Tennis fans in Barcelona will be blessed on Thursday as they will have the opportunity to see in action the likes of Rafael Nadal, Stefanos Tsitsipas, and Felix Auger-Aliassime.
Nadal vs. Ferrer
Head to head 25-6 for Nadal (stats)
Rafael Nadal will face in the 3rd round David Ferrer that is competing for the last time in his career in Barcelona as he is about to retire. The King of Clay is not having the best start of his season on the dirt after he lost in the semifinal in Monte Carlo and he had a rather unconvincing start of his campaign in Barcelona where he defeated the world no.63 Leonardo Mayer 6-7 (7) 6-4 6-2.
Ranked no.155, even if the Spaniard is about to retire he is playing fantastic tennis. David dismissed Mischa Zverev and Lucas Pouille in straight sets (6-3 6-1) in the first 2 rounds.
They are going to play as the 3rd match of the day. The estimated start is 2.30pm.
Tsitsipas vs. Struff
Head to head 1-0 for Tsitsipas (stats)
Like many players, Stefanos Tsitsipas is struggling after he achieved a significant milestone. The Greek broke in the top10 after reaching the final in Dubai, but from that moment he recorded a 4-4 win-loss record. However, the Greek impressed in his opening match in Barcelona after beating Marton Fucsovic 6-3 6-4.
Ranked no.51, Jan-Lennard Struff is having a good run in Barcelona where he reached the 3rd round without dropping a single set after beating Hugo Dellien 6-3 6-1 and David Goffin 7-6 (6) 6-3.
Stefanos and Jan-Lennard played only once, and that was in the 2nd round in Sofia where the Greek won 7-6 (5) 6-4.
They are going to play as the 4th match of the day. The estimated start is 4.30pm.
Auger Aliassime vs. Nishikori
Head to head: first time playing
Auger Aliassime is projected to break in the top30 at the end of this week. The 18-year-old has been registering a good run on clay this season after he reached the final in Rio de Janeiro. Felix lost in the 2nd round in Monte Carlo to Sascha Zverev 6-1 6-4, but he started well in Barcelona where he won his opening match against Malek Jaziri 6-3 7-6 (7) after saving 3 set points in the second set.
Ranked no.7, the Japanese won the title in Barcelona in 2014 and 2015. Nishikori started the new season in the best possible way with a title in Brisbane. However, things began to go south for him after he reached the semifinal in Rotterdam. From that moment Kei won only 3 of 8 matches.
They are going to play as the 1st match of the day at 11 am.
