Internazionali BNL d’Italia: Rafael Nadal vs. Richard Gasquet – Semi-final Preview
All eyes are fixed upon the highly anticipated semi-final of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia, where world number one Rafael Nadal will take on the surprise competitor, Richard Gasquet of France in Rome, Italy on Saturday. The most
awaited battle will take place at the Foro Italico as the merciless Spaniard takes on the world number 16 Gasquet for a place in the final of the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) World Tour 1000 tournament.
‘King of Clay’, Nadal is no doubt the most lethal opponent on clay court and is regarded to be the hot favourite for taking the championship title at Rome. The reigning world number one has been in blistering form this season but
his success has been hampered at times by the second ranked Novak Djokovic. The Serbian ended the 33-match clay court winning streak of Rafa last Sunday by defeating him at Mutua Madrid Open. The agonised Spaniard is off to construct yet another winning streak
from Rome and his performance in the initial rounds clearly depict his intentions.
The 24-year-old Spaniard blew away Marin Cilic of Croatia in straight sets 6-1, 6-3, in the quarter-final matchup to enter the round of four at Internazionali BNL d’Italia. His French opponent is having a dream run at Rome, as
he defeated two of the Top-10 players en route to semi-final. Gasquet first shocked the tennis fans when he outplayed the world number three, Roger Federer, in a three-set thriller in the third round of the competition. He continued to surprise everyone by
defeating the world number seven Tomas Berdych of Czech Republic 4-6, 6-2, 6-4, in the quarter-final clash to meet Nadal in the semis.
The two men have faced each other on eight prior occasions and the Spaniard has proved his dominance over Gasquet on all occurrences to lead the head-to-head series by 8-0. Their last meeting was held at Monte-Carlo Masters this
year, where Rafa disposed off the Frenchman in straight sets to advance to the quarter-finals of the event. The Spaniard has defeated Gasquet four times on clay surface and will certainly hope to replicate his past feats this time round at Rome as well.
Gasquet’s run at Rome creates lots of speculations about how the 16th seeded French will perform against the top ranked player in the world. No doubt it is an achievement of sorts to take down Rafa on his favourite surface
but the last two surprise victories for Gasquet have put him on even terms against the top seed. The French will be very confident to face Rafa after defeating the Swiss Maestro, Federer, in the third round of the tournament.
Nadal has recently won two consecutive clay-court tournaments, at Monte-Carlo and Barcelona, giving him the extra advantage over the Frenchmen. No doubt Gasquet is having one of his best tournament runs but the pressure of competing
against the world’s best player is always very taxing. No matter which player wins the contest, one thing is for sure that the competition will be an absolute treat to watch for tennis fans.
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