Nadal to Face Local Hope Tomic in Australian Open
Rafael Nadal [Reuters] IBTimes UK

Rafael Nadal takes on Alexandr Dolgopolov in the final of the Rio Open 2014 at the Jockey Club Brasiliero in Rio de Janeiro on Sunday.

Where to Watch Live

The play is scheduled to begin at 8:00pm GMT. Live coverage of the game will be available on Sky Sports 3 and Sky Sports 3 HD. Follow live updates of the game on the official website of the ATP World Tour.

Overview

Nadal secured a place in the final after surviving a scare against compatriot Pablo Andujar in the semi-final on Saturday. The world number one went down 2-6 in the first set to the surprise of the spectators. But the 2014 Australian Open runner-up managed to gather his wits and charged to a 6-3 victory in the second set.

However, the real test for the 27-year-old came in the third and the deciding set as Andujar stretched the 2013 US Open winner to the limits. Nadal saved two match points in the final set tie-break before finally converting his fourth match point to emerge 7-6 (10) victorious in a game that lasted over two-and-a-half hours.

Meanwhile, Dolgopolov caused an upset in the other semi-final after defeating Spain's David Ferrer. The Ukrainian got the better of the tournament's second seed, 6-4, 6-4 in straight sets and will be hoping to pull off another upset when he takes on Nadal in the final.

Head-to-head

Nadal and Dolgopolov have faced each other on four occasions in the past and the Spaniard has prevailed in all the games with their latest meeting being in the Shanghai Rolex Masters in October last year.

Route to Final

Rafael Nadal

  • First Round: 6-3, 7-5 v Daniel Gimeno-Traver
  • Second Round: 6-1, 6-2 v Albert Montanes
  • Quarter-finals: 6-1, 6-0 v Joao Sousa
  • Semi-final: 2-6, 6-3, 7-6(10)

Alexandr Dolgopolov

  • First Round: 2-6, 6-3, 6-0 v Nicolas Almagro
  • Second Round: 6-7(4), 6-2, 7-6(4) v Facundo Bagnis
  • Quarter-finals: 6-1, 6-1 v Fabio Fognini
  • Semi-final: 6-4, 6-4 v David Ferrer
Rafael Nadal