Tennis News

Nadal Holds Off #NextGenATP Sinner Challenge In Rome

For the second week in a row, Rafael Nadal went toe-to-toe with a talented and fast-rising #NextGenATP star – and once again, the World No. 3 managed to hold off the youth surge in style, fighting past 19-year-old Jannik Sinner in an electrifying battle at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia.

Last week in Madrid, Nadal similarly found himself facing off against the future of the sport when he faced Carlos Alcaraz in his opening match. He was tested in the early exchanges, but ultimately eased past the 18-year-old in straight sets.

He had an even bigger battle on his hands on Wednesday against 19-year-old home favourite Sinner, who recently reached his first ATP Masters 1000 final at the Miami Open presented by Itau. Contesting the highly anticipated last match of the evening on Centre Court, Nadal drew from his long experience to wear down Sinner and fight through 7-5, 6-4.

Nadal will face 13th seed Denis Shapovalov in the third round. Shapovalov took down another Italian, wild card Stefano Travaglia, 7-6(2), 6-3 in an hour and 35 minutes to book his fourth meeting with the Spaniard. Nadal owns a 2-1 ATP Head2Head lead over Shapovalov, and won their only previous encounter on clay at this venue in 2018.

Sinner showed no sign of nerves against the 13-time Roland Garros champion in the second round. He had already pushed Nadal to a tie-break in their only previous encounter at last year’s Grand Slam in Paris, where Nadal ultimately prevailed with a 7-6(4), 6-4, 6-1 win. 

Coming into the match, Nadal had only lost a total of four games in his last four Rome openers. Sinner was determined to flip the script, pushing the Spaniard to the brink and taking an early lead with a break in both sets. But the nine-time champion fought back both times to secure the victory in two hours and 10 minutes.

Nadal vs Coria or Federer: Do You Know Your Rome Classics?

With the victory, Nadal improved to 7-0 against Italian opponents in Rome, and extended his winning record in opening matches to 16-1 at the Foro Italico. 

Sinner set the tone early on with a break in Nadal’s opening service game. The Italian was aggressive from the start, and troubled Nadal with his top spin and ability to change direction of the ball in the rallies. But Nadal replied in kind, levelling the score a game later as both players settled into a returners’ battle. The pair traded breaks twice in the opening set, with Nadal going for the occasional drop shot to break Sinner’s rhythm to much success.

Still on serve but with scoreboard pressure on his side, Nadal dialled up the pressure on Sinner as he served to stay in the set. Nadal created seven break points at the end of the set: three at 5-4 and four more at 6-5. Sinner raised his level on serve when it mattered most to extend his stay in the set, but when Nadal finally got a look at a second serve he battered it with the forehand to seal the opening tilt.

The second seed was in danger in the second set as Sinner again surged to an early break with a 2-1 lead as Nadal’s unforced error count began to climb. But it would prove to be the only break point that Nadal allowed in the set, and the Spaniard recentred himself and reeled off the last four games to close out the battle. 

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Italian Open: Andy Murray wins on comeback, Cameron Norrie loses

Andy Murray’s return to competitive action ends in a gutsy win alongside fellow Briton Liam Broady in the Italian Open doubles.

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Tsitsipas Cruises Past Cilic In Rome

Stefanos Tsitsipas passed an opening-round test against Marin Cilic 7-5, 6-2 to reach the fourth round of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia.

“Sometimes I need to adjust my game and Marin is someone I respect a lot,” Tsitsipas said on-court. “I knew he was going to come out here and play his best tennis.”

The Greek improved to 28-7 this season, which tied him back up with Andrey Rublev for most wins after Rublev beat Jan-Lennard Struff earlier on Wednesday. Though Tsitsipas lost in the third round in Madrid, the World No. 5 is filled with confidence after winning his first ATP Masters 1000 title at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters. He’s also a former semi-finalist in Rome (2019).

Cilic is 0-11 against Top 10 opponents dating back to his 2018 Australian Open win over Rafael Nadal. He’s now 8-8 on the season.

