The most unbalanced duel of the quarterfinals at the Australian Open will be the meeting between American Francis Tiafoe and Spaniard Rafael Nadal. Even if the Iberic is the base of the zerg, it excels on the fast surfaces because it has a style based on the speed and force of the executions. It remains to be seen if Tiafoe will be able to keep up with the rhythm dictated by Rafa.

Francis Tiafoe

He has been excellent at this tournament so far, although the Australian Open training tournament benefits did not give him much hope to reach an advanced stage here.
He is for the first time in a quarter-finals of a grand slam tournament, and the victory that he got on his day against Dimitrov confirmed the good shape he crossed.
He feels at ease or on fast surfaces because he can display his strong service, a weapon with which he has taken many games to the Bulgarian.
The solid run here has helped him climb several positions in the leaderboard, so he will be among the top 30 players from the beginning of next week.

Rafael Nadal

Main favorite at the moment, after the elimination of Roger Federer, the Iberian already has the title here, and now is looking for a new triumph.
The quarterback is an Iberian-friendly one, which has shown us in the past that it can easily outperform players with little experience.
His forehand has a lot of effect and will be hard to get back from a Tiafoe that showed signs of vulnerability and against Dimitrov.
He has not given up the set so far on this tournament and is weakly chances to do it this time.

Direct meetings

Given the age of Tiafoe, the two did not have the opportunity to meet in an official match. It will still be a new show provided by world number two, and the audience will enjoy each point.

Tennis Prediction of the Day Francis Tiafoe vs Rafael Nadal

Although Nadal serves well, not service is the weapon that counts in the duel with Tiafoe, but rather the return and defensive play.
Rafa is the best player in bottom line duels, because he is able to return even from the toughest positions.
Instead, Francis will have great difficulty in the points that will last, and I think most of Nadal’s points in the defensive will be long, because in the end the American will be wrong.
I do not see how Tiafoe could take more than 4 games per set, as he encounters a restful and motivated Nadal.

Prediction Today: Francis Tiafoe under 12.5 games

Odds: 1.60