Rafael Nadal to face Ruben Bemelmans: Spain vs. Belgium, Davis Cup 2011 Preview
World number 1 Rafael Nadal will take on Belgian player Ruben Bemelmans this weekend in the second match of the Spain vs. Belgium tie in the Davis Cup 2011.
Players on Spain’s Davis Cup team are champion Rafael Nadal, David Ferrer, Fernando Verdasco and Guillermo Garcia-Lopez. Three of the players on this team are ranked within the top ten of the Association of Tennis Professionals world rankings.
Nadal, as the world’s best player, is their best shot at a victory. However, players such as Ferrer (current world number 6) and world number 9 Verdasco cannot be underestimated. Garcia-Lopez is also ranked high as world number 25. With such strong players
on their team, the Spanish team is likely to thrash Belgium in this tie. In the event that Spain wins the Davis Cup, they will be securing their fifth title at the tournament.
24-year-old Nadal is undoubtedly the strongest player on the team, and the Spain’s Davis Cup team captain Albert Costa will be taking full advantage of this fact by pitching him against the lowly-ranked Bemelmans in the second rubber of the weekend.
The two players have not played against each other in any Davis Cup matches before, and have no important head-to-head records to speak of. However, they did confront each other last year at the 2010 ATP-sponsored Bangkok tournament. Rafael Nadal cruised
past his Belgian opponent in the round of the last 16 in straight sets, defeating Bemelmans 6-1, 6-4.
Nadal’s chances are further increased by the fact that Bemelmans is not even ranked in the top 100 players of the world. In addition to this, Bemelmans does not have a great track record in the ATP events. Although his success in the International Tennis
Federation and the challenger matches is nothing to be scoffed at, the fact remains that Nadal is no doubt the better player. Bemelmans’s most notable achievement was his four-set match against former top player Lleyton Hewitt, which he eventually lost in
the end.
The only problem which could have plagued Rafael Nadal in these matches is the fact that he has a tendency to succumb to his injuries, which are his worst opponent. He recently suffered a thigh injury at the Australian Open 2011, causing him to lose his
match and the chance to complete a calendar slam. However, he has insisted that he is in a great shape and said that if he was not 100 per cent, he would not have played the tournament.
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