Being in devastating form, Rafael Nadal is crushing his opponents in the most fashionable way at the 2002 French Open. Rapidly inching closer to his 14th French Open title, Nadal looks more confident than ever to re-write his name in the history books.

Nadal is set to lock horns against Alexander Zverev in the semifinals. Outplaying his arch-rival Novak Djokovic in the quarterfinals, the Spaniard looks in perfect shape for the title. On the other hand, Zverev’s quarterfinal win over in-form Spaniard, Carlos Alcaraz has made the tennis world place high bets on him ahead of his clash with Nadal.

Rafael Nadal vs Alexander Zverev: preview

This year, Nadal incurred one of the most unusual situations of his clay season. Nadal entered the French Open without a tour level clay-court title. Diving deeper, one can tell this is only the second time that the 21-time Grand Slam champion has entered the French Open without a Masters 1000 title on clay.

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Recalling his 2022 Rome campaign, one can recall his struggle with his foot condition. However, the urge to win his 14th title on the Parisian clay has made Nadal resolute right from the start of the tournament.

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En route to the semifinal, he has outplayed notable players like Felix Auger-Aliassime and the defending champion, Novak Djokovic.

On the other hand, Zverev has had a decent run so far. While the German is yet to win a title this year, he has reached the final rounds on a number of occasions. Looking at his career, clay has been a highly favorable surface for Zverev. The World No. 3 has won 6 out of the total 19 career titles.

His route to the French Open was a pretty impressive one. The 25-year-old reached the Semifinals in Monte Carlo and Rome while also making it to final at the Madrid Open.

Nadal and Zverev: head-to-head

Rafael Nadal and Alexander Zverev have faced each other a total of 9 times in their career so far. Analyzing the record, the two have met 5 times on clay courts. While Nadal has outplayed the German 4 times, Zverev has won just a solitary match against the Spaniard on clay.

The last meetings between the two took place in 2021. Co-incidentally, both on clay courts i.e. Madrid and Rome. While Zverev got his only clay court win over Nadal in Madrid, the Spaniard immediately avenged his degeat in Rome. Nadal leads the head-to-head race 6-3, and today’s clash will be the 10th meeting between the two.

Prediction: Rafael Nadal to clinch victory in four sets

Over the years, Nadal has time and again proved why he deserves to be called the ‘King of Clay’. More specifically, the King of Roland Garros. Being the 13-time champion, the Spaniard undoubtedly considers the Parisian clay his favorite surface. Considering his form to date in the 2022 French Open, it wouldn’t be wrong to say that he is not only the overwhelming favorite in the match but also for the title.

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On the other hand, considering the current form of Zverev, he might just be resilient enough to match Nadal’s intensity. However, considering Nadal’s experience and current form, we expect the 21-time Grand Slam champ to prevail in four sets.