Rafael Nadal and Alexei Popyrin will fight against each other in the 3rd round of the Mutua Madrid Open for the 1st time in their career. They are scheduled to play on Thursday at 3:00 pm on MANOLO SANTANA STADIUM. Here you can find the head to head analysis and the prediction.
Prediction, odds and live streaming
The pick for Tennis Tonic is Rafael Nadal who should win in 2 sets.
As per the initial odds, Rafael Nadal is the pick to win this match.
Rafael Nadal -> 1.073
Alexei Popyrin -> 10
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Prediction and head to head Rafael Nadal vs. Alexei Popyrin
There is no head to head record between Rafael Nadal and Alexei Popyrin since this will be the first time that they will face off in the main tour.
Rafael Nadal
Ranked no. 2, Rafael got to the 3rd round after beating Carlos Alcaraz Garfia 6-1 6-2.
In the 2nd round, The Spaniard had a good straight sets win against Alcaraz Garfia (6-1 6-2). During the match Nadal scored 56 points vs Alcaraz Garfia’s 27. Nadal was extremely aggressive to blast 21 winners.
Regarding the service games, Nadal scored just 1 ace during the match and he committed only 3 double faults. Overall, Rafael Nadal was extremely efficient on serve to win 81% (21/26) of his 1st serve and 58% (11/19) on the second serve. However, this didn’t prevent his to concede the serve once. Rafael broke Alcaraz Garfia 5 times after converting 71% of his break points (5/7).
Nadal has a great match record in the last 10 years having won 84% of his matches (475-90). 8-1 on clay in 2021. Regarding his performance on the same surface of this tournament, Nadal has a 222-23 record in the last years on clay.
His best result of the year was conquering the title in in Barcelona where he overcame Stefanos Tsitsipas in the final 6-4 6-7(6) 7-5.
Rafael has a 12-2 win-loss record in 2021, 8-1 on clay (See FULL STATS).
Previously in Madrid
Previously, he won this tournament 5 times in 2005, 2010, 2013, 2014 and 2017. See his history.
Alexei Popyrin
Ranked no. 76 (career high), Popyrin got to the 3rd round after beating Federico Coria 6-74 6-4 6-3, Arthur Cazaux 7-5 7-60, Jan-Lennard Struff 6-3 7-64 and Jannik Sinner 7-65 6-2.
In the 2nd round, The Australian had a good straight sets win against Sinner (7-65 6-2). During the match Popyrin scored 76 points vs Sinner’s 65. Alexei was quite aggressive to blast 33 winners.
Talking about serving, Popyrin made 8 aces and he committed only 1 double fault for the entire match. Alexei Popyrin lost the serve twice and he saved 3 break points. Furthermore, Popyrin put 59% of his first serves in, winning 75% (33/44) of the points behind his 1st serve and 40% (12/30) on the 2nd serve. Alexei broke Sinner 4 times after converting 67% of his break points (4/6).
Overall Performance in this tournament
Alexei started his run at this tournament from the qualifications. In the main draw, he has conceded 1 set in the tournament to win 52% of the points he played.
His best result of the current year was conquering the title in in Singapore where he overcame Alexander Bublik in the final 4-6 6-0 6-2.
Alexei has a 19-7 win-loss record in 2021, 8-3 on clay (See FULL STATS).
H2H Performance in the tournament (main draw)
Matches, sets, games and points
| Points | Nadal | Popyrin |
|---|---|---|
| Match played | 1 | 4 |
| Tot Set | 2 | 9 |
| Tot Games | 15 | 100 |
| Pts | 56-27 | 338-311 |
| Total Points | 83 | 649 |
| Winners | 21 | 157 |
| %Winners | 38% | 46% |
Nadal played 1 match while Popyrin competed in 4 matches. Popyrin started his run from the qualifications while Nadal had a direct access to the main draw. At the moment, Alexei Popyrin dropped 1 set while Rafael Nadal hasn’t dropped a set so far. Nadal has played 7 set(s) less than Popyrin (2 vs 9). Therefore, Nadal played 85 games less than Popyrin. Rafael scored 21 winners (38% of the total points). On the other side, Alexei made 157 winners (46%).
