Australian Open Prediction: Khachanov vs Nadal

When: Friday, January 21, 2022
Where: Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia

The Australian Open has started, and tennis fans across the world are enjoying it, finally. The saga surrounding Novak Djokovic has ended, and may we add, it took a lot of energy from us who just wanted to see some tennis. Our first preview covers the clash between Karen Khachanov and Rafael Nadal, one of the top favorites for winning this tournament. The Spaniard is the former title-holder here and seeks another Grand Slam title to break the tie with Djokovic and Federer, who also have 20 GS trophies. On the other side, Khachanov seeks to revive his career here, as he failed to meet the projections made a few years ago.

Khachanov vs Nadal Preview

Karen Khachanov

The 25-year old Russian was a massive talent a few years ago. Many have predicted him a Grand Slam title, but somewhere along the road, Khachanov just disappeared. He won the Paris Masters in 2018, beating Djokovic in the finals, and after that went under the radar. However, he returned at the Tokyo Olympics, taking the silver, reminding everyone that he can’t be underestimated.

Khachanov came to Australia early, and he had already played in two tournaments before the Aussie Open. The Russian reached the finals at the Adelaide International 1, losing to Gael Monfils in straight sets. After that, Khachanov entered the quarterfinals of the second tournament in this city, where he failed before Arthur Rinderknech.

Khachanov opened the Australian Open with a win against Denis Kudla, losing the opening set, but swiftly coming back. He had an easy task afterward, vs. Benjamin Bonzi, whom he allowed only nine games. He had 36 aces in these two events combined and around 70% of the successful first serve.

Rafael Nadal

Rafa was in the mix with all sorts of questions regarding Novak and his situation these days, which infuriated the Spanish champion a little bit. He wanted to speak only about tennis and warned the media that he wouldn’t talk too much on this subject again.

Nadal won one of the tournaments played in Adelaide, showing solid performances on this surface. He was better than Bernakis, Griekspoor (walk-off), Ruusuvuori, and at last, Maxime Cressy in the finals. These aren’t some high-profile guys in the tennis world, but still, they have to be respected, no question about that.

Rafa was very confident in his opening two events in Melbourne. In the first round, Nadal beat Marcos Giron in straight sets, allowing seven games to the rival. Yannick Hanfmann won two more, but he couldn’t escape a three-set defeat.

Khachanov vs Nadal Head to Head

These two guys have met seven times so far, and on each occasion, Nadal came out as the winner. The most recent meeting was at the Mubadala World Tennis Championship in 2019, once Rafa smashed his rival, 6-1, 6-3 in the competition’s semis.

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Khachanov vs Nadal Prediction

Nadal is the favorite in this meeting which is the logical thing. We don’t think that the Spaniard will record such confident wins as in the opening two rounds, yet his win is very sure.

Our verdict: Nadal Wins

Khachanov vs Nadal Odds