Rafael Nadal vs Richard Gasquet 9/3/22 US Open Tennis Picks, Predictions, Odds

Richard Gasquet and Rafael Nadal meet in the third round of the 2022 tennis US Open.

Richard Gasquet is coming off a 4 sets win over Miomir Kecmanovic that took 38 games to decide. In the victory, Gasquet won 76 percent of his first serve points and 41 percent of his second serve points. Gasquet won 61 percent of his total service points and converted on 7 of his 12 break points. Gasquet got 56 percent of his first serves in play and hit 9 aces. Gasquet has quietly won 5 of his last 6 matches, and it makes him intriguing in this spot. Gasquet looks to make the fourth round of a grand slam for the first time since 2016 Wimbledon. Gasquet has 35 wins over top-10 players, and 1 of those wins came this year. Gasquet has won 5 of his last 6 matches on hard court.

Rafael Nadal is coming off a 4 sets win over Fabio Fognini that took 33 games to decide. In the victory, Nadal won 68 percent of his first serve points and 47 percent of his second serve points. Nadal won 60 percent of his total service points and converted on 9 of his 14 break points. Nadal got 61 percent of his first serves in play and hit 4 aces. Nadal has won both matches in 4 sets after dropping the first set. Nadal hasn’t lost before the fourth round of a grand slam since the 2016 French Open. Nadal looks to make his fifth straight US Open fourth round. Nadal has won 8 of his last 10 matches on hard court. 

Nadal has won 17 of the 18 meetings against Gasquet, including the most recent match in the 2021 French Open. Gasquet’s lone win over Nadal came in a 2018 exhibition in Australia. 

Gasquet is playing great tennis at the moment, but he is 36 years old, has looked rough at times over the years and hasn’t had grand slam success in quite some time. There’s also the h2h history, which doesn’t give Gasquet much of a chance. Nadal has been dinged up, and his slow starts are a bit concerning, but eventually he should string together a complete match. It might as well start against somebody he’s owned over the last 7 years.

Give me Nadal in straight sets.