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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