Hubert Hurkacz and Rafael Nadal meet Saturday in the 2024 Italian Open tennis second round. Here’s a Hubert Hurkacz vs Rafael Nadal Prediction.
Hubert Hurkacz Betting Preview
Hubert Hurkacz will make his Italian Open debut this year after winning a couple of matches in Madrid. Hurkacz enters this event after winning 8 of his last 10 matches overall, and that includes a title in Estoril. While the form is good currently, Hurkacz has a 33 percent winning percentage in Rome, which is easily his lowest percentage of any of the Masters 1000 tournaments. Hurkacz is 2-4 for his career at the Italian Open and has been bounced in the first round in 2 of the last 3 years. It will be interesting to see if Hurkacz can right the ship now that he’s at the top of his game and currently a top-10 player in the world. Hurkacz has won 8 of his last 10 matches on clay court.
Rafael Nadal Betting Preview
Rafael Nadal is coming off a 3 set win over Zizou Bergs that took 29 games to decide. In the victory, Nadal won 76 percent of his first serve points and 67 percent of his second serve points. Nadal won 66 percent of his total service points and converted on 3 of his 7 break points. Nadal struggled with his serve, and it cost him the first set, but he buckled down in the final set and prevailed in a match that lasted nearly 3 hours. The day off should help Nadal recover, and his ability to take his game to another level when needed is still there. Nadal is a 10-time winner of the Italian Open and hasn’t lost in the second round of this tournament since 2008. Nadal has won 5 of his last 7 matches on clay court.
Hubert Hurkacz vs Rafael Nadal H2H
Surprisingly, there’s no match history between Hurkacz and Nadal.
Hubert Hurkacz vs Rafael Nadal Prediction
Hurkacz is getting the benefit of the doubt because he’s in better form overall and has had the better, more consistent season. While Nadal has battled injuries and fallen off a cliff in the rankings, Hurkacz is a top-10 player and just won the Estoril Open last month. With all that said, we’re getting Nadal at plus money on clay, which almost never happens. Nadal has mentioned that he feels good heading into this tournament and while he had issues with his serve at times, he was moving well and hitting with pace. Nadal is a 10 time winner of the Italian Open, and we know that fighting spirit is still there. I can’t pass up Nadal as an underdog on clay. It’s really just that simple.
