In 2024, Nadal performed better than Raonic most of the time. He hasn’t really played that much, that’s all. To what extent can we believe a few of the games he participated in?
Considering how he recently performed against Carlos Alcaraz, most likely a lot. The question now is if he can support it against Raonic in a meaningful match because it was a very competitive battle.
Comparatively speaking:
Raonic lost eight of the ten matches he played against Nadal in prior years due to bad luck. The Canadian was having trouble keeping up with Nadal’s amazing angles and movement.
He was never a particularly good mover for his size, which is a major disadvantage when facing someone like Rafael Nadal. Raonic’s aggressive style was one of the ways he defeated Nadal.
It was precisely because of the sluggish court in Indian Wells that he managed to win there. The Canadian would frequently get shorter, higher-bouncing balls on his own serve, which he could use to win games.
He was able to unload more than on other courts in exchange, and that turned out to be the winning formula. The only issue is that the shots aren’t there, but he can still use them this time.
Milos Raonic Rafael Nadal 8 H2H 2 652 Rank 224 37 Age 33 2-1 2024 W/L 2-2 1070-221 Career W/L 379-181
Forecast:
In 2024, Nadal will have demonstrated superior tennis skills; thus, I don’t think he will fail this exam. He will have a difficult time handling the serve, but once a rally gets going, Raonic will find it difficult to keep up. He’s not even close to his best times.
Rafael Nadal is going to prevail in two sets, I predict.
