Rafael Nadal vs Roger Federer – Betting Tips and Wimbledon Preview

This is one of the biggest and most exciting rivalries in the world of sport. Two guys who have the most Grand Slam trophies in the history of tennis are meeting at the greatest tournament in the world – Wimbledon. This is Federer’s territory, the place where he won 8 titles, unlike Nadal, who has just one. But it is the venue of one of Rafa’s biggest wins against this rival. All true tennis fans remember 2008, and the match which went into five sets and lasted for 4 hours and 50 minutes.

The sole set Nadal lost in this tournament was against Nick Kyrgios in the second round. All other wins came in straight sets. His rivals were decent grass players, like Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Sam Querrey and Kygrios himself. Rafa also eliminated Sugita from Japan and Sousa from Portugal. What is the interesting thing is that he lost his serve only four times since the start of the tournament, which is something highly uncharacteristic for him on grass surfaces. Many believed to see him struggling against Querrey, but apart from the first set which he won after a tie-break, he dismantled the big server very quickly.

When Federer lost the first set against Kei Nishikori, the majority of the spectators didn’t trust in his comeback. It is a widely spread belief that FedEx can’t play long matches, and that he needs to finish the clash in straight sets. But the 37-year old proved them wrong, beating the Japanese very confidently. His serve is working perfectly so far, and he is the only player better than Nadal when looking at the number of lost services – 3. That first set lost against Nishikori is the only one he lost. Except for him and Lucas Pouille, FedEx didn’t have such a demanding draw up to this point. Berrettini, Clarke, and Harris from South Africa are not the types of players who can do any harm on this surface. Also, to add that Swiss has 10 straight wins on the grass right now and that before Wimbledon he won the tournament in Halle.

News

Federer and Nadal played three times at Wimbledon, and all three matches were the finals. Twice it was Roger who won in 2006 and 2007, while Rafa has a victory from 2008. When looking at the overall head-to-head record, the Spaniard is much better with 24 triumphs compared to Federer’s 15. Though, the last time these two met at one Grand Slam finals, at Australia Open in 2017, Federer won. The most recent clash was in the semis of Roland Garros, where Nadal trashed the Swiss with 3-0.

Prediction

Though the bookies see Federer as the slight underdog in this one, we can’t agree about that. Yes, Rafa is in excellent shape, and he hasn’t played like this on faster surfaces for a long time, but underestimating Federer whose serve is at the highest possible level wouldn’t be wise. But in order to secure our suggestion and decrease the risk to the slightest possible measure, we will pick Roger Federer to win with an Asian Handicap +4. The odds are Marathon Bet are solid for that one @ 8/15.

Also, having in mind that both players protect their serve extremely well, we predict at least one tie-break in this match.