In a competitive first set, Tsitsipas pounced at 6-5 to break Cilic for the first time when it mattered the most. He had full control of the match from there with Cilic hitting 23 unforced errors to Tsitsipas’ 13.

“He made me move a lot,” Tsitsipas said. “It was quite tricky to adjust to that at the beginning, but towards the very end of the first set I stayed calm and I stayed resilient. I had to play deep on the returns and find solutions from the baseline rallies. Obviously, that worked well for me from 6-5.”

Tsitsipas next faces Matteo Berrettini, who beat John Millman 6-4, 6-2. The Italian will have the home-court advantage when fans return on Thursday. Tsitsipas feels right at home in Rome though, and enjoyed the scenery Pietrangeli stadium had to offer. 

“[Pietrangeli] itself is very beautiful; it’s one of the best courts on tour,” Tsitsipas said. “I feel like the atmosphere here is great. We’re surrounded by trees in the city and it’s very, very quiet which is important for tennis. And honestly, I can’t wait for the fans to come and fill in the stadium.”

Berrettini continued his great serving form from his final run in Madrid. He faced zero break points, giving him freedom to go for more on return games. He broke the Aussie to start the second set and ran away with the match quickly from there.

Since his debut in 2017, the World No. 9 has improved with each appearance in Rome, reaching the second round in 2018, the third round in 2019, and the quarter-finals in 2020. He will have a tough challenge next in Tsitsipas, who beat him in their only meeting at the 2019 Australian Open.

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French Open 2021: Andy Murray 'deserves wildcard' & fan numbers increased

Andy Murray “sure deserves” a wildcard for the French Open, tournament director Guy Forget says.

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Karatsev Takes Out Medvedev In Rome

Aslan Karatsev took out third seed Daniil Medvedev at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia on Wednesday 6-2, 6-4 in one hour and 18 minutes. He moves into the third round where Reilly Opelka awaits.

Karatsev and Medvedev were facing off for the first time, but the Russians had familiarity with each other’s games having won the ATP Cup together this year. At the time, Karatsev was delegated to doubles behind singles stars Medvedev and Andrey Rublev. 

Although Medvedev is at a career-high World No. 2 in the FedEx ATP Rankings, Karatsev is now 21-6 this season with an ATP 500 title in Dubai. Medvedev has yet to find his rhythm on clay with an early exit in Madrid and now Rome.

Until Wednesday, Medvedev had a flawless 6-0 record versus fellow Russians dating back to the start of 2019. It marks Karatsev’s second Top 5 win in the past month after upsetting World No. 1 Novak Djokovic in Belgrade.

With Medvedev coming out slow, Karatsev made the first move with a break for 3-2 followed by a second break to lengthen his lead to 5-2. The World No. 27 served it out comfortably, winning 90 per cent of his first-serve points across the match and needing to save just one break point.

Karatsev used his forehand and aggressive court positioning to put pressure on Medvedev, who was passive from start to finish. Karatsev maintained his focus in the second set and a series of slick winners, including a flick-of-the-wrist forehand passing shot and a sharp volley, helped him get a break for 4-3. It was smooth sailing from there to serve it out. 

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Italian Open: Naomi Osaka loses to Jessica Pegula, Serena Williams returns

Japan’s Naomi Osaka suffers her second straight defeat on clay by losing to Jessica Pegula in the Italian Open second round.

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Novak Djokovic: World number one shouts at umpire at Italian Open over playing conditions

Watch as Novak Djokovic shouts at the umpire during his Italian Open second-round win against Taylor Fritz over playing conditions.

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The 'Good Problem' Zverev Has In Rome

Alexander Zverev arrives in Rome having to make a quick adjustment from the altittude in Madrid, where on Sunday he lifted his fourth ATP Masters 1000 trophy. But the German doesn’t mind doing so as he gets set for the Internazionali BNL d’Italia, which he won in 2017.

