The King of Clay is once again the King of Rome.
Alexander Zverev came close to staying on the throne at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia, but he did not have quite enough to get across the finish line against Rafael Nadal on Sunday evening. Nadal got off a fast start, slumped through the second set and early in the third, and finally emerged from a rain delay to overcome Zverev 6-1, 1-6, 6-3 after two hours and nine minutes.
The Spaniard delivered a breadstick in the opener but got a taste of his own medicine in the middle frame–just the ninth time in his career that he has lost a 6-1 set on clay, and the fourth time in Rome.
With momentum in hand, Zverev surged to a 3-1 lead in the decider. The defending champion could do little wrong, seemingly poised for his third consecutive clay-court title on the heels of recent triumphs in Munich and Madrid. But that is when the rain came and interrupted play for an hour.
It was a different match when the players returned.
Nadal, who had held serve for 2-3 prior to the delay, ended up winning the last five games of the match. The top seed emerged for the resumption by breaking for 3-3, holding for 4-3, breaking again for 5-3, and holding without much trouble to clinch victory. Zverev pushed his opponent to deuce only once in the final five games, when he failed to convert one game point while serving at 3-2.
Highlights:
Nadal lifted the trophy in Rome for the eighth time while improving to 19-1 on clay this season. Zverev is 17-3 on clay in 2018, including 17-1 against opponents other than Nadal.
“There’s nothing I can do about it,” the 21-year-old said of the rain delay. “Next time I have to find a way to come out better after the rain and play better tennis. He came out way faster and played much more aggressive than I did.
“And, you know, with the fatigue I had it took me a very long time to get activated again and to get going. Obviously, it wasn’t enough time. It just changed momentum. And Rafa is somebody that if you’re not in the match and if you’re not feeling the ball well, you have no chance.”
“When it happened, the rain delay, I didn’t feel in that moment that it would help me,” Nadal noted. “That’s my feeling. It’s true that if we analyze it now, of course we can say that the rain delay helped me. But really, in my opinion, what helped me is that I came back with a clear idea in terms of tactical issues and in terms of decisions that I took after that break.
“It has been an amazing week. Such an important week to have this trophy with me again after losing in the quarterfinals in Madrid. It was unforgettable and emotional for me. It’s amazing to win eight titles in Rome. It’s a difficult event and to have the chance to win again here means a lot. This is the moment to enjoy winning here again.”
Good win for Rafa . Hope he carries the momentum and excels in RG . Unless he gets a tough opponent in R1 , i dont see Rafa losing a set . Even if he gets a tough opponent in R1 like Verdasco , I see him lose only 1 set overall in the tournament.
Well done to Rafa. When it looked like a lost course for Rafa, when he looked down and out, the heavens opened and gave him a second chance and Rafa gladly took it!
I’m so happy for this victory and a 8th Rome title for Rafa. Since his great year of 2013, Rafa had not the luck or the energy to go further at Rome, after his usual exploits on clay prior to coming to Rome. He’s getting older each year and it’s unlikely that he can keep winning so many titles on clay a season, he has to either lose early elsewhere in order to do well at Rome, or wins elsewhere and loses early at Rome as Rome being the last warm up event before RG.
This title was hard to come by, when he had to beat Foggy, Djoko and red hot Sasha to win it. Knowing Rafa, I think this victory is/was exceptionally sweet, as he had to fight so hard to win it and now he’s enjoying the fruit of his hard labor.
Rafa remembers the tough matches more than the easier ones, to him his hard fought victory and title win over Coria in 2005 was one he said was the most special to him.
Vamos GOAT! No. 1 where he belongs.
Great win, but I have to say that Rafa caught a break….Zv had a break and most of the momentum, I think he would have closed out the match if no rain.
You know that is s bunch of baloney! You don’t know that for sure and neither does anyone else. Luck had nothing to do with the way Rafa came out and played after the rain delay. If it helped clear his mind or gave him clarity about what he needed to do, so be it. That’s the sport. They both had to deal with the rain. Zverev also did not come out playing poorly by any means. But Rafa came out focused and aggressive and knew exactly what he needed to do.
Rafa could have come out flat and still lost the match. How many times have we seen Rafa turn a match around without needed big a rain delay?
Sour grapes! Rafa won! Deal with it!
Without needing a rain delay! *
But the worsening weather actually *favored* Sasha so it’s as easy to say Rafa would have won in two sets if the weather hadn’t changed. “If ifs and buts were candy and nuts…”
True Ramara. I was actually thinking about that too. Sasha was saved by the weather in set two giving him hope that he could win the match. This was very much like that FO2012 final.
We hear non stop that Djoko could’ve won that match had they not stopped the match and postponed it to the next day. I said please, Rafa was two sets up before the rain came. The rain helped Djoko, so much so that he won a set, but thereafter Rafa was starting to hold serve in set four; to think that Djoko could just win three straight sets and Rafa not being able to do anything about it on clay it’s simply not only underestimating Rafa but showing disrespect to Rafa the king of clay. Rafa can play and win in any conditions, it’s a matter of winning it in a easier manner or having to tough it out.
There are always twist and turn in a match; Rafa is/was a big match player and could deal with different conditions. Sasha said he was feeling the strain after so many matches played and he couldn’t summon his energy quick enough after the rain delay, but, had Rafa played the same way as in set two, Sasha might still win the match. It’s because Rafa made adjustments to his play, hitting some high balls with depth, made Sasha had difficulty dealing with them, and gave chances for Rafa to move inside the court to attack and win the point(s) so Rafa was able to win four straight games and won the match.
The match wasn’t gifted to Rafa, Rafa had to fight for it and handled unfavorable weather conditions to get the win in the end.
Rafa would have zero titles if all the fedfan woulda coulda shoulda’s ruled the day.
Wake me if any Joe Blow “wouldn’t be surprised if ______ beats Nadal” predictions ever come true.
Fed getting a day match in Australia against a top 10 player has a much better chance of happening.
Rafa back at No 1 where he belongs. Vamos GOAT!
Well, there was Soderling at the 2009 RG. But I don’t think anyone predicted that.
Rafa’s only motivation to win RG again is to increase his GS count or for the thrill of competition itself.
Talk about not having anything else to prove.