Rafael Nadal defeated John Isner 6-3, 6-1 in straight sets in his Italian Open opener on Wednesday. His next opponent is Canadian Denis Shapovalov in the round of 16.
The Spaniard didn’t overdo it for his first racquet shots in Rome. He assured the Italian public about his ambitions.
With full ownership of his fortunes, he won 81% of rallies in his first service.
The big American server was the first to put pressure on 3-3 on his opponent’s serve.
After saving two break points, the Majorcan hid his face and managed to break it, to then serve for the set.
In the second set, Nadal smashed an Isner from the start, getting farther and farther away from the ball.
I have to rebuild things after a hard shutdown, and that’s what I’m trying to do. I just need to keep the right attitude and see if I can do ithe said.
I have to play better than today (Wednesday), but it’s another win, and tomorrow (Thursday) I have another chance to play against one of the best players in the world. He is very dangerousHe added.
And this dangerous player that Nadal is talking about is Denis Shapovalov.
Nadal was careful
We look forward. We will have it.
This was their sixth encounter, Nadal won four, but the latter caused sparks.
It was in the quarter-finals of the Australian Open in January, and the Spanish won after a long five-set battle of 6-3, 6-4, 4-6, 3-6 and 6-3.
This is the third time the couple has faced off in the Italian capital, with two wins for Nadal so far in 2018 and 2021.
Zverev had a slow start
Alexander Zverev, 3rd in the world ranking, didn’t have an easy task against Argentinian Sebastian Baez (37th), who he finally beat 7-6 (8/6) and 6-3, respectively. in his first fight.
Has he fully recovered from the beating he suffered in the Madrid final? The German player was defeated by young Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz 6-3 and 6-1 on May 8th.
The reigning Olympic champion was hooked by Baez. Both players reached the first set tiebreaker with no break points played.
The German then quickly broke away to give up four set points to 6-2 in the decisive game. But he let his opponent go back to 6-6 before winning by the next two points, the latter with an ace.
The second set changed when the 25-year-old German converted the game’s only break point to take a 5-3 lead. He offered himself two match points and ended the duel first.
Zverev will face Australian Alex de Minaur (22nd) or American Tommy Paul (34th) to reach the quarter-finals of the final major preparatory tournament for the French Open which starts on May 22nd.
The German won the first major title of his career in Rome in 2017 by defeating Novak Djokovic in the final. In 2018, he lost in the final against Rafael Nadal, the same that knocked him out of the quarter-finals in 2021.
Source: Radio-Canada
