Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer may have tough openers on their hands at the Paris Masters on Wednesday. Nadal is facing fellow Spaniard Fernando Verdasco, while Federer runs into big-serving Milos Raonic.
(1) Rafael Nadal vs. Fernando Verdasco
Nadal will be back in action for the first time since retiring against Juan Martin Del Potro in the U.S. Open semifinals when he takes the court at the Rolex Paris Masters on Wednesday. This week’s top seed may have been tempted to shut down his season due to a knee injury, but a neck-and-neck race with Novak Djokovic for the year-end No. 1 ranking plus a desire for some indoor practice prior to the Nitto ATP Finals (an event he has never won) likely sent Nadal on his way to Paris.
Speaking of tournaments at which he has never lifted the trophy, this Masters 1000 is one. Before the Spaniard can even think about triumphing this time around in what is his seventh appearance, he will have to survive a 20th career contest against compatriot Verdasco. Nadal is dominating the head-to-head series 16-3, but they have split their last six encounters at three wins apiece. Despite Verdasco’s relative success of late, he is on a two-match losing streak against Nadal with consecutive Indian Wells setbacks in 2016 and 2017. The world No. 27 earned another shot in this matchup by beating Jeremy Chardy 6-4, 6-4 on Tuesday. With Verdasco in decent form right now and Nadal likely showing some signs of rust, expect a competitive affair.
Pick: Nadal in 3
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(3) Roger Federer vs. Milos Raonic
Federer and Raonic will be facing each other for the 15th time in their careers when they clash in the Paris second round on Wednesday night. The head-to-head series stands at 11-3 in favor of Federer, who has won two in a row on grass at Raonic’s expense (6-4, 6-2, 7-6(4) in the 2017 Wimbledon quarterfinals and 6-4, 7-6(3) in this summer’s Stuttgart title match).
The Canadian almost missed another date with the all-time great, but he managed to scrape past Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-7(4), 7-6(5), 7-6(5) after two hours and 53 minutes on Tuesday. Although Raonic is now a respectable 32-15 for the season, for the most part it has been a disappointing campaign for the world No. 21. Federer is coming off a title last week in Basel, where he was rarely at his best but still got the job done for his ninth career title at his home tournament. The third seed may not be at his dominant best these days, but Raonic also isn’t in peak form and the underdog could be fatigued following the thriller against Tsonga.
Pick: Federer in 3
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WWW?
Federer should never have played the Paris Masters after winning Basel just last week. He is not 31-32 anymore. …. http://www.138mph.com/tennis-snippets-from-the-atp-nadal-stop-djokovic-agassi-ever-learn-federer-a-glutton-for-punishment/
Both matches are tough to call, and should be fun to watch……Vco in 2…..GOAT in 3.
Nadal in 3, Federer in 2
Stay focused, remain confident, be strong and enjoy the game, Rafa!
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Dq1o0X5WkAAjjFE.jpg
Raonic WDs
Rafa has pulled out of Paris – “stomach injury” it said.
I can’t believe it! another injury? That is not good. I guess Rafa will have to pack it in for the year.
Maybe. There’s a little article about it on the ATP site. Rafa says he was “feeling something” in the abdomen when serving for the past few days and his doctor advised to withdraw from Paris rather than take the chance of developing a tear. Sorry he’s missing Paris but glad he’s being careful.
Seriously! Why didn’t he just play safe and shut down his season and not risk playing! I really really hope he doesn’t try and play the wtf but it’s entirely possible…😞
This time of year is often a step too far for him so I wish he would just skip it if in any
doubt…
LOL at this article
Hey Ricky, can’t you preview a match that actually gets played? 😀
seriously!
This time of season is usually a step too far because he’s played so much during the rest of the season – him and quite a few other guys. That’s anything but true this year. The ab problem is due to NOT playing – it’s very common to develop a new injury when starting play after being off awhile.
Tournaments at this time of year not worth winning, lets face it. OTOH if they were played on indoor clay, might make things more interesting.
Maybe a different attitude if it was played on indoor clqy..
What a horrible thought! If you want to play indoors you should play basketball.
Yeah, just meant that Nadal might be more tempted to play indoor this time of year if it was clay than hard.
Nope. Before 2013 Rafa did not even try to play more on clay. He played the clay masters, Barca and RG but not SA or any of the other clay tournaments. (And he knows he really shouldn’t play all 5 of those – he was concerned when Madrid moved to the spring and clay – because there was simply no way he was skipping any of them.) All the other Spaniards played the “Golden Swing” in SA/Mexico in February but after 2005 Rafa played Dubai or Rotterdam or Davis Cup or took some time off.
Rafa wants to play Paris and year end championships – it’s just that he’s often not in shape for them. If Rafa could he’d play every event in the calendar and probably throw in some challengers, lol. For Rafa not doing well at a tournament doesn’t mean “don’t play there”. It means “keep trying”. It’s the way he’s built.
dull loves clay, that’s no secret. he is the clay court specialist after all.
dull wanted to avoid dasco so he did what he does best, he retired.
Indoor tennis is about as significant as indoor football.
It’s like margarine to butter.
Lite beer.
Frisbee golf.
Decaf coffee.
Wake me up when real tennis starts again outdoors.
Yeah bring back Real tennis , pity its played indoors
https://www.irtpa.com/the-real-tennis-court/