Rafael Nadal vs David Goffinbarce Tennis Prediction

Their recent clay meeting came at the quarterfinal of Madrid Masters last season when David Goffin was threatening Rafael Nadal to an extent until a bad line call took away all his momentum and he eventually ended up losing 6-7 2-6.

Nadal leads the H2H 3-1, but Goffin won their recent meeting in the 2017 World Tour Finals (indoor hard). David Goffin has got the game to trouble Rafael Nadal, but it will be interesting to see if he’s got the legs to do it, especially considering he has spent nearly seven hours on court this week, compared to Nadal’s four (although he had a long week at Monte Carlo).

Rafael Nadal News

Rafael Nadal was just one point away from losing his first set on clay since the Rome Masters 2017 as he had to save set points (on return) in the second set of his semifinal match against Martin Klizan, 6-0 7-5.
Despite running away with the first set (6-0), Rafael Nadal was put to the test by the talented and hot-headed Slovakian in the second set. However, Rafael Nadal showed a lot of grit and character (yet again) to make a comeback and seal the match in straight sets.
The world #1 has now won 42 straight sets on clay (since losing to Dominic Thiem in Rome) and 26 straight sets in ATP Barcelona (since losing to Fabio Fognini in 2015). In fact, the match against Klizan was the first time he dropped more than four games in a set (on clay) since the quarterfinal of Rome Masters 2017 (lost 4-6 3-6 to Thiem).
All of Rafael Nadal’s previous 36 wins here at Barcelona have come in straight sets, with the last three-set win coming against David Ferrer in the final of 2008 edition. Although he lost two matches recently against Nicolas Almagro in 2014 and Fabio Fognini in 2015.
In his previous 14 appearances here at Barcelona, Rafael Nadal has never lost a semifinal match. The last time he lost a tour-level semifinal match was against Andy Murray in the Madrid Masters 2016.

David Goffin News

For the third time in three matches, David Goffin had to fight back from a set down to seal his progression. However, the recent two wins against Roberto Bautista Agut and Karen Khachanov were more comfortable considering he found himself a set and double break down against Marcel Granollers Pujol in the first round.
This is David Goffin’s first semifinal since injuring his eye during the semifinal of ATP Rotterdam in February 2018 when he was forced to retire trailing 3-6 1-0 (against Grigor Dimitrov).
The Belgian’s only semifinal appearance in a clay event since the start of 2016 came at Monte Carlo last season where he lost to Rafael Nadal in straight sets (next opponent).

Tennis Prediction: over 16.5 Games
Odds: 1.50