Bet of the day: Back Nadal to begin Finals quest in straight sets
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Spaniard looking to end year on a high
The ATP World Tour Finals are underway in London, and for Rafael Nadal it represents the chance to end a remarkable year in style.
Many people wrote the Spaniard off after he failed to win a Slam in either 2015 or 2016.
But a French and US Open double this year brought the 31-year-old back to the pinnacle.
Nadal is world number one again too, and begins his Finals campaign against David Goffin.
The pair have met twice before, with Rafa winning straight sets each time.
And despite a knee concern, it’s hard to see anything other than another 2-0 victory. So Coral’s bet of the day is Nadal to win 2-0 at 8/11.
Nadal to dominate
Nadal really has been in sensational form of late. He only dropped three sets en route to the US Open in September, and followed that up with the victory at the China Open.
He lost out to Federer in the final of the Shanghai Masters, but the King of Clay is very close to his best right now.
That doesn’t leave much hope for Belgian Goffin, who has been hit and miss of late.
He won back-to-back titles in Shenzhen and Tokyo to book his place in London, but has suffered early exits since then to Gilles Simon and Julien Benneteau.
And in his four previous sets versus Nadal, only once has the world number eight managed to claim more than three games.
Backing Nadal on the -3.5 games handicap looks good at 8/13, while under 21.5 total games also looks assured at 10/11.
First set challenge
If Goffin is to have any chance, then he’ll have to start brightly. Of the three sets Nadal dropped at Flushing Meadows, all came in the opening set.
Lucas Pouille also took the opener against the Spaniard in Beijing.
The 9/4 on Goffin to win the first set could be an option, but Nadal should still have enough in hand.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of time of publishing
