Analysis for Nadal-Safin (Montreal)

Head-to-head record 0:0

Montreal Masters got over the first round and so we went through the second round lines and chose the match between claycourt king Rafael Nadal and hotblood Marat Safin of Russia. We decided to put the smallest possible stake on Russian hero. His YTD record of 20:15 is far from being fabulous and he surely passed through much better seasons in his great tennis career. He is one of the strangest players on ATP circuit and his play and results go hand in hand with current mood and state of mind. He is capable to destroy anyone in the world (incl. unbeatable Roger), if he has one of his days. Unfortunately, he can also be defeated by lower ranked players if he is in the bad mood and we should also mention in this respect that mental condition is considered to be his weakest point. His biggest weapons are killing serve and great groundstrokes. He also improved his movement a lot which gives him better chances on slower surfaces. Even when his up-to-date record is not impressive, note, that most of his bad results come from clay or from the matches against top class opponents. His latest results are as erratic as his whole career. He defeated Guccione (2:1) and Bastl (2:0) in LA to be defeated by HT Lee (2:1) in the third round. He had bye in the first round of Washington last week, defeated Hernych in second (2:0) and in-form playing Haase in third (2:1) and was beaten by Monfils (2:0). We think his form is getting better before US Open and we are looking forward to his further performances. Rafa´s current form is a kind of mystery for us. After the final appearance at Wimbledon he won claycourt tournament in Stuttgart but haven´t play a single match since that time. It would be wasting of time to talk about Nadal´s abilities and great movement but even when we are aware of his skills, we think that Spaniard is a bit overvalued in this match.