Second seeded Rafael Nadal will look to continue in the same vein as earlier when he takes on Italy’s Stefano Travaglia in the third round of the 2020 French Open on Friday, October 2. The exact timing is yet to be determined. Get the live streaming options of this Rafael Nadal v Stefano Travaglia match along with its preview, head to head, and tips here.
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Rafael Nadal v Stefano Travaglia Head to Head
This will be the first time in their careers that Nadal and Travaglia will be meeting in a competitive outing.
Also Read:
Nadal Munches on McDonald in Round Two
If his first round display was effective, Nadal looked to have found an extra gear in his second round match against Mackenzie McDonald as he romped to a 6-1, 6-0, 6-3 win in 100 minutes to move a step closer towards his 13th French Open title.
Nadal had come through in three sets in his opener as well but there were times in the first couple of sets of that match he looked slightly rusty. Then he came into his own in the third set and by the looks of things, the Spaniard was continuing against McDonald from where he left off in that final set of round one.
So clean was his destruction of the American former world number 57, Nadal did not face a single break-point in the entire match but eked out eight of his own. He converted a whopping seven of them.
There’s no doubt Nadal will face more challenging opponents in the rounds to come and in the rest of his career. That’s for another day. What he definitely needed in his quest to add to his jaw-dropping tally of Roland-Garros wins is a performance that makes him believe he still is the supremo uno on clay following his relatively early loss at the Rome Masters and this victory should give him that sense.
Travaglia might not be the easiest opponent given his record at the lower circuit on clay but it gives Nadal a chance to peek into a different kind of a challenge.
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Travaglia Makes it His Career-Best Already
The Italian world number 73 had never seen the inside of a third round place in a Grand Slam before this and for a while it looked like he wouldn’t do it this time either. Playing Kei Nishikori in his second round match, Travaglia required five sets to shut down the former world number four.
Travaglia, who had earlier cruised past Pablo Andujar in his first round match, had started off as the bookmaker’s favourite in this match and begun in that fashion too when he broke Nishikori in the very first game of the match. A couple of breaks were exchanged in the set which allowed the Italian to wrap up the first, before his Japanese opponent came back strongly in the second.
After a struggling hold in the opening game of set two, Nishikori broke Travaglia in the fourth and again in the eighth to level the proceedings. The Italian responded with a break of serve in the very first game of the third set, and while Nishikori soon levelled things off and took the set into the tie-breaker, a battling Travaglia fought off a set-point to win it 9-7.
Nishikori levelled the match with a couple of breaks in the fourth set but just when one thought he had the momentum going into the fifth, Travaglia’s stickiness allowed him to pull. He raced away to a 5-1 lead and while he was broken while serving for the match, Travaglia broke right back to win the match.
Nadal v Travaglia Prediction and Tip
It continue’s to be whopping one-sided odds with this one being 1/150 for a Nadal win. Even a straight-set victory is pegged at 2/11 which is the best one can expect from this. Travaglia’s experience on clay could help him push Nadal somewhat, something on the lines of the first round match against Egor Gerasimov but that’s the worst we expect for Nadal.
Tip: Nadal to win in straight sets: 2/11 (bet365)
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The French Open 2020 will be played from September 27 to October 11. You can watch & bet on the French Open here. Get your latest premium tennis predictions here.
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