Rafael Nadal and Grigor Dimitrov will be heading to London in two weeks, but they first have business at hand at the Paris Masters. Nadal is kicking off his campaign against Hyeon Chung on Wednesday, while Grigor Dimitrov is facing Richard Gasquet.
(1) Rafael Nadal vs. Hyeon Chung
Nadal is one win away from clinching the year-end No. 1 ranking as he heads into his opening match at the Rolex Paris Masters on Wednesday. With world No. 2 Roger Federer having withdrawn from Paris, Nadal can move more than 1,500 points–the maximum number available at the upcoming World Tour Finals–clear of the Swiss with a victory over Chung. It would be a well-deserved honor for the Spaniard, who has captured a pair of Grand Slam titles to go along with a runner-up performance at the Australian Open and additional winners’ trophies in Monte-Carlo, Barcelona, Madrid, and Beijing.
This is the second career meeting between Nadal and Chung–and also the second of the year. They previously faced each other on the clay courts of Barcelona, where Nadal prevailed 7-6(1), 6-2. Chung has a proverbial postseason tournament of his own on the horizon, as he qualified for the inaugural NextGen ATP Finals in Milan for players 21-and-under. The 55th-ranked Korean has earned more than half of his lifetime ATP-level match victories in 2017 (24 of 46) and he booked his spot in the Paris second round by crushing Mischa Zverev 6-0, 6-2 on Monday. Chung may be in solid form, but he has never beaten anyone ranked better than ninth in the world and Nadal is 16-0 in his last 16 matches against opponents other than Federer.
Pick: Nadal in 2 losing 5-7 games
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Richard Gasquet vs. (6) Grigor Dimitrov
Dimitrov and Gasquet will be squaring off for the eighth time in their careers on Wednesday. Gasquet is leading the head-to-head series 5-2, but Dimitrov’s rise to prominence has coincided with a shift in the balance of power regarding this matchup. Once 0-5 against the Frenchman, Dimitrov got the job done 6-4, 6-4 last fall in Shanghai and 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 at this year’s Australian Open.
The eighth-ranked Bulgarian’s semifinal performance Down Under was part of a blistering 17-1 start of the season, and he never looked back en route to what will soon be his first-ever World Tour Finals appearance. Dimitrov certainly could not keep up his January pace, but he owns a 43-18 overall record with three titles. Gasquet is 29-17 this year following a 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 win over compatriot Benoit Paire on Monday. The world No. 30 is is coming off three straight quarterfinal finishes in Tokyo, Shanghai, and Vienna, but the only higher-ranked player he has defeated during this stretch is Sam Querrey.
Pick: Dimitrov in 2
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Congrats Rafa!
Vamos Rafa!!
I think Chung’s a good player. I expected this to be a tough 1st match for Rafa. Glad he’s through in 2 sets.
Well done Rafa, job done…..!
Vamos!
I just realized that now that Rafa has secured YE#1, maybe he will totally be able to relax? I didn’t see him losing this tournament at the start, and now I REALLY don’t see him losing it now that he has nothing to worry about since he got that single win he needed for YE#1. If Delpo was fresh, I would favor him over Rafa at this tourny. But DelPo needs to be in full flight to beat Rafa, so as far as I’m concerned, the chance of Rafa getting supper here is extremely low. The only match I would predict for him to lose for the rest of the season would be against Fed at WTF, if they end up meeting. And even then, it’s never a guarantee that either one of them will win whenever they face each other. One will typically be favored depending on surface and/or form, but it’s never a foregone conclusion at all… I’d say that 99% of us thought that Rafa was favored in the Shanghai final, but we were wrong there. I just really hope we get both of them healthy, facing each other in the WTF, preferably the final but semis would be fine.
I wouldn’t say Rafa was struggling against Chung; yes he made too many uncharacteristic mistakes but it’s his first match and the ball sounds a little bit odd to me; it seems to have very little bounce. I don’t think Chung expected to win so he was, at times, taking chances he wouldn’t normally take.
Only Dimi left in Rafa’s draw. Its not that scary as it initially was.
Who made Rafa’s draw look scary? Sasha? 😉 😉 😉 😉 😉 😉
No, Rafa will have Sacha rather Dimi in semis. I meant Querrey and fellow spainard both out, although Butsa would have been easier.
Rafa endeared himself to the crowd during the on-court interview by thanking them, in excellent French, for their support.
Ladies and gentlemen, 2017 Year end world No 1..RAFAEL NADAL
Congrats Rafa, Congrats Rafans. Well deserved.
I was very nervous about this one and I knew he would be very tight given the occasion and guess he was and played all up and down. I expect him to loosen up now on but dont think he will go all out for Paris and beat himself up. I think he has his eyes on WTF though I know Fed is clear favorite there ..
Sanju, what do you think about the idea that he will be able to play with much more freedom and weight off his shoulders? I feel like he could really just play aggressively and go for his shots quickly without having to worry about missing too much. I know he would love to win the WTF, but he typically plays his best when he comes into a tournament with a lot of recent wins. Therefore I would think that winning Paris would be very important to him, especially since he’s never won it.
I hope he goes full throttle to win both but i think winning both will be asking a lot. I will be satisfied with 1 win, being realistic
The court looked so slow when Rafa played against Chung. Perhaps both put a lot of spin on their shots, making the ball looked slow and high bouncing through the air. I watch other matches played at CC and the other courts, the courts didn’t look slow. Maybe those players hit flatter shots and so the ball travelled quicker through the air.
If Rafa wants to play more aggressive tennis, I guess he has to move forward more often and cuts down on the long rallies. He’s so good when he’s at the net, should venture there more often.
I just saw highlights. I feel Rafa was recently aggressive, wasn’t camping behind baseline. I think yesterday he was bit right given enormity of occasion, he should be freer from today.
I meant tight above instead of right