Barcelona Open 2021 live: Nadal vs Nishikori live stream, H2H and match preview

World No.3 Rafael Nadal will go up against Japan's Kei Nishikori in a Round 3 match at the Barcelona Open 2021. The match is scheduled to begin at 7:30 PM IST (4:00 PM local time) on April 22 from Court Rafa Nadal, Real Club de Tenis Barcelona. Here are the Nadal vs Nishikori live streaming details, how to watch the Barcelona Open 2021 live in India and our match preview.

Barcelona Open 2021: Nadal vs Nishikori match preview

Closing out an exciting day of play at the Barcelona Open 2021, Rafael Nadal will lock horns with Japanese veteran Kei Nishikori on the court named in his honour, the Pista Rafa Nadal. With World No.1 Novak Djokovic choosing his home tournament, the Serbia Open over Barcelona and No.2 Daniil Medvedev (COVID-19) out of the picture, Nadal will be the top seed at the tournament. An 11-time winner at the tournament, the King of Clay will be desperate to finally get some wins under his belt, having been wiped out of the Monte Carlo Masters by youngster Andrey Rublev earlier this month and falling to go deep at the Australian Open.

With the Rafael Nadal ranking slipping to a four-year low - marking his first stint outside of the top two since May 29, 2017, when he was ranked 4th in the world - the Spaniard will also hope to close the gap between himself and No.2 Medvedev with a win at this ATP 500 tournament. Meanwhile, with a wealth of experience at his disposal, two-time Barcelona champion Kei Nishikori will hope to take advantage of Rafa's poor run of form as he looks to continue his decent campaign in Spain. He has so far defeated Guido Pella and Cristian Garin at the tournament.

Barcelona Open live: Nadal vs Nishikori live streaming

As of now, there is no information on the Nadal vs Nishikori live telecast channel in India. However, fans can watch the match, and the rest of the Barcelona Open 2021 live in India on TennisTV. Fans in India can also follow the Barcelona Open live scores for the Rafael Nadal vs Kei Nishikori match on the websites and social media pages of the ATP and the Barcelona Open.

Nadal vs Nishikori head to head 

This will be the 14th career singles meeting between Rafael Nadal and Kei Nishikori. Coming into this game, the Rafael Nadal vs Nishikori head to head stands at 11-2, heavily in favour of the Spaniard. The World No.3 has never been defeated by Nishikori on clay, holding a 5-0 advantage on his favourite surface. The last time the duo met was also on clay, at the French Open 2019 quarter-finals, where Rafa defeated Nishikori with a commanding 6-1, 6-1, 6-3 scoreline. The pair also met at the finals of this very tournament back in 2016, when Nadal won in straight sets. Both of Nishikori's wins against Nadal have come on hard courts.

Image Credits: Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell Twitter