The ‘King of Clay’ is all set to return to his favorite surface after almost 682 days! Rafael Nadal missed the entire clay court swing last year due to an injury. He’s now all set to take on the Italian challenger, Flavio Cobolli in the first round of the Barcelona Open at the Pista Rafa Nadal tennis court in Barcelona. Can the 21-year-old Italian trouble the 37-year-old tennis legend at his own den?

After missing out almost a year with injuries, Nadal returned to competitive tennis this year at the Brisbane International. But unfortunately for the Spaniard, he couldn’t play much after that due to a persistent hip problem. However, the fans got the chance to witness the tennis star in action for a while during his brief return to play Carlos Alcaraz in March for a one-off Netflix special. Flavio Cobolli on the other hand, had a decent start to his season. He’ll now look forward to putting his name on the headlines after defeating the 22-time Grand Slam champion.

Rafael Nadal vs Flavio Cobolli: Preview

Rafael Nadal first played in this tournament in 2003 season. 21 years have passed since then and he has managed to clinch 12 titles from the Barcelona Open so far in his career. How does he feel about making a comeback at one of his favorite venues? Well, Nadal is he’s just trying to “enjoy every moment” and it definitely means a lot to him to play “one more time” here in Barcelona. If we look at his record for this season, Rafael Nadal has managed to play only 3 matches so far this season.

He first took on the former world no.3 Dominic Thiem in his first match on his comeback at the Brisbane event. He defeated the Austrian by 7-5,6-1. After that, he took on Australia’s Jason Kubler in the R16. Nadal clinched a comfortable victory to move into the QF of the Brisbane International. But the comeback journey was cut short by another Australian in the QF. Jordan Thompson defeated the Spaniard by 5-7,7-6(6),6-3.

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In that match, Nadal managed to hit 7 aces and committed only 2 double faults. His win percentage on the first serve was 73% compared to 52% on his second serve. In the 2024 season, Rafael Nadal has managed to hit 14 aces so far and has won 94% of his service games. So, clearly serves are going to be a big deciding factor in the outcome of this match for Rafael Nadal.

Looking at his opponent from Italy, Flavio Cobolli is going to make his debut at the Barcelona Open. And he couldn’t have asked for a better opponent, right? Now, if look at his stats for this season, he has made a decent start this year and has reached the QF in Marseille and Delray Beach. He last played in the qualifiers of the Monte Carlo Masters where he was defeated by India’s Sumit Nagal by 6-2,6-3. In that match, he managed to hit 4 aces and didn’t commit even a single double fault throughout the match. 

His win percentage on the first serve in that match was 58%, while it was 50% on his second serve against Nagal. Now, the Nagal chapter is closed. He’d surely like to forget that result and focus on his faceoff against Nadal in Barcelona.

Nadal vs Cobolli: Head-to-Head

Both the players haven’t met each other earlier in their careers, so the H2H, is still at 0-0. It’s the experience on clay with a touch of mighty grit versus the creative all-round game with a little sprinkle of swiftness on the court. Both of them have an aggressive style of play, it’ll be interesting to see how they approach this game. Cobolli won’t get too many chances, so he has to convert whatever comes his way to a fruitful outcome. While Nadal may look a bit rusty due to lack of game time on the court. But one must not rule out the King in his own Kingdom.

Rafael Nadal was recently spotted making a major change in his game to boost his chances of winning on the court. He was seen to be using more of his arm while giving rest to his abdominal area during the serves. Will this change bring the best out of Nadal? Let’s find out the prediction for this match.

Prediction: Nadal to win this match in straight sets

Rafael Nadal has already made his intentions clear before heading into this match. He stated that he’s going to “enjoy” it as much as he can. But at the same time, he’ll still be fiercely “competitive” on the court. Nadal clearly said that he’s not going out there for an “homage“. He is looking hungrier than ever before and wants to do well to give himself a chance to clinch his 13th this year in Barcelona. Rafael is going to give his all in this match. 

And, if Nadal is fully fit then finding the right weapon to battle against this veteran will be a tough ask for the 21-year-old Italian. Nadal has a win-loss record of 2-1 this season while Cobolli has a record of 9-8. The last time Rafael Nadal played on the clay court, he won his 14th French Open title. It’ll be interesting to see how long the youngster holds up his natural game against the tennis legend.