Serve Performance
| Serve | Nadal | Popyrin |
|---|---|---|
| Aces | 1 | 32 |
| Avg per match | 1 | 8 |
| 1st in | 26/45 | 210/343 |
| %1st in | 58% | 61% |
| 1st pts | 21/26 | 157/210 |
| %1st pts | 81% | 75% |
| 2nd pts | 11/19 | 65/133 |
| %2nd pts | 58% | 49% |
Nadal scored 1 ace . Popyrin also made 32 aces (8 per match). Nadal won 81% points behind his first serve. He quite strong on his second serve to win 58% of the points. On the other side, Popyrin won 75% of the points behind his first serve. He had a solid display on his second serve to win 49% of the points.
How they played the important points
| Breaks | Nadal | Popyrin |
|---|---|---|
| Won | 5 | 13 |
| Converted | 5/7 | 13/28 |
| % Converted | 71% | 46% |
| Conceded | 3 | 25 |
| Saved | 2 | 19 |
| % Saved | 67% | 76% |
| Times Broken | 1 | 6 |
The Spaniard broke his opponent 5 times with a 71% conversion rate. Nadal dropped his serve once and he saved 67% of the break points that he conceded. Popyrin broke his opponents 13 times with a 46% conversion rate. Popyrin conceded his serve 6 times and he saved 76% of the break points that he conceded.
| Nadal | |||
| R2 Alcaraz |
Total | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Score | 6-1 6-2 | ||
| Tot Set | 2 | 2 | |
| Tot Games | 15 | 15 | |
| pts | 56-27 | 56-27 | |
| Total points | 83 | 83 | |
| Winners | 21 | 21 | |
| %Winners | 38% | 38% | |
| SERVE | |||
| Aces | 1 | 1 | |
| Double Faults | 3 | 3 | |
| 1st in | 26/45 | 26/45 | |
| % 1st in | 58% | 58% | |
| 1st pts | 21/26 | 21/26 | |
| % 1st pts | 81% | 81% | |
| 2nd pts | 11/19 | 11/19 | |
| % 2nd pts | 58% | 58% | |
| Breaks | |||
| Won | 5 | 5 | |
| Converted | 5/7 | 5/7 | |
| Converted % | 71% | 71% | |
| Conceded | 3 | 3 | |
| Saved | 2/3 | 2 | |
| Saved % | 67% | 67% | |
| Times Broken | 1 | 1 | |
| Popyrin | ||||||
| Q1 Coria |
Q3 Cazaux |
R1 Struff |
R2 Sinner |
Total | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Score | 6-74 6-4 6-3 | 7-5 7-60 | 6-3 7-64 | 7-65 6-2 | ||
| Tot Set | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 9 | |
| Tot Games | 32 | 25 | 22 | 21 | 100 | |
| pts | 103-104 | 79-72 | 80-70 | 76-65 | 338-311 | |
| Total points | 207 | 151 | 150 | 141 | 649 | |
| Winners | 55 | 34 | 35 | 33 | 157 | |
| %Winners | 53% | 43% | 44% | 43% | 46% | |
| SERVE | ||||||
| Aces | 6 | 4 | 14 | 8 | 32 | |
| Double Faults | 5 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 11 | |
| 1st in | 73/116 | 44/74 | 49/79 | 44/74 | 210/343 | |
| % 1st in | 63% | 59% | 62% | 59% | 61% | |
| 1st pts | 55/73 | 34/44 | 35/49 | 33/44 | 157/210 | |
| % 1st pts | 75% | 77% | 71% | 75% | 75% | |
| 2nd pts | 19/43 | 18/30 | 16/30 | 12/30 | 65/133 | |
| % 2nd pts | 44% | 60% | 53% | 40% | 49% | |
| Breaks | ||||||
| Won | 4 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 13 | |
