- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
Rafael Nadal might be winning, but his form at the US Open is stuttering, and he will be out to make a statement when he takes dangerous long-time rival Alexandr Dolgopolov. Join The Roar for live scores from around 2:30am (AEST).
The world No.1 came into the US Open in form that didn’t suggest he was setting the world on fire, and the story has kept very much to the script during the first three rounds of the tournament.
While he gave Dusan Lajovic a straight sets kicking in the first round, it’s been anything but straight forward from there against a pair of qualifiers in Taro Daniel and Leonardo Mayer.
In both matches, he has been slow to start and dropped the first set. Against Daniel in particular, Nadal didn’t look himself. He was missing a lot of first serves, his court movement was poor and he appeared very tight hitting the ball from the baseline.
He got himself back into the match though, as any true champion does and came back to win it in four sets. While he wasn’t quite as bad against Mayer, losing the first set in a tie-breaker, an in-form Nadal would be blasting players of their ranking and skill off the court from the get-go.
It just hasn’t been the case, and Nadal must find his touch in this match. Dolgopolov has enough experience on the big stage to play five sets, rather than dropping the intensity during the third and fourth set as Daniel and Mayer have done.
While Nadal’s form has been inconsistent, Dolgopolov seems to be improving with every match. After battling injury during the lead-up and losing his final match at Winston-Salem to Thiago Monteiro, he took five sets to get past Jan-Lennard Struff in the first round.
It was a match where Dolgopolov was up and down, but taking the fifth set 6-3 showed his cool, calm nature under pressure – something he will need in spades against the world No.1
The Ukranian then upset Tomas Berdych, coming back from a set down to win it in four. His serve fired brilliantly during the final three sets, and he continued that good form into the third round when he knocked over Viktor Troicki in straight sets.
Berdych, being seeded was a big win, and Troicki is no push-over either. His start to the Troicki match was fantastic, and if Nadal continues starting the way he has, then we could have a serious upset on our hands.
The pair have a long history, stretching back to 2010 with Nadal winning seven of their nine matches to date. Dolgopolov though, has won two of their previous four, including a three set affair at Indian Wells in 2014.
The winner will go on to face either David Goffin or Andrey Rublev in the semi-finals.
Prediction
Nadal will win, but this will be a hard-fought affair.
Nadal in five sets.
Join The Roar for live scores from around 2:30am (AEST) and don’t forget to add a comment below.