Rafael Nadal vs Jannik Sinner: Rome Masters Head-to-Head | Prediction | Preview | H2H Stats

Second seed Rafael Nadal begins his campaign in the Rome Masters with a tough second round against the teen sensation Jannik Sinner. 

Rafael Nadal vs Jannik Sinner: Rome Masters Preview

After a straight-set drubbing against the eventual champion Alexander Zverev in the quarterfinals of the Madrid Open, Rafael Nadal would look to get off the blocks quickly. 

Rome Masters is one of the favourite tournaments for the Spaniard as he has won this ATP 1000 tournament a staggering 9 times in his illustrious career.

Jannik Sinner put up a convincing performance against the Frenchman Ugo Humbert beating him 6-2 6-4 in the first round of Rome Masters 2021. 

The Italian clinched 72% and 60% of his first and second serve points respectively. He managed to convert only 29% of his breakpoints and smashed 14 winners.

Rafael Nadal vs Jannik Sinner: Head to Head Record

Rafael Nadal leads the head to head record 1-0 against  Jannik Sinner. 

He defeated the Italian teen in straight sets in the quarterfinals of the French Open 2020.

“Here in Rome, especially for Italian players, it is like a home tournament, for me, it is one of the most beautiful tournaments that we are going to play each year, I like the conditions, Rome is a little bit later at the beginning of the clay season, so everybody gets used to the conditions," said Sinner excited to play in the highly competitive ATP-1000 Masters tournament at Rome. 

Nadal vs Sinner: Rome Masters: Live Stream and Match Timing

The 2021 Rome Masters Quarter Final match between Rafael Nadal and Jannik Sinner can be streamed live on Tennis TV YouTube channel.

Rafael Nadal vs Jannik Sinner: Rome Masters Game Analysis

After wrapping up his opening match in just 90 minutes against the 32nd ranked Humbert, Sinner would be confident of putting up a good show against the King of Clay. 

The World number 18 was dominating the long rallies (above 9 shots) and Ugo Humbert was not able to get points continuously. 

Nadal will have to introspect about what went wrong against Zverev in Madrid. 

The Spaniard struggled against the big-serving German and was caught on the wrong foot as he could not handle powerful cross-court forehands. He will target nothing less than the title in Rome ahead of defending his favourite French Open title.

Sinner is well-versed with the conditions at the Rome Masters. He has played two times with a wildcard here in 2019 and 2020 reaching the second and third round respectively. 

Rafael Nadal will look to push Jannik Sinner far behind the baseline with deep returns. Gruelling rallies can be expected between both the players as both are not big-servers and love to grind out in the heat. 

Jannik Sinner would look for a shot at history as a victory against the 20-time grand slam champion would be the Spaniard's earliest exit at the tournament since 2008 (lost in straight sets to the former World number 1 Juan Carlos Ferrero).

The Italian teen lost in the second round two times in a row in Masters tournaments (Monte Carlo and Madrid) and would look to reverse that trend here in Rome Masters. 

Rafael Nadal would start as a slight favourite against the fast-rising Jannik Sinner because of his tremendous record in Rome and the slow conditions which are very different when compared to the high altitude and windy atmosphere in Madrid. 

Rafael Nadal will triumph easily if his two-handed backhand handles the attacking angles of the Italian.

Prediction - Rafael Nadal to win in three sets against Jannik Sinner in the Second Round tie of the Rome Masters 2021.

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