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Rafael Nadal vs Victor Estrella Burgos: Australian Open live scores

15th January, 2018
Start time: 7pm (AEDT)
Court: Rod Laver Arena
TV: Live, Seven
Online: Live, 7Tennis app
Betting: Nadal $1.01, Burgos $26
Overall record: Never played

Rafael Nadal last 10 matches: won 7, lost 3
Victor Estrella Burgos last 10 matches: won 5, lost 5
Rafael Nadal is the undisputed king of clay courts. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
Expert
15th January, 2018
1

Rafael Nadal will be aiming to go one step better at this year’s Australian Open and starts off his campaign with a clash against veteran Victor Estrella Burgos. Join The Roar for live scores from 7pm (AEDT).

Nadal, like Roger Federer had an incredible 2017. He won the French and US Open, adding two grand slams to his career tally which now stands at 15.

While he sits four behind Federer and appears to be running out of time to make the catch, the levels of fitness he was able to show in 2017 were amazing for a man who looked like he would never again reach the top of the sport at the end of 2016.

Losing to Federer in the Australian Open final last year would have hurt Nadal, but he needs to focus on his own game and getting through the early rounds before he can set sight on the crown.

He is yet to play a proper match in 2018. He was originally due to play at the Brisbane International, but had to pull out as he battled various niggles, his pre-season not complete after a heavy 2017.

Whether a lack of match play will come back to bite him or not is anyone’s guess, but he is doing his best to address the issues. He had a practice three-set match with world No.5 Dominic Thiem on Margaret Court Arena on Thursday, coming away with a win after dropping the first set.

His opponent, Victor Estrella Burgos, ranked 81 in the world has mainly played challenger events since bombing out of Wimbledon in the first round last year.

Despite that, he started his year at the ATP event in Doha where he got thumped in straight sets by Frenchman Richard Gasquet.

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Instead of trying to qualify for the Sydney International, Burgos then went to a challenger event in Canberra where he got over Luke Saville and Florian Mayer before going down to Andreas Seppi in the semi-final 6-2, 6-2.

While clay if the favoured surface for the 37-year-old, he has never been all that bad on hard court – in saying that – the chance of knocking over one of the greats appears slim.

The pair have never played before this meeting and the winner will meet either Nicolas Jarry or Leonardo Mayer in the second round on Wednesday.

Prediction
The Spaniard hasn’t played a proper match yet this season (apart from his practice match with Thiem), but that shouldn’t stop him. He has been hitting the ball well by all reports and shouldn’t be beaten in the first round.

Nadal in straight sets.

Be sure to join The Roar for live scores of this first round match from 7pm (AEDT) and don’t forget to add a comment in the section below.

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