After facing French Open qualifiers in his first two matches at Roland Garros, Rafael Nadal will finally get his first taste of a true test when he takes on David Goffin this coming Friday. Ranked 29th in the world and having beaten Nadal before, Goffin will look to shock the sporting world. Heading into the match, the sportsbook favors Nadal by a long mile, giving him -4000 odds to win over Goffin who is priced at +1400. Read on for a preview of this match below.
Goffin found his way into the third round of the 2019 French Open following back-to-back dominant wins in the tournament. In the first round, he whipped Ricardas Berankis, 6-0, 6-2, 6-2 then followed that up with a 6-2, 6-4, 6-3 beatdown of Miomir Kecmanovic in the second round. The 28-year-old Belgian hasn’t lost a set so far in the tournament, and though that’s unlikely to continue in his match against Nadal, he’s expected to give the reigning French Open champion a sizable test. Plus, Goffin is already familiar with Nadal’s game, having fought him four times before. Goffin won one of those matches, though, that came on a hard court showdown during the 3017 ATP World Tour Finals. Goffin had eight aces to just three by Kecmanovic in the second round, and also put 66 percent of his first serves in play. After breaking Berankis eight times in nine chances in the first round, Goffin broke Kecmanovic just seven times in 19 opportunities.
Betting on the Rafael Nadal (-4000)
Nadal had a field day crushing the competition in the first two rounds at Roland Garros, but his honeymoon with massive underdogs will come to an end this Friday when he meets Goffin. Nadal is still the huge favorite in this round, but Goffin is going to offer the Spaniard a more stringent challenge than his first two opponents. To get to the third round, Nadal sleepwalked past Yannick Maden in a 6-1, 6-2, 6-4 win in which he put 63 percent of his first serves in and won on 73 percent off of them. Nadal has complete mastery of Goffin on clay. In three matches on the surface, Nadal has not dropped a set against the Belgian. Their last meeting occurred last year in Barcelona, wherein he scored a 6-4, 6-0 victory. Nadal’s service game was on point in that match, placing a whopping 77 percent of his first serves in and breaking Goffin five times.
