Rafael Nadal vs Dominic Thiem Tennis Prediction

Rafael Nadal leads the H2H 6-2 and seven of those eight matches ended in straight sets. Needless to say, Rafael Nadal will start as the overwhelming favorite but Dominic Thiem, playing to the best of his ability, is the most capable player of challenging Nadal on this surface.

Rafael Nadal News

Rafael Nadal extended his winning run to 14 with a straight-set win over the world #16 Diego Schwartzman in the round of 16 match that lasted nearly two hours, 6-3 6-4.
The world #1 has now won 50 consecutive sets on clay, and he did not lose more than five games in any of those 50 sets. Unusually, Rafael Nadal seems impressed with his own record, “When my career is over, these things are going to be there forever. They are big records. It’s difficult to win 50 sets in a row. But I’ve done it. Well, it’s done. It’s over. Let’s not talk about that anymore and let’s continue on what we have ahead”.
Madrid Masters is Rafael Nadal’s least successful clay tournament having won this title only five times from the previous 15 appearances. Five titles in a Masters 1000 event is a good return for anyone but not for Nadal considering he lifted his 11th Monte Carlo and Barcelona title in the recent weeks.
Only twice Nadal has lost a quarterfinal match here at the Madrid Masters, against Tomas Berdych (then ranked #11) in 2006 and David Nalbandian (then ranked #25) in 2007.
The Spaniard now takes on his toughest opponent on clay, Dominic Thiem, for the second time this season. They met four times on clay last season with Thiem winning their only quarterfinal meet in Rome and that was Nadal’s only defeat on clay in the last 16 months.

Dominic Thiem News

For the second time in two days, Dominic Thiem had to fight back from a set down to secure his progression. But he was in deep trouble against Borna Coric as he was just one game (return game) away from facing an R16 exit (trailing 2-6 4-5*).
While Rafael Nadal is the defending champion in Madrid, Dominic Thiem is defending his runner-up points this week. Making only his third appearance at the Madrid Masters last season, the Austrian defeated the likes of Grigor Dimitrov (R16, comeback win) and Pablo Cuevas before losing to Rafael Nadal in the final.
Thiem’s previous quarterfinal appearance in a Masters 1000 event ended in a straight set defeat at the hands of Rafael Nadal in Monte Carlo a few weeks back, 0-6 2-6. After that comprehensive win, Nadal said, “I’m sorry for him because he’s a good friend. It was a tough score, of course.”

Tennis Prediction: Under 19.5 Games
Odds: 1.53