Rafael Nadal vs Alex de Minaur
Wednesday, April 17, 2024
Rafael Nadal -133 / Alex de Minaur +105
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Rafael Nadal will face his first big test at the 2024 Barcelona Open when he plays fourth seed Alex de Minaur in the second round. The match will take place on Wednesday, April 17, 2024. Here’s our Rafael Nadal vs Alex de Minaur prediction.
Nadal is back with a bang
Rafael Nadal returned to action on the ATP Tour for the first time since January, and he never missed a beat. The 37-year-old Spaniard lay waste to Italy’s Flavio Cobolli to start his journey to an unprecedented 13th title in Barcelona. The match took 15 games to decide, with Nadal converting four of 10 break points. For all of her serving frailties coming into the match, Nadal was broken only once during the match and accounted for three double faults.
De Minaur makes Monte Carlo quartefinal
Alex de Minaur kicked off his clay-curt swing at last week’s Monte-Carlo Masters. He reached the quarterfinal with wins over the likes of Stan Wawrinka and countryman Alexei Popyrin. But he came up short against world no. 1 Novak Djokovic in a rematch of their United Cup showdown from earlier this season. De Minaur has a pretty good record in Barcelona, reaching the semifinal in 2022 and the quarterfinal last year. So, he will be looking to preserve his streak of reaching the business end of the tournament when he plays the 12-time champion Nadal.
Rafael Nadal vs Alex de Minaur Head-To-Head
Rafael Nadal leads Alex de Minaur 3-1 in their head-to-head, although his last win over the Australian was at the 2020 ATP Cup. This will be their first meeting on clay.
Rafael Nadal vs Alex de Minaur Prediction
This will be a nice early test to gauge Nadal’s level and possibly his fitness for the remainder of the clay swing. De Minaur is a workhorse and a vastly superior player to Cobolli, who struggled to get any bite in his groundstrokes. The Australian world no. 11 has four matches under his belt on the European clay, and he’s had a fantastic 2024. Despite his overwhelming dominance over the field for many years on this surface, Nadal is no longer guaranteed the favorite tag at this stage of his career, especially when his health continues to be a hindrance to his preparation. De Minaur, to win this match at Evens is not to be missed.
