Familiar and unfriendly foes Rafael Nadal and Lukas Rosol will face each other again on Wednesday in Paris. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga is also in second-round action against Roberto Bautista Agut.
(Q) Lukas Rosol vs. (7) Rafael Nadal
Nadal and Rosol will be squaring off for the second time in as many weeks when they clash in round two of the BNP Paribas Masters. They just met in the Basel first round, with Nadal storming back from a set and a break down to prevail 1-6, 7-5, 7-6(4). The former world No. 1 leads the head-to-head series 3-1, having lost to Rosol only at Wimbledon in 2012. Nadal has since won three in a row–including last summer at the All-England Club.
From just about out of nowhere, Nadal has picked up plenty of momentum heading in the last regular-season tournament of 2015. But it won’t be Nadal’s final event, because he qualified with room to spare for the World Tour Finals. The sixth-ranked Spaniard finished runner-up to Novak Djokovic in Beijing, reached the Shanghai semifinals, and made a run to the Basel title match (lost to Roger Federer in three sets). Nadal’s 11-2 record in tournament action during the fall swing is the second best showing of his career, having previously compiled a 10-0 post-U.S. Open mark in 2005 (did not play the year-end championship).
It has already been a stellar week for Rosol, who had to qualify just to get into the main draw. The 66th-ranked Czech then held off Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-2, 2-6, 6-3 on Tuesday. Although Rosol is playing decent tennis, Nadal has raised his level even in the short time since they last played each other. A more confident Nadal on a surface slower than that in Basel is a disaster waiting to happen for Rosol.
Pick: Nadal in 2
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(9) Jo-Wilfried Tsonga vs. Roberto Bautista Agut
Tsonga and Bautista Agut will be going head-to-head for the second time in their careers on Wednesday. Their only previous encounter came earlier this season at the Rogers Cup, where Tsonga survived a 5-7, 7-6(6), 7-5 thriller. Bautista Agut has done well to get another shot at the Frenchman. The 24th-ranked Spaniard has played a ton of recent tennis, having finished runner-up in back-to-back weeks in Moscow (to Marin Cilic) and Valencia (to Joao Sousa). But he got right back in gear to overcome Pierre-Hugues Herbert 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 on Tuesday.
A former champion (2008) and runner-up (2011) of this event, Tsonga earned an opening-round bye as the ninth seed. The world No. 10 has been inconsistent this year but he has posted some outstanding results of late–a title in Metz and a runner-up performance in Shanghai. It would not be surprising to see him put on another show on indoor hard courts in front of his home fans. A worn-out Bautista Agut is likely to get powered off the court in this one.
Pick: Tsonga in 2
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So , here we are, look at rafa now! he looks so much more confident. The performance in basel did him soooo much good!…even that loss to federer was full of positives
indeed…
Just like his loss to Novak in Beijing. At least he knew his level was not far off theirs, more importantly on their fav surfaces but not his.
One more break will seal it, for sure.
Better and better.
Pity. Was hoping he would give Rissole a breadstick.
Is Rafa playing lights out or Rosol is just awful? (or both?)
Both. he he
rafa is DETERMINED, real DETERMINED to start taking second serves on the rise and stay on the baseline for the rallies. He is going to start doing this regularly for 2016 and this is the IDEAL time to build this skill. Quite essential it is .
He is throwing in some good second serves as well. Relax, and keep going for them , rafa!
whohooo 5-2 … now Rosol please double-fault 4 times and go back to playing with your voodoo dolls
He’s more than determined. He is a man on a mission.
Straight sets!!!!!
Vamos Rafa!
6-2 6-2 in just over an hour. Vamos Rafa! time for a cup of tea now after this delightful score
very, very satisfying performance. Way to go Rafa!
vamosrafa,
I caught up reading your comments during the match! This is good news! I can’t wait to see the replay! It seems that Rafa did come out of Basel with good feelings, as I expected!
Goodbye and good r******e Mr. Rissol.
Rafa has slain the Rosol dragon.
Vamos Rafa!
Again, and again,and again!!…haha!!!
I really want a Rafa-Djokovic semi final here in Paris.
But why, VR?
^sorry its me.
Not a good court for Rafa to beat Novak on. Too slow.
Slow HC is Nole’s best surfrace.
#RelativelySpeaking
#IMHO
I still want Rafa to get to the semis and meet Novak. Why not? Let him see how his game stacks up now.
^^Too soon NNY. Rafa still has the WTF to come so don’t want to see him leave his guts on the court in Paris – he may face Djokovoc in London.
btw. I read they have tried to make Bercy as close as possible to the O2 conditions.
ed251137 (at 5:36 pm),
— I read they have tried to make Bercy as close as possible to the O2 conditions—
===
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I repeat what I wrote somewhere yesterday:
The Paris Masters Website: ¤¤ The BNP Paribas Masters is played on GreenSet – resin on wood – which is absolutely identical to the surface at the ATP World Tour Finals in London which will be held from 15 – 22 November 2015.¤¤
The courts in Basel, Paris and London have been identical since at least 2013.
Loved the wink Rafa gave as he signed the camera
ed,
I guess you do make a good point. But the way Rafa is playing do you think that someone like Thiem will take him out? Or anyone else in the quarterfinals?
I can understand you wanting Rafa to meet Novak at the WTF. But if Rafa can keep winning, then inevitably he will bump up against Novak.
Vamos Rafa!!
easy match for Rafa…that’s great!
Strangely enough Rosol behaved this time…maybe he is becoming a better person… 🙂
Vamos Rafa!
Not sure about that but he sure will be a chastened player after today.
Rosol gets what he deserves….
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CS-1UMWWsAAzUU4.png
🙂 🙂
Wow! Rafa behaved very well in this match. Extremely encouraging!
He’s had his share of bad days at the office. Today was a good day at the races.
Indeed!!!! Very clean match….i just still cant get over Rafa’s ROS……just impressive he has really grown in that department!!!
Rafa’s ROS was always good to very good in the past. He’s now getting back to that good level, so pleasing.
Some of that could be due to Rosol’s serve being less lethal today. As Lucky points out, Rafa’s ROS used to be pretty effective, It’s only in the past couple of years it has been letting him down.