Flavio Cobolli vs Rafael Nadal Prediction & Betting Tips - ATP Barcelona

Prediction published on 14/04/2024, 09:15  by Steve Ashfield | Modified on 16/04/2024 at 02:40 in Tennis Predictions

It's not often we tip a player ranked outside the top 600 to win an ATP Tour match. However, this player is a certain Rafael Nadal who takes on unseeded Fabio Cobolli in round one of the Barcelona Open. The winner of this match faces fourth seeded Alex de Minaur in round two. Nadal is playing only his fourth match of the year and got into this outdoor clay court event via a protected ranking. The 37-year-old played in Brisbane this January and won two matches before losing to Jordan Thompson in three sets. Injury hit him again and this is his first tournament since then. It's actually the first time he's played outside of Australia since November 2022. Barcelona is a tournament he knows very well as he's an eight-time champion here, last winning in 2021. He'll want to get some matches under his belt and most importantly stay fit. That way he'll be able to play at Roland Garros for most likely the last time.

Fabio Cobolli is 62nd in the live rankings and 41st in the ATP Race. He's reached two quarterfinals this year, both on hard courts. His form on clay isn't that high and he's lost his last two matches on the surface. Pavel Kotov beat him in Marrakech and then Sumit Nagal in last week's Monte Carlo Masters. Both matches were lost in straight sets and he's won only one of his last three matches on this surface. While Nadal is the King of Roland Garros, Cobolli is yet to get past round one there. We tip Nadal to make a winning comeback.