ATP Shanghai Rolex Masters, 11:00 – Nadal v Raonic
Nadal leads their previous meetings 5-1. The most recent was in March this year. It was on a hard court and Raonic won in 3 sets.
Nadal had a very tight 3 set win over Karlovic in the last round. He was broken just once. He does seem to be improving
Raonic beat Bautista Agut in a 3rd set tie break in his last match. He was also broken just once. The faster courts this week won’t do Raonic’s serve any harm.
We should see at least 1 tie break in this one and I give a slight edge to Nadal.
Try for Nadal at 1.80 . We can get that price without a break of serve.
WTA Generali Ladies Linz, 14:30 – Barthel v Krunic
Barthel has never been beyond the 2nd round in Linz. Her record indoors isn’t bad though.
Krunic beat Vinci in the last round in 3 sets. Vinci isn’t usually too successful indoors but that is still a good win. Krunic also had 2 wins as underdog in the qualifying rounds.
This is a tough one to call. Krunic can fool you into thinking she is in great form and then flops in the next one. We should see a few breaks in this match.
Lay whoever breaks first. 3 sets won’t surprise me. I have to give the edge to Barthel.