TennisSection previews the 2021 Barcelona Open as Rafael Nadal (1) meets Ilya Ivashka (Q) in the Second Round on Wednesday, April 21st 2021.
Will Ilya Ivashka cause the most shocking upset possible this week by knocking out the King of Clay in one of his favourite tournaments at the 2021 Barcelona Open? Will Rafael Nadal begin his Barcelona campaign off strongly as he looks to win his 12th title in this tournament? Both players are in very good form recently, but only one will make their way to the Third Round. Who will it be?
Ilya Ivashka cruised through his first round match, beating Tallon Griekspoor in straight sets 6-3/6-1 with ease. Ivashka is a very powerful player and he is so good at pushing opponents off the court when he is underestimated. However, Ivashka does not have the best stamina on the ATP Tour, and is prone to making more errors as a match goes longer. Looking at matches in the last year where this happened, I remember the Cologne Open against Felix Auger-Aliassime where he was winning in the first two sets, but got tired and lost in 3, and a couple weeks ago in Miami where he lost in 3 sets to Denis Shapovalov. If Ilya Ivashka improves this aspect of his game, I am sure he can definitely hurt some big name players. Can Ivashka cause a shocking upset against Rafael Nadal?
Rafael Nadal will be looking to bounce back after a shocking loss to Andrey Rublev on clay last week in the Quarter-finals of the 2021 Monte-Carlo Masters. However, Nadal fans should not be worried about this one bad match as Rafa has always needed a tournament to get back to his best in recent years on the clay. Rafael Nadal will have flown to Barcelona last week and ensured that his game is back up to speed, and ready to go right until the end here at the 2021 Barcelona Open, looking to win his 12th title here. Will Rafael Nadal be subject to what would be probably the biggest upset in over a decade for him against Ilya Ivashka?
Rafael Nadal and Ilya Ivashka have never met before, with this being their first meeting on the ATP Tour. Although Ivashka was great in his first round match, there is no chance in hell that he is going to get anything done in this match. Rafael Nadal is the King of Clay and he is determined to show everyone that although he lost last week, he is ready to continue dominating this surface and get his 12th title at the 2021 Barcelona Open. I don’t expect this to be a long match at all, with Nadal winning the match in straight sets to make his way to the Third Round.
Free Tennis Pick and Prediction: Rafael Nadal in Two Sets.
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