Rafael Nadal is one win away from clinching the year-end world No. 1 ranking. Standing in his way on Wednesday in London is Stanislas Wawrinka.
Rafael Nadal and Stanislas Wawrinka will be going head-to-head for the 12th time in their careers when they collide on the second day of Group A competition at the World Tour Finals on Wednesday night.
Nadal has won all 11 of their previous encounters, including six on hard courts. In fact, the Spaniard is 24-0 in total sets against Wawrinka and only four have progressed to tiebreakers. They have faced each other three times this season, with Nadal cruising in Madrid (6-2, 6-4), at Roland Garros (6-2, 6-3, 6-1), and most recently in Shanghai (7-6(10), 6-1).
Wawrinka’s struggles in this matchup have continued even though this has been by far the best and most consistent year of his professional life. The Swiss is 50-21 and up to a career-high ranking of No. 8 in the world. His first appearance at the year-end championship got off to a strong start on Monday, when he held off Tomas Berdych 6-3, 6-7(0), 6-3 in two hours and 25 minutes.
Nadal kicked off his London campaign on Tuesday by avenging a Paris loss to David Ferrer. The world No. 1 had lost to his countryman 6-3, 7-5 last week, but he hammered Ferrer 6-3, 6-2 this time around. Nadal owns an incredible 10 titles in 2013, including four on hard courts, but he is still in search of his first since the U.S. Open. He lost in the Beijing final and in the semis of both Shanghai and Paris. However, Nadal has not lost to anyone outside the top five since Wimbledon.
An indoor setting, where Wawrinka has not faced Nadal since 2007, should help the underdog. Nonetheless, this particular court is likely playing too slow and ball are bouncing too high for Wawrinka to pull off what would be a borderline stunner. Nadal should be able to dictate baseline rallies and neutralize his opponent’s best shot by once again pounding heavy topspin at the Wawrinka one-handed backhand.
With a win, Nadal would clinch the year-end world No. 1 ranking. To say he will be determined would be an understatement.
Pick: Nadal in 2 losing 8 games or fewer
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Reblogged this on Tennis Abides.
Vamos Rafa!
Got the Champers on ice………..
Got the Vamos Rafa pom-poms ready………….
C’mon Rafa! Let’s do this………………
Keep calm, remain focused, be confident and fight bravely, Rafa!
Cant wait to see Rafa’s face when he pulls this one off 🙂
Vamos Rafa! You worked hard the whole year for this special moment…
Paul Annacone is in the Tennis Channel studio doing commentary.
good stuff
Nice gift from Stan.
Attritional tennis from Rafa
Stay colm and serve it out Rafa.
Why is Rafa sending so many balls to Stan’s backhand?
And now he’s given back the break.
Time warning to Rafa.
Stan is digging in here.
Rafa keeps hitting his FDTL long, so he’s playing it safe going cross court, but that’s making him vulnerable to Stan’s backhand.
Against Ferru, Rafa was broken serving for the match, here he’s broken serving for the set. Uncle T needs to do something about this…………..
Nail biting time
Not fun watching the ATP scoreboard. Not sure it would be much more fun watching on TV. Don’t enjoy watching Rafa when he’s tight (which I assume he is).
#Nervous
He looks very, very tight @hawkeye63. Don’t know why I am watching, am as tight as a drum as well
He must be nervous. Only explanation.
Vamos!!!
Phew……….1st set Rafa.
No nails left 🙂