The upcoming match that’s getting all the buzz is Rafael Nadal vs Milos Raonic at the Indian Wells on March 7. Rafael Nadal is just coming out of his loss to Carlos Alcaraz, albeit in an exhibition match at the Netflix Slam. But the way Alcaraz utilized a particular aspect of his game, exploiting Nadal’s vulnerability, is something appreciative. Considering that it is something to do while serving, it gives Milos Raonic a good chance to learn from Alcaraz and use it in his match to beat Nadal.
Carlos Alcaraz may not be the best server on the planet, but even a great player like Nadal didn’t have answers to it in Las Vegas. Looking at how Alcaraz targeted Nadal’s backhand with his fast and powerful serves that curve away from Nadal on his backhand, Raonic could now emulate the same. And with Nadal just back from his injury, it could work in Raonic’s favor.
Make no mistake, Rafael Nadal is largely still the favorite to win his match against Raonic. He is a legendary player who, sort of pioneered the fast and powerful gameplay, especially in clay courts. But the Indian Wells is a hard court, and Raonic specializes in his strong serves on them. He also defeated Nadal in their only Indian Wells clash once before in 2015.
Carlos Alcaraz might be young and strong, but Raonic’s serve is faster than Alcaraz’s. As per Sportskeeda, Raonic’s fastest serve was 155.3 mph at the 2012 SAP Open. Carlos Alcaraz’s highest, on the other hand, is 134 mph at last year’s Wimbledon.
Despite his agility and quick feet, Rafael Nadal has always struggled against the fast serve of a player. In the 2015 Indian Wells quarter-final, when Raonic defeated Nadal 4-6, 7-6 (12-10), 7-5, he used his big serve quite a bit. In a demonstration video on YouTube, Raonic also teaches how to serve big like him.
He talks about disguising the trajectory of the ball while tossing it in order to distract the opponent. He also mentions making a straight line from the feet to the point of contact of the ball when serving. Raonic did this every single time he served in that match against Nadal.
Both Rafael Nadal and Milos Raonic are injury-prone players. Raonic’s last two tournaments ended with his opponent getting a walkover in the matches. However, there is genuine fervor among people that this will be a fantastic match.
Rafael Nadal vs Milos Raonic h2h: Nadal has massive lead
Besides their 2015 Indian Wells clash, Milos Raonic won one other time against Nadal, and that was at the 2017 Brisbane International. Rafael Nadal has won 8 times against him. The first was at the 2010 AIG Japan Open Tennis Championships, followed by the 2011 Rakuten Japan Open, the 2013 Barcelona Open BlancSabadell, the 2013 Rogers Cup, and the 2014 Sony Open Tennis in Miami, before Raonic finally won his first.
Nadal continued his dominance post that with the 2015 Shanghai Rolex Masters win, the 2017 Australian Open, and the 2019 Laver Cup in Geneva. Chances are that Rafael Nadal will this time as well, but Raonic is relying on his past Indian Wells performance and what he learned from Alcaraz at the Netflix Slam.
