2021 Barcelona Open Final Preview: Nadal vs Tsitsipas

The 2021 Barcelona Open is an ATP 500 event running from April 19th till April 25th and featuring a strong field headlined by Rafael Nadal.

Rafael Nadal and Stefanos Tsitsipas will be the two names in the spotlight on Sunday at the 2021 Barcelona Open. The two will meet in the final and fight for the title. While it can be already the 12th title for the Spaniard, the Greek player is looking to win his first title in Barcelona.

Read also

2021 Barcelona Open Prize money with €1,702,800 on offer

Stefanos Tsitsipas is showing an incredible form on clay this season when he is yet to lose a set. After winning in Monte Carlo, he continues in stunning performances also in Barcelona and he will be a very difficult opponent in the final for Nadal.

The Spaniard lost a set in the first two rounds to Ilya Ivashka and Kei Nishikori and he didn't look so solid at times. However, his quarterfinal and semifinal performances against Cameron Norrie and Pablo Carreno-Busta were good and he still remains the favorite in the final.

2021 Barcelona Open Schedule of Play:

Sunday, March 25th:

16:00 Nadal R. (Esp) - Tsitsipas S. (Gre)

Saturday, March 24th:

The semifinal schedule at the 2021 Barcelona Open shows some real quality. Rising star Jannik Sinner is being a more dangerous player every day and Pablo Carreno-Busta and Stefanos Tsitsipas are in incredible form. On the other hand, Rafael Nadal is the 'king of Barcelona', and playing on the court named after him is a great boost that can drag him towards another title.

In the first semifinal match, still only 19-years-old Jannik Sinner will take on Stefanos Tsitsipas. The Greek triumphed at the Monte Carlo Masters and since entering the clay season, he's yet to lose a set. Tsitsipas is currently on a 15-set winning streak and although Sinner was stopped only by Djokovic on clay this year, it will be a very difficult task for him to stop the Greek.

In the second semifinal match, we'll see an all-Spanish clash. Rafael Nadal will play against Pablo Carreno-Busta who will try to win against him for the first time in his career. Nadal won in all of their 7 meetings with Carreno-Busta winning only 2 sets. However, he never managed to take a set off Nadal on the clay and he will try to change that in Barcelona.

13:30 Sinner J. (Ita) - Tsitsipas S. (Gre)

Friday, March 23rd:

Quarterfinal matches will take place at the 2021 Barcelona Open on Friday. The action will kick-off with a meeting of the eleventh-seeded Jannik Sinner and no. 3 in Barcelona, Andrey Rublev. After that, we'll see a matchup of the second-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas against no. 10, Felix Auger-Aliassime as the winners of these two matches will meet in the semifinals.

In the later part of the day, Rafael Nadal will step onto the court in his quarterfinal match against Cameron Norrie. The Spaniard will be looking to add another victory in Barcelona to reach the semifinals. There, he can face Diego Schwartzman or Pablo Carreno-Busta who will play the last match of the day.

12:30 Sinner J. (Ita) - Rublev A. (Rus)

Thursday, March 22nd:

It's safe to say that there will be no boring matches in Barcelona on Thursday as we'll witness an action-packed day. Everything will start with matches of Albert Ramos against Andrey Rublev and two youngsters Felix Auger-Aliassime and Denis Shapovalov. Then, we'll see another rising star, Jannik Sinner who will meet Roberto Bautista Agut.

At the same time, Stefanos Tsitsipas will play against Alex De Minaur and also British fans will have a reason to watch as Cameron Norrie will take on David Goffin. Diego Schwartzman will try to prove his clay-court qualities against Corentin Moutet and the biggest tennis star in Spain, Rafael Nadal will play against Kei Nishikori. In the last match of the day, we'll see an all-Spanish clash between Bernabe Zapata Miralles and Pablo Carreno-Busta.

11:00 Ramos A. (Esp) - Rublev A. (Rus)

Wednesday, March 21st:

Even the most demanding tennis fans can choose a good match from Wednesday's schedule of play from Barcelona. It will all start with Andrey Rublev who will play against Federico Gaio. We'll also see a match of two youngsters Lorenzo Musetti and Felix Auger-Aliassime. After that, Stefanos Tsitsipas will take on Jaume Munar and also Pablo Carreno-Busta and Fabio Fognini will be on courts in Barcelona.

Later in the day, Kei Nishikori will play against Christian Garin who is really solid on clay and then Rafael Nadal will meet Ilya Ivashka. The last match of the day will see Diego Schwartzman play against Frances Tiafoe who eliminated young Carlos Alcaraz yesterday.

11:00 Gaio F. (Ita) - Rublev A. (Rus)

Tuesday, March 20th: 

The bulk of the action starts on Tuesday with 11 matches on the schedule. Play as on most days will start quite early at 11:00 CET. Some interesting matches will kick us off such as Koepfer vs Moutet and Ramos vs Rune. A bit later we will see native Davidovich Fokina take on Bublik. Two players who enjoy an underhand serve will probably show us a few.

At the same time, Feliciano Lopez will take on Lorenzo Musetti. Another Spaniard in Carlos Alcaraz will play a bit later taking on Francis Tiafoe. David Goffin will also play tomorrow taking on Hugues-Herbert. Several more interesting matches will take place in the afternoon. Bautista Agut will take on Andujar while Shapovalov will play against Chardy.

11:00 Koepfer D. (Ger) - Moutet C. (Fra)
11:00 Ramos A. (Esp) - Rune H. (Den)
11:00 Thompson J. (Aus) - Gasquet R. (Fra)
12:30 Davidovich Fokina A. (Esp) - Bublik A. (Kaz)
12:30 Lopez F. (Esp) - Musetti L. (Ita)
14:00 Alcaraz C. (Esp) - Tiafoe F. (Usa)
14:00 Herbert P. (Fra) - Goffin D. (Bel)
15:30 Bautista-Agut R. (Esp) - Andujar-Alba P. (Esp)
15:30 Shapovalov D. (Can) - Chardy J. (Fra)
17:00 Gerasimov E. (Blr) - Sinner J. (Ita)
17:00 Khachanov K. (Rus) - Norrie C. (Gbr)