US Open Semi Final Preview – Friday, September 6th at 11.00 pm
Rafael is the frontrunner to lift the US Open 2019 title. On Friday night in this semi final match up, he will look to secure his place in the showcase match of this year’s tournament. Nadal faces up to surprise semi-finalist Matteo Berrettini, who has defied some pretty big odds to be playing in this match.
Matteo Berrettini v Rafael Nadal Tennis Winner Odds*
Rafael Nadal 1/16
Matteo Berrettini 9/1
* (betting odds taken from bet365 on September 5th, 2019 at 7:41 pm)
Nadal looks unstoppable in the final four
Rafael Nadal took a three-set victory over Argentina’s Denis Schwartzmann in the quarter-finals to secure another US Open semi-final place. This is the third year in a row that the Spaniard has found himself at this stage. Nadal went on to lift the title in 2017 for the third time in his career but fell in last year’s final four.
With Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic gone from the draw, it looks as if it is going to be a cake-walk for Nadal to lift this year’s crown at Flushing Meadows. If he does, he would just need one more Grand Slam title to match Federer’s career haul of 20 majors. It has been just the one dropped set by Nadal in New York this year, which was in his 3-1 fourth-round win over Marin Cilic. Nadal is as short as 1/2 for a 3-0 win in set betting for this semi-final* (betting odds taken from bet365 on September 5th, 2019 at 7:41 pm)
Nadal v Berrettini Head to Head
These two players have never met before
Berrettini makes surprise semi-final appearance
Italian Matteo Berrettini is in his first career Grand Slam semi-final. The 24th seed had an epic quarter-final tussle with Gael Monfils. It went all the way to a deciding set which the Italian won on a tie break. That’s tension for you with a place in the Grand Slam semi-finals at stake. In just one of his five matches at the tournament so far has Berrettini progressed without having dropped a set.
The match against Monfils was the first time in this year’s tournament that Berrettini had lost the opening set of a match. The Italian has three ATP titles in his short career (he made his main draw debut in 2017 only) and this is just the second time that he has been in the main draw at the US Open. He did have a good run to the fourth round at Wimbledon this year, his best effort in a Slam until this Flushing Meadows campaign. Berrettini has yet to secure a career win over a top ten player.
Predictions
It should be a straight-sets victory for Nadal. Yes, his opponent does throw down some massive serves and has a big forehand hammer. But is there a better baseline defender in the ATP than Nadal? Nope. The Spaniard fights and grinds with every last drop of energy and should be able to shut down his opponent. Nadal winning margin by 8 at 11/2* (betting odds taken from bet365 on September 5th, 2019 at 7:41 pm) is our tip.
