Rafael Nadal and Stan Wawrinka will battle for a place in the Rome semifinals on Friday. David Ferrer and David Goffin are also on the schedule.
(8) Stan Wawrinka vs. (4) Rafael Nadal
Nadal and Wawrinka will be squaring off for the 14th time in their careers when they collide in the quarterfinals of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia on Friday. The head-to-head series is being dominated 12-1 by Nadal, who is a perfect 5-0 against Wawrinka on clay. Eleven clay-court sets have all gone in favor of the Spaniard and Wawrinka has never even forced a tiebreaker. They most recently faced each other on the slow stuff two years ago at Roland Garros, where Nadal cruised 6-2, 6-3, 6-1. Wawrinka’s lone victory, of course, came in the 2014 Australian Open final. The Swiss took advantage of a hobbled opponent to triumph 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 and they have not since played against one another.
Nadal has showed occasional signs of emerging from a season-long slump but he has not yet dug himself out of the funk. The world No. 7 needs three more wins to finish off what has been a good start this week in Rome. He trounced Marsel Ilhan 6-2, 6-0 then beat John Isner 6-4, 6-4 on Thursday. Also in dire need of some momentum, Wawrinka has advanced with victories over Juan Monaco and Stan Wawrinka–losing one set to Monaco in the process. The ninth-ranked Swiss is 20-6 for his 2015 campaign but has won only five of his last 10 matches. It is safe to assume that Wawrinka is not playing well enough or consistently enough to change what is an alarming trend of futility against Nadal on this particular surface.
Pick: Nadal in 2 losing 8 games or fewer
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David Goffin vs. (7) David Ferrer
They say it is better to be lucky than good and Goffin has been both this week in Rome. After overcoming Andrea Arnaboldi 5-7, 6-2, 6-1 in his opener, the Belgian found himself trailing Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 5-3 in the third set on Wednesday only to take the final four games while saving three match points. As if Tsonga was not already kicking himself, the Frenchman will be ruing the missed opportunity even more now. That’s because Munich and Madrid champion Andy Murray withdrew citing fatigue, giving Goffin a walkover into the quarterfinals.
Next up for the world No. 20 is a second career meeting with Ferrer, who won their only previous encounter 6-3, 2-6, 6-3 last fall on the indoor hard courts of Paris. Ferrer has cooled off just a bit since capturing titles earlier this season in Doha, Rio de Janeiro, and Acapulco. But the eighth-ranked Spaniard is looking good in Rome with straight-set wins at the expense of Richard Gasquet and Guillermo Garcia-Lopez. Thanks in part to the surface, Ferrer should come out on top of grinding baseline battle.
Pick: Ferrer in 3
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We have nothing to fear regarding the scheduling and time of play, even the draw for RG. Right now Rafa is his own worst enemy. He is beating himself.
No one has to do anything to make it tougher for Rafa at RG. He’s already done it all my himself.
I’m with TMF:
“Rafael Nadal is still man to beat at French Open, says Roger Federer”
http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/tennis/rafael-nadal-is-still-man-to-beat-at-french-open-says-roger-federer-10254415.html