Rafael Nadal and Stan Wawrinka clash in a compelling quarterfinal showdown at the Madrid Masters on Friday. Meanwhile, defending champion Alexander Zverev and Stefanos Tsitsipas meet in the battle of the young guns.
(2) Rafael Nadal vs. Stan Wawrinka
Stan Wawrinka has beaten Rafael Nadal on one of the biggest stages of tennis in the final of the Australian Open (2014). Yet despite that impressive victory, this has generally been an unkind matchup for the Swiss. The two men have already played 20 times already and Wawrinka has won just three of those encounters. He has lost four in a row to Nadal.
Nadal is still looking for the kind of devastating form that he has long enjoyed on his best surface. The Spaniard played uncharacteristically poor tennis to go down in the Monte-Carlo semis to Fabio Fognini. His form improved considerably at his home club in Barcelona, but he ran into a red-hot Dominic Thiem, who also dispatched him in the semis. Nadal has been solid this week, with a particularly strong showing in the third round against American Frances Tiafoe.
Wawrinka for his part has had a long, slow road to recovery. The three-time slam champion was ranked outside the top 100 as recently as last August, struggling to return to form after knee surgery. He made the final in Rotterdam earlier this season, which helped bump his ranking to No. 34 in the world.
Given Nadal’s performance at the tail end of Barcelona and so far this week, he will be the clear favorite. His last meeting with Wawrinka, an entertaining affair in a night match in Toronto, was closely contested. Nadal just squeaked out the win in a second-set ‘breaker. This could be a real treat of a match.
Cheryl pick: Nadal in 2
Ricky pick: Nadal in 3
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(3) Alexander Zverev vs. (8) Stefanos Tsitsipas
The two top seeds in the third section of the draw face off in a NextGen quarterfinal showdown. Alexander Zverev will take on Stefanos Tsitsipas for a spot in the Madrid quarterfinals. Of the two players, Tsitispas is in slightly better form. The Greek captured his first clay court-title in Estoril last week and has a semifinal showing in Melbourne and another title in Marseille to show for his 2019 efforts.
Zverev has come up a bit short on dirt in 2019. Until this week, the German had won no more than a single match at the four clay-court events he entered. He has performed better this week, ousting David Ferrer and Hubert Hurkacz. Still, he hasn’t played anyone yet who is as in-form as Tsitsipas.
These two have split wins at one each. Zverev won their first encounter in Washington last year, while Tsitispas returned the favor in Toronto in a sloppy mess of a match. Zverev has the added benefit of being the defending champion in Madrid, a court that clearly suits his game.
Cheryl pick: Zverev in 3
Ricky pick: Tsitsipas in 2
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Stan has never had a look-in when Rafa is not hampered. That makes their h2h 18-3!
Just wish Rafa had played like that against Stan at the AO final in 2014, and he wouldve had a second career GS ….
Alison, Rafa played with a back injury at the 2014 AO Final. He suffered the injury in the warm-up just before the match, had it not been the final he would have given Stan a WO but he didn’t want to disappoint the people who had paid a lot of money for their tickets so he showed up.
If you watch the 2017 RG final, Rafa gave Stan the same drubbing – 62 63 61.
When Rafa is hitting the ball like this, he aint losing to anybody.
Of course certain players can prevent him from imposing himself the way he did tonight by using their specific skills. For instance, thiem’s ability to hit the ball so heavy makes it harder for Rafa to dominate from the baseline and Novak’s return and backhands DTL distort the playing patterns.
Rafa was in 3rd gear at MC and switching between 3rd and 4th gear at Barcelona. He is switching between 4th and 5th now and today was scary. The challenge is to maintain this in the face of adversity.
I really like what I saw today against Stan! I hope Rafa only improves from there!! Now I feel much better about going to RG this year…..at least i’m picking Rafa to reach the semis with this current form. I really can’t wait to watch him play on the dirt!
Vamos Rafa!!!! And good luck against Tsistipas!
Very impressive win by Nadal; I got this one wrong. Particularly after he went up a break in the first set, he lifted his game considerably. I’m disappointed in Stan for not playing better and above all not trying to hit harder, but Rafa obviously had something to do with that. Congrats!
Nadline saw both matches, see them all ….
To be fair Stan is coming back from major surgery but I agree with the comments above – when Rafa is fit and healthy he is too hot for Stan. I have never forgiven Stan for the way he behaved at the Australian open in 2014 which resulted in the crowd booing Rafa as he left the court.
The boos were from the Swiss fans. They are very loud and overbearing and when Fed is playing they are so annoying, waving banners and flags in your face all the time. I sat next to them at the O2 once. I’ve experienced it.
Hope Rafa will deal with Tsistipas! – that young man is going from strength to strength. What’s more he appears to be indefatigable: he’s playing doubles as well
I think Rafa will deal with the young man alright. I like the young man, he’s a combination of Fedal plus Borg, will be a future superstar of tennis after the big three left the scene.
I don’t think he’s ready to challenge Rafa on clay yet; hope Rafa wins in straight sets and gets ready for the final.
I normally trust your judgement in these matters Lucky and like you thought Rafa would be too strong for Tsistipas. We were both wrong!!
At least we have been spared watching Djokovic smirking if he had beaten Rafa in the final.