Rafael Nadal will be back in action on Thursday in Madrid when he takes the court for third-round action against Jarkko Nieminen. The winner will face either Tomas Berdych or Grigor Dimitrov in the quarterfinals.
(1) Rafael Nadal vs. Jarkko Nieminen
Nadal and Nieminen will be squaring off for the eighth time in their careers when they meet in round three of the Mutua Madrid Open on Thursday. The head-to-head series stands at a perfect 7-0 in Nadal’s favor, including 5-0 on clay and 17-1 in total sets. They have not faced each other since Monte-Carlo in 2012, when the top-ranked Spaniard prevailed 6-4, 6-3. Nadal kicked off his Madrid campaign on Wednesday with a 6-1, 6-0 blowout of Juan Monaco as he looks to erase the demons of quarterfinal losses in Monte-Carlo and Barcelona.
It has already been a productive week for Nieminen, who earned his shot at the world No. 1 by taking out both Robin Haase and Igor Sijsling in easy straight sets. The 32-year-old Finn is 14-12 for the season, which includes a semifinal showing in Montpellier and a third-round performance in Indian Wells. Nieminen’s counter-punching and at times aggressive baseline play can work well on clay, but this surface is obviously the last one on which he wants to battle Nadal.
Pick: Nadal in 2 losing 3-4 games
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(12) Grigor Dimitrov vs. (6) Tomas Berdych
Dimitrov and Berdych will be going head-to-head for the third time in their careers on Thursday. Both of their previous meetings have gone Dimitrov’s way in three sets; 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 on the indoor hard courts of Rotterdam in 2009 and 6-3, 2-6, 6-4 two years ago in Miami. Speaking of three-setters, the 14th-ranked Bulgarian needed a marathon to get past Marius Copil on Wednesday. Dimitrov survived 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(7) after two hours and 10 minutes to improve his record for the season to 22-6. He had previously rolled over Pablo Carreno Busta 6-2, 6-4.
Berdych could not have asked for a more routine path to the last 16. The sixth-ranked Czech got a first-round bye then faced personal punching bag Kevin Anderson on Wednesday. Berdych improved to 11-0 lifetime against the South African–all 11 since the start of the 2012 season–thanks to a 6-1, 6-4 romp. This will be a much tougher test for the No. 6 seed, who is solid but unspectacular on clay. Dimitrov’s athleticism and defense are more effective on this surface and he is clearly comfortable on the red stuff right now following a title last month in Bucharest.
Pick: Dimitrov in 3
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Nieminen congratulates Rafa via Twitter. Nice guy, class act.
https://twitter.com/NieminenJarkko/status/464471159699165186
^^Class.
I too missed both of Rafa’s matches…the work is calling and coincides with my tennis “obligations”…but I will be back home tomorrow to watch the recording (if Rafa wins! If not I will just not bother, too painful to live through….)
I notice Rafa’s UEs tally nearly equals his winners tally…he needs to step it up against Berdy…but he apparently plays well at crucial points which is a big improvement…
Vamos Rafa!
Just watched a recording of the Rafa/Neimenen match. Rafa was cruising until the 3rd game in the 2nd set when he lunged for a cross court FH shot from the other side and banged his head with his racquet, winding himself a little bit. He seemed to lose focus a bit but composed himself sufficiently in the end to win comfortably.
Berdy test tomorrow, Vamos!
I have finally watched my recording of the full match. I woke up at about 6:30 am and watched some of it. The thing that has stood out to me is Rafa’s movement on the court. That is so important to his overall game. He is just really gliding well on the court and getting to just about everything. It’s good to see.
My thoughts are that Nieminen gave a good account of himself. This was a good match for Rafa, getting rhythm and an opponent who didn’t quit in the second set. Rafa’s starting to get the feel of his shots now. I still wish that this business with getting the break and then giving it back, would just go away. But the truth is that Niemenin played some great shots. Rafa seemed to lose a bit of concentration in that second set but stayed tough and then got the break for the win.
I do think that it’s going to be more competitive with Berdy. He’s always had the game to trouble Rafa, but never had the belief, didn’t have it between the ears. He may sense that Rafa could be vulnerable now, having lost in the quarterfinals in MC and Barcelona. I will be very nervous for this one, because I worry that Rafa might get psyched out with the whole quarterfinal thing. He can’t let that get into his head.
This one will be Rafa’s first test. A top ten opponent who has never beaten him. I am also hoping that Rafa will raise his level of play. Getting past the quarterfinals would be a really good thing for Rafa now.
Good luck tomorrow, Rafa!