“It’s a good problem to have. If you are coming so late from Madrid, it means you’ve done well,” Zverev said. “I would like to have that problem always at tournaments.”

Zverev is fresh off an impressive performance at the Caja Magica, where he beat Rafael Nadal, Dominic Thiem and Matteo Berrettini en route to the crown. Before Madrid, he did not win more than one match at each of his previous three tournaments.

“It was a week that I didn’t expect to be honest,” Zverev admitted. “Obviously I’m extremely happy with winning my fourth Masters [1000 event], my second in Madrid. It was a week that I think I’ll remember.”

Now the trick will be to keep his level high in Rome, where he owns an 11-3 record. In addition to his championship run in 2017, Zverev made the final in 2018, when only Nadal was able to stop him.

“Usually when I find my form, I don’t have a problem maintaining it. If you look at the past history a little bit, when I won Madrid in 2018, I made finals here,” Zverev said. “Doesn’t mean I’m going to make finals here again. I hope I can continue this.

“This is obviously a completely different event, completely different conditions. I need some getting used to time. Yeah, I hope I continue playing the same way. We’ll see how that goes then.”

The sixth seed will begin his tournament against Bolivian qualifier Hugo Dellien, whom he beat in the Geneva quarter-finals two years ago in three sets. The winner will play Kei Nishikori, whom Zverev defeated 6-3, 6-2 in the second round in Madrid last week.

“I’m looking forward to this week,” Zverev said. “I’m looking forward to being able to back my form up. I hope I can do that.”

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Krawietz/Tecau Advance Past Cilic/Melo In Rome

On a rainy Tuesday at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia, Kevin Krawietz teamed up with Horia Tecau to take out Marin Cilic and Marcelo Melo 6-4, 6-2. Krawietz and Tecau have appeared in the Barcelona and Rotterdam finals together this year.

Seventh seeds Wesley Koolhof and Jean-Julien Rojer beat Italian wild cards Marco Cecchinato and Stefano Travaglia 4-6, 6-1, 10-7. Koolhof is seeking his second title of the season after winning Munich with  Krawietz.

In the only other completed match, Lukasz Kubot and Franko Skugor beat Greek sibling duo Petros Tsitsipas and Stefanos Tsitsipas 7-6(7), 6-3.

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Behind The Scenes With Djokovic During Rome Rain Delay

When there’s a rain delay like there was on Tuesday evening at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia, nobody sees what the players do once off the court. So what happens as they wait out the weather indoors?

World No. 1 Novak Djokovic brought fans behind the scenes after he finished off Taylor Fritz in straight sets. The Serbian explained how he passed the nearly three hours of time between leaving Center Court and returning later in the evening.

“We played a social game. It wasn’t Uno, it was Parcheesi,” Djokovic said. “We do play that daily now. We try to kill some time with that.”

Last year, Djokovic spoke about how much his team enjoyed playing UNO, a card game. But now they are having fun with Parcheesi, which Rafael Nadal has long played with his team.

The Serbian acknowledged that there is a fair amount of uncertainty during rain delays, especially when it comes to figuring out when play will resume. That affects when the player has to warm up and eat, among other things.

“Every half an hour it’s a checkpoint, and they will let you know whether the match is postponed or they’re going to call it or they’re just going to call it a night, then you have to go to hotel,” Djokovic said. “Also with eating, whether you rest or you get some sleep or not. You really have to feel yourself and know what’s best for you. Sometimes if you fall asleep, wake up, maybe it takes time to get those engines moving.”

On Tuesday, the World No. 1 didn’t take a nap. Instead, he spent the delay with his team.

“I was awake. I was listening to some music, talked to my coach about his observation of my game, what needs to be done better. But we also had some fun,” Djokovic said. “I spoke to my kids. There’s always something to do. I was definitely not bored.”

Djokovic will next play Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina or Briton Cameron Norrie for a spot in the quarter-finals. The top seed is pursuing his sixth title at the Foro Italico this week.

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