ATP - Rafael Nadal v Novak Djokovic

Today we'll have an opportunity to watch the 12th clash between these two which clearly tells us that Nadal and Djokovic are one of the most in-form players and that they're playing last rounds of almost every bigger tennis tournament. H2H is 8-3 in Spaniard's favor and I think Nole will reduce that record after today's match. Of course, Djokovic's win is far from being a sure bet here, primarily because Rafa is playing in an incredibly good form and at his best, but there is still a big difference between Nadal's game on clay and his game on other surfaces. Unfortunately for Rafa the match will be played on grass so he won't be able to return all the tough shots from Nole and catch all the balls that no one else ever could. Nadal has been playing much longer matches in Queens compared to Djokovic so he is undoubtedly more tired, and as much of an athlete as he is, even Rafa will not be able to play so up-tempo for this long. A win over Karlovic after 3 TBs, then struggling against Nishikori (!) and Roddick are clearly a pointer that Nadal is slowly losing his strength which will disable him from playing his magnificent tennis and endangering Djokovic in this match.

Novak will seek revenge for the defeat from about 10 days ago and try to get his fourth win in the clashes versus the Spaniard. In Queens, just like in every other tournament he plays right after a Grand Slam, struggled in the start but after a couple of barriers he successfully went over (Tipsarevic, Karanusic), he then destroyed Hewitt leaving him just 4 games in two sets, and Nalbandian who managed to win only the first game of the match. The rest of the games was won by Djokovic. Such a monster game which was also an easy practice at the same time will surely boost Nole's confidence and help him give his maximum today, which was surely not the case in the French Open semis.

The clashes of these two are being closely followed by the world's public this year, not only because these are duels between two top players but also because every single match they play is basically a fight for the rank number 2 on the ATP list. I personally believe that if Novak beats Rafa today he'll gain a huge psychological advantage over him before Wimbledon where he'd take over the 2nd position if he beats him there too. Djokovic knows that Rafa won't be able to repeat his RG performance against him until the next clay season. He will be very motivated and IMO he possesses a bigger quality than Nadal when playing on all surfaces besides clay because Nole plays attacking tennis, which followed by his terrific serve can even be characterized as the best tennis in the world at the moment. Nadal is a big defensive player, but such tactic won't help him too much in this matchup. The odds are quite solid and worth some high stakes, I just hope that Nole won't get some problems all of the sudden, like he did when we all bet on him against Federer in the Monte Carlo semis about a month ago.

GL & enjoy the match.

Pick : Djokovic -1,5 games
Odds : 1.86
Stake : 8 / 10
Bookmaker : Pinnacle
Match Result : 2-0
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