Roland Garros: Rafael Nadal vs Jannik Sinner preview, head-to-head & prediction | French Open 2020
Match details
Fixture: Rafael Nadal vs Jannik Sinner
Date: 6 October 2020
Tournament: Roland Garros 2020
Round: Quarterfinals
Venue: Paris, France
Category: Grand Slam
Surface: Red clay
Prize money: Approx. €38,000,000
Match timing: Approx. 8 pm CEST, 11.30 pm IST
Live telecast: USA - NBC Sports / Tennis Channel | India - Star Sports Select / Disney+ Hotstar VIP | Europe - Eurosport
Also check out: The Complete French Open 2020 Schedule
Rafael Nadal vs Jannik Sinner preview
One of tennis’ greatest ever players will meet one of its future stars as Rafael Nadal takes on Jannik Sinner in a mouth-watering quarterfinal clash at the 2020 French Open.
The 19-year-old Sinner is one of the brightest prospects that tennis has had in several years. Needless to say, the Italian has done justice to those claims by making it to the quarters in his very first appearance at Roland Garros.
Pitted against Sinner on Tuesday will be the greatest player in the history of the tournament - Rafael Nadal.
The 12-time French Open champion is in rather terrific form himself. In the four matches that he has played thus far, he’s yet to drop a set and has only been broken twice.
In his fourth-round match against Sebastian Korda, Rafael Nadal was extraordinarily efficient even when he was not his usual brilliant self. The American made Nadal work hard in some of the rallies, and the Spaniard had to produce his finest defense to thwart Korda.
Jannik Sinner meanwhile showed no mercy to an ailing Alexander Zverev in his fourth-round match. The German had been suffering from a bout of cold but still put up a pretty decent fight against the Italian.
Sinner barely struggled against Zverev’s late onslaught in the match. For every big forehand that the German hit, Sinner responded with several more of a higher quality; he outplayed the sixth seed from both wings.
Rafael Nadal, admittedly, is a tougher test than anything the young Jannik Sinner has faced so far. But such is the Italian's talent that many believe he is capable of giving the Spaniard a tough challenge despite being extremely new to the big stage.
Rafael Nadal vs Jannik Sinner head-to-head
Rafael Nadal and Jannik Sinner have never played each other on tour before. Their head-to-head, accordingly, stands at 0-0 right now.
Rafael Nadal vs Jannik Sinner prediction
Rafael Nadal has played near-flawless tennis so far at the 2020 French Open. However, he has faced a relatively weak set of players that don't have the skills to match his.
Jannik Sinner would want to change that, but it seems very unlikely that he will be able to stop the raging bull that is Rafael Nadal. The Spaniard is strong enough defensively to deal with the stinging forehands and backhands of Sinner, and also aggressive enough to cause the Italian problems with his own groundstrokes.
Nadal will also no doubt make Sinner pay for any errors that he coughs up. And the error count could be unusually high as the teenager has never dealt with the kind of topspin the 12-time champion generates.
Stopping the King of Clay requires a lot more than talent, and the inexperienced Sinner might find that out the hard way on Tuesday.
Prediction: Rafael Nadal to win in straight sets.
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