Rafael Nadal vs Stefanos Tsitsipas Prediction & Betting Tips - ATP Finals

Prediction published on 18/11/2020, 10:13  by Steve Ashfield | Modified on 18/11/2020 at 11:13 in Tennis Predictions

The round-robin groups in the ATP Tour Finals can often need a bit of calculation. Sometimes a player needs to win by two sets or dropping just a certain number of games to qualify for the last four. That's not the case in the London 2020 group. Dominic Thiem has already won the group after two wins, so the simple scenario is that whoever wins between Rafael Nadal and Stefanos Tsitsipas will go into the last four. Rafael Nadal has never won this tournament, he does tend to struggle at this time of the year either due to fatigue, injury or both. It's not been such a hectic season this year of course but he still lost in the recent Paris Masters, another tournament he's never won. His first match in this tournament went well with a straight sets victory over Andrey Rublev (now eliminated after also losing his second match). Then on Tuesday, Nadal lost to Dominic Thiem losing in two sets, both requiring tie-breaks.  Despite the loss, Nadal thought he played well and will be looking to bounce back with a win here. As group runner-up though, he could end up facing Novak Djokovic for a place in the final.

Stefanos Tsitsipas is the defending champion but has to beat Nadal to stay in the tournament. His defence of this title didn't get off to a great start when losing to Dominic Thiem in three sets. The pressure was on when facing Andrey Rublev on Tuesday and he got off to a great start winning the first set 6-1. However, he lost the second but fought back to take the third on a tie-break. His form has dipped a bit since reaching the last four of the French Open. He lost in the last sixteen in Vienna and then in his first match in the Paris Masters. He has only won one of his six previous matches against Rafael Nadal, a win on clay in 2019. Nadal was close to getting a win over Thiem, he won't make a mistake this time and can beat Tsitsipas.