The ATP Melbourne Summer Set is all set for a blockbuster finish. Top seed and 20 time Grand Slam champion takes on the highly entertaining qualifier Maxime Cressy. The finale promises to be a high octane affair and as ever, we here at LWOT are offering our preview and prediction. But who will come out on top?
ATP Melbourne Summer Set Final Prediction
Rafael Nadal vs Maxime Cressy
Head-to-head: first meeting
Cressy has had a superb week. The qualifier from USA has showcased his serve and volleying game to entertain everybody and the strategy has paid dividends on the slightly quicker courts at the ATP Melbourne Summer Set. The American has an in your face game style and seldom gives his opponents the chance to settle. It is high risk, high reward, and this week that has paid off handsomely. He’s into his first tour-level final and, with nothing to lose, he should be able to swing freely.
That being said, having nerves is totally understandable especially when you face one of the greats of the game. Nadal played a decent match against Emil Ruusuvuori and while he did fail to serve it out in the second set, the Spaniard employed a high percentage tennis style to get the job done. Nadal may find himself on the back foot more than he’ll like against Cressy, but the American is bound to also feel the heat as the Spaniard is extremely adept at passing shots from anywhere in the court.
Grigor Dimitrov failed to break Cressy’s serve, but Nadal is going to make a lot of returns made off the backhand, particularly compared with Dimitrov who struggles with that shot. It’ll be interesting to see how Cressy handles the pressure situations and it’s absolutely critical for the American to pounce if Nadal starts slow. Expect Cressy to grab a set because his serving has been sublime this week but as Nadal settles and starts to read the serve, the Spaniard has enough experience of dealing with big servers.
Prediction: Nadal in 3
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