This will be the first round of this year French Open Grand Slam between Rafael Nadal vs Egor Gerasimov in France. Naval starts defense of his title, last year in the final he defeated Dominic Them 3:1. Nadal is definitely the best player in tennis history who played on clay, however he lost against Schwartzman in Rome, last week. So this time Rafa has to make conclusions and focus on his defense. To have more insights on this Rafael Nadal vs Egor Gerasimov match, please read our preview below.
Rafael Nadal
Nadal will always be a favorite to win any clay tournament, and this time is no exception. However, this year he will have more challenges than ever. Thiem, Djokovic, Zverev, Schwartzman will be ready and motivated to steal the crown. Rafa’s huge advantage is the way he plays, he loves rallies and with each the shot he digs deeper, ultimately making an huge forehand and opponent has no chance of returning the ball. It seems like we completely different player when he plays on clay. His defense is incredible and he has amazing way of moving from defense to attack. His first opponent should not do any problems, because Rafa is just way better player, so most likely it will be Nadal’s win in straight sets.
Egor Gerasimov
Egor had a tough-luck with the draw in this an , because facing Nadal is probably the worst possible option. Gerasimov played only 3 matches on clay this year and won once. Hard to imagine how could he make any harm to Rafa, however, he comes with no pressure and sometimes such players make surprises. Nevertheless, Egors main problem is his accuracy, because if there will be a lot of rallies, he can only return the balls, and not counter-attack, which makes it too easy for the champion. Gerasimov also struggles at the net, but Rafa is not a fan of drop-shots, so this might not become a problem, nevertheless, Nadal plays excellent at the net.
Rafael Nadal vs Egor Gerasimov H2H
Both players have never faced each other before, making it a bit more interesting to watch.