Rafael Nadal
Borna Coric will take on second seed Rafael Nadal in the Round of 32 of the Cincinnati Masters
Rafael Nadal will open his campaign at the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati on Wednesday against World No. 152 Borna Coric. This will be the World No. 3’s first match since withdrawing from his Wimbledon semifinal match against Nick Kyrgios in July due to an abdominal tear. The walkover also ended the Spaniard’s quest to add a third consecutive Slam title and a chance for a calendar Grand Slam. The former World No. 1 won the Australian Open and the French Open earlier this year.
This will be Nadal’s first appearance in Cincinnati since 2017, when he lost to Nick Kyrgios in the quarterfinal.
Coric’s best performance of the season came on the ATP Challenger tour, where he emerged victorious at Montechiarugolo-Parma. On the ATP tour, he reached the last eight on the claycourt of Hamburg just last month. The World No. 152 began his Cincinnati campaign with a 7-6(2), 6-3 win over Hamburg champion Lorenzo Musetti on Tuesday. He will now hope to draw confidence from this win as he takes on Nadal on Wednesday. Coric’s last few seasons have been injury-plagued, affecting his form and ranking. Having undergone shoulder surgery in 2021, the Croat is now looking to make his way back to the top echelons of the sport again.
| Date | Thursday, 18th August |
| Court type | Hard Court |
| Watch | Tennis TV |
| Start time | 04:30 am IST |
| Venue | Lindner Family Tennis Center |
| Match details | Round of 32 match |
Head to head and Predictions
Coric and Nadal are tied at 2-2 in their head-to-head. Their only other Cincinnati meeting ended in a 6-1, 6-3 win in favor of the Croat in 2016. The Spaniard, however, exacted revenge the very next year in Canada with a 6-1, 6-2 win in what remains their last face-off. This is a pretty close encounter to call with both players capable of winning on their day. We are predicting a hard-fought win for Rafael Nadal in three sets.
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