The courts in Madrid are looking very fast this year,imo. When Rafa’s full of confidence everything starts clicking and he’s very dangerous everywhere. Such a joy to see him displaying at this high level 🙂
Vamos Rafa 👑🎾