| Converted | 4/9 | 2/7 | 3/6 | 4/6 | 13/28 | |
| Converted % | 44% | 29% | 50% | 67% | 46% | |
| Conceded | 12 | 1 | 7 | 5 | 25 | |
| Saved | 11/12 | 0/1 | 5/7 | 3/5 | 19 | |
| Saved % | 92% | 0% | 71% | 60% | 223% | |
| Times Broken | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 6 | |
Head 2 Head
LWLWWWWLLW
LWLWWLLWWW Tennis Scores in Madrid
- Stefanos TsitsipasTsitsipas – Benoit PairePaire (6-1 6-2) – See score progression
- Daniil MedvedevMedvedev – Alejandro Davidovich FokinaDavidovich Fokina (4-6 6-4 6-2) – See score progression
- John IsnerIsner – Roberto Bautista AgutBautista Agut (6-4 6-74 7-66) – See score progression
- Aslan KaratsevKaratsev – Diego Sebastian SchwartzmanSebastian Schwartzman (2-6 6-4 6-1) – See score progression
- Alexei PopyrinPopyrin – Jannik SinnerSinner (7-65 6-2) – See score progression
- Rafael NadalNadal – Carlos Alcaraz GarfiaAlcaraz Garfia (6-1 6-2) – See score progression
- Federico DelbonisDelbonis – Albert Ramos-VinolasRamos-Vinolas (7-65 6-3) – See score progression
- Christian GarinGarin – Dominik KoepferKoepfer (6-3 6-4) – See score progression
- Casper RuudRuud – Yoshihito NishiokaNishioka (6-1 6-2) – See score progression
- Daniel EvansEvans – John MillmanMillman (6-75 6-2 6-3) – See score progression
- Alexander ZverevZverev – Kei NishikoriNishikori (6-3 6-2) – See score progression
- Alex De MinaurDe Minaur – Lloyd HarrisHarris (6-2 3-0 ret.) – See score progression
- Alexander BublikBublik – Denis ShapovalovShapovalov (6-4 5-7 6-4) – See score progression
- Matteo BerrettiniBerrettini – Fabio FogniniFognini (6-3 6-4) – See score progression
- Dominic ThiemThiem – Marcos GironGiron (6-1 6-3) – See score progression
- Andrey RublevRublev – Tommy PaulPaul (6-75 6-3 6-4) – See score progression
- Rafael NadalNadal – Carlos Alcaraz GarfiaAlcaraz Garfia (6-1 6-2) – See score progression
- Alexei PopyrinPopyrin – Jannik SinnerSinner (7-6(5) 6-2) – See score progression
- John IsnerIsner – Roberto Bautista AgutBautista Agut (6-4 6-7(4) 7-6(6)) – See score progression
- Casper RuudRuud – Yoshihito NishiokaNishioka (6-1 6-2) – See score progression
- Stefanos TsitsipasTsitsipas – Benoit PairePaire (6-1 6-2) – See score progression
Upcoming matches in the draw
- Rafael NadalNadal – Alexei PopyrinPopyrin (0-0) – H2H and prediction
- John IsnerIsner – Andrey RublevRublev (1-0) – H2H and prediction
- Daniel EvansEvans – Alexander ZverevZverev (1-0) – H2H and prediction
- Aslan KaratsevKaratsev – Alexander BublikBublik (0-0) – H2H and prediction
- Dominic ThiemThiem – Alex De MinaurDe Minaur (3-0) – H2H and prediction
- Christian GarinGarin – Daniil MedvedevMedvedev (0-1) – H2H and prediction
- Matteo BerrettiniBerrettini – Federico DelbonisDelbonis (0-0) – H2H and prediction
- Casper RuudRuud – Stefanos TsitsipasTsitsipas (0-1) – H2H and prediction
