Thursday Preview: Nadal & Wawrinka Renew Their Rivalry In Paris

A treasured rivalry will get its latest chapter on Thursday at the Rolex Paris Masters when second seed Rafael Nadal meets No. 16 seed Stan Wawrinka as part of a stacked third-round lineup. Nadal looks to remain on course for his first title at the AccorHotels Arena, which would also clinch the year-end No. 1 ATP Ranking for him.

“I’m very happy to be able to compete again at a good level,” Nadal said. “Tomorrow is another day, another tough match against Stan. Every day in this tournament is so difficult, so let’s see if I’m able to play another good match.”

Nadal holds a convincing 18-3 lead over Wawrinka in their Fedex ATP Head2Head rivalry and has won their past five matches, all in straight sets. The Spaniard is on a 12-match winning streak and exuding confidence in his game, continually finding ways to step up in the crucial moments of a set.

But Nadal knows he can’t rely on his past success against Wawrinka for their latest clash. Wawrinka’s most recent victory over his rival came at this event four years ago. The Swiss has also been in top form lately, prevailing in 11 of his past 13 matches since the start of the US Open.

After competing against each other for more than a decade on the world’s biggest stages, there will be no secrets when they meet on Court Central. Their game plans will likely remain similar to their other 21 matches, but it will come down to who can execute them most effectively.

“I do not want him to play his game, which means I need to make sure I don’t let him be in a position where he can hit hard,” Nadal said before the 2017 Roland Garros final, their most recent meeting in Paris. “I will have to do everything I can to keep him from playing aggressively. If I can play long balls, if I can hit hard… I think I will be hopefully able to control him. Easy to say, but it may not be that easy to do.”

The match is also a must-win for Wawrinka if he wants to return to the season-ending Nitto ATP Finals, held at The O2 in London from 10-17 November. The Swiss needs to take the title in Paris in order to have a shot at grabbing the last remaining qualifying spot.

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Top seed Novak Djokovic continues his quest for a fifth Paris title against Brit Kyle Edmund. The Serbian leads their FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry 4-1. Djokovic needs a big week in Paris in order to keep his hopes alive for a sixth year-end No. 1 finish. He trails Nadal by 1,280 points in the ATP Race to London, which acts as a barometer for who will finish the year at No. 1, but can close the gap significantly with the 1,000 points on offer for the winner this week.

“I understand that I need to play better and feel better to have a chance to go far in this tournament and, as a result of that, to have a chance to still be in the battle for No. 1,” Djokovic said. “But, again, it doesn’t depend only on me. It depends on [Nadal]. But my focus is on me.”

Two other London hopefuls are also in action on Thursday. Frenchman Gael Monfils, the No. 13 seed, squares off with Moldovan Radu Albot. Monfils will return to The O2 if he can reach the final this week. Aussie Alex de Minaur takes on seventh-seeded Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas in an all-#NextGenATP battle. De Minaur must take the title in Paris in order to have a shot at qualifying.

Who will win the latest @FedEx ATP Head2Head match between these players?#RolexParisMasters

— ATP Tour (@atptour) October 31, 2019

Other notable matches on Thursday include sixth-seeded German Alexander Zverev, who clinched the seventh qualifying spot for London, battling #NextGenATP Canadian Denis Shapovalov. Fifth-seeded Austrian Dominic Thiem looks to get ahead in his FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry with Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov, which is currently tied 2-2.

ORDER OF PLAY – THURSDAY 31 October 2019
COURT CENTRAL start 11:00 am
[Q] Jeremy Chardy vs Cristian Garin (CHI)
[5] Dominic Thiem vs Grigor Dimitrov
[1] Novak Djokovic (SRB) vs Kyle Edmund (GBR)

Not Before 5:00 pm
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA) vs Jan-Lennard Struff (GER)

Not Before 7:30 pm
[2] Rafael Nadal (ESP) vs [16] Stan Wawrinka (SUI)
[13] Gael Monfils (FRA) vs Radu Albot (MDA)

Court 1 start 11:00 am
Karen Khachanov (RUS) / Andrey Rublev (RUS) vs Marcus Daniell (NZL) / Philipp Oswald (AUT)
[8] Ivan Dodig/Filip Polasek vs Jurgen Melzer (AUT) / Edouard Roger-Vasselin (FRA)
[7] Stefanos Tsitsipas vs Alex de Minaur (AUS)
[6] Alexander Zverev (GER) vs Denis Shapovalov (CAN)
Maximo Gonzalez (ARG) / Austin Krajicek (USA) vs Rohan Bopanna (IND) / Denis Shapovalov (CAN)

Click here to view the rest of Thursday’s schedule