Who will win the French Open? That question is not exactly packed with suspense. Who is Rafael Nadal’s biggest threat? Now that question–even though it less important–is far more interesting.
Dominic Thiem upset Nadal in Madrid. Novak Djokovic looked something like the Djokovic of old on Saturday at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia. Big hitters like Marin Cilic, John Isner, and–when healthy–Juan Martin Del Potro can, at times, take the racket out of Nadal’s hands. And there is Alexander Zverev, who may be the answer to the aforementioned question.
Zverev, the recent champion in Munich and Madrid, improved to 17-2 on clay this spring by booking his spot alongside Nadal in Sunday’s Rome final. Success at Masters 1000 events is nothing new for the 21-year-old German, who not only triumphed last week in Madrid but also lifted 2017 trophies at this same Rome tournament and in Montreal. He has maintained momentum this week by beating Matteo Berrettini, Kyle Edmund, David Goffin, and Marin Cilic, surrendering only one set to Goffin in the process.
Zverev’s reward is a fifth opportunity to pick up his first-ever win over Nadal. Although the 31-year-old is a perfect 4-0 in the head-to-head series, he needed final sets to hold off Zverev at the 2016 Indian Wells Masters and at the 2017 Australian Open. Unsurprisingly, clay has proven to be a much different story. Nadal clobbered the youngster 6-1, 6-1 last year in Monte-Carlo and 6-1, 6-4, 6-4 earlier this season in a Davis Cup quarterfinal between Spain and Germany.
Still, the 16-time Grand Slam champion is not expecting a walk in the park–not with the way Zverev is playing these days.
“It will be a tough one,” Nadal noted. “Sascha is playing great, winning a lot of matches in a row. Tomorrow I need to be ready to keep playing my best, and that’s what I’m going to try.”
That is exactly what the top seed has been doing in Rome as he tries to make amends for his stunning Madrid loss to Thiem that ended a 50-set winning streak on clay. Nadal also dropped a set to Fabio Fognini on Friday, but he rolled over Damir Dzumhur and Denis Shapovalov and did well to pass a stern test from Djokovic 7-6(4), 6-3 in the semifinals.
Although Zverev also got off the court in straight sets, he once again finished much later than Nadal after requiring two hours and one minute to defeat Cilic. The second seed, who took a brief medical timeout for a shoulder issue on Saturday, also survived tough ones against Edmund and Goffin. All of this recent tennis is bound to catch up with Zverev–especially with the toughest physical test in tennis (facing Nadal on a clay court) awaiting him.
Pick: Nadal in 2 losing 8 games or fewer
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Rafa losing his way mid way through a match is getting very bizarre. He was 4-2 up against Foggy, lost his way once Foggy raised his level and broke back. He was 5-2 up against Djoko in set one, once Djoko broke back, Rafa lost his way and had to win a tight TB.
He’s 6-1 in set one vs Sasha; once he lost his serve in first service game in set two, he started losing his way and only managed to win his last service game! He lost serve again in the third and now has to give chase!
What is it about Rafa these day? He just can’t concentrate in a whole match once he faces a formidable opponent and starts feeling shaky once his opponent gains an advantage. He really doesn’t have much confidence in himself I feel.
Live scores says rafa broke!!!
Vamos!!
Vamoooooooos!
Vamos!
4-3 rafa!!!!
Go get him!!!
Rafa breaks again!!!
YESSSS!BREAK!!!!WOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOO!!!
Well done Nadal, te rain delay saved you. A good result for me, I have Nadal to win and Nadal 2:1. A well rested Zverev will get him at RG, where it counts.
annoying guy. waits until results to dole out life lessons and brags about predictions. typical bench warmer sideline viewer.
The feelings mutual dude.
Yes jim everyone agrees that it’s slams which count. The problem with that is that at zverev’s age raf a had won 3 slams already whereas zverev has never got anywhere.
You are making ludicrous comparisons..
OMG!!! I did not see that coming. How many Rafas have the confidence that he can cclose it out. I dont
WOOOOOHOOOOHOOHOOOOOOOO!!!!….YEAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!
VAMOS RAFA!!!!!!
Yesssss! Vamooooossss!
Yesssss!!!
Group hug nny and mira!!!
Yeah amy & Nny!!…..This is 4 u guys!!
http://gifimage.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/animated-hug-gif-4.gif
Aww thanks mira!!!
I love elephants!!
Hahaha!Yeah??I thought u love GOAT amy??Hehehe…
When I was a kid my nickname was goaty!!
Prophetic no?!!!
Oh really amy!!…Goaty?Why is that amy?
It’s really good to chat with u here today amy!Thanks so much for coming here okay?
I will be back for Rg and wimby mira!!
You don’t get rid of me so easily!!!
Hehehe…Yeah!…Tho,Wimby is 1 century away..But,i’ll take it!
Throwback to the 2012 french final 🙂
The gods respect a god. The skies open up to give aid to the NOW 7 TIME Italy champion. Rafael Nadal.
8 time
2005-2007 2009-2010 2012-2013 amd 2018
Yes, correction *8. My memory not so good. many years playing american football.
How’s your big bank roll after that 2:0 loss?
I played Nadal straight up in a parlay. I made a couple hundred this weekend and will post pics when I get home. It just doesn’t make sense to bet 10k to win 2.5k, so I was merely saying big punters would play more even odds. You are barking up the wrong tree. I’m younger than you, more athletic than you, smarter than you…I know WTA, ATP, and MMA very well and will be posting my predictions the rest of the year on here just for you.
You misunderstood the play. It was not that I said Nadal would win 2-0. It was that I commented on your inane post that a professional handicapper would make a large play with poor ROI like a Nadal ML bet. You don’t even have to know tennis to know Nadal 2-0 was the right play. You just have to look at his last, oh I don’t know, 20 matchups this year. That doesn’t mean hobby bettors such as myself won’t put him in a parlay. I do it for fun and I’m very good at individual sports because I can get in the mind of the player. I don’t normally do this, but you ask for it. This is a normal fun weekend for me. https://s31.postimg.cc/6q0x0lre3/fun.jpg
Perhaps you have tailed one of my predictions on here and are upset. That is on you. It has been a topsy-turvy month and all tennis fans know this. It is what it is. Deal with it like everyone else.
Oh mine! Rafa wins it!! Yes! Yes! Yes!
What a Rafa! He wins four games in a row!
Rafa almost cause me a heart attack! Please Rafa, no more of such walk abouts please!!
So thrilled to see Rafa fighting this way,getting 4 consecutive games to take the match! What a warrior this guy is!
Vamoooooooos 💪👑🎾
And Rafa is back at numero uno. 🙂
Today’s win very important for self-confidence. Rafa has beaten all dangerous players once in clay court warmups. Theim, Djoker, Foginini, Dimitrov and Zverev twice(in DC and Rome).
I think he should rest for 3-4 days now and head to RG after that. He is the favorite for me on that ever large Pilip Chatrier court.
fedexal..i did not watch..what happened post 1st set? just 1 game out of 10 games..was he that bad..
Yes, serve not going for Rafa just like yesterday post first set. And once Zverev got that break, Zverev started hitting big. And with the momentum on his side, Zverev broke early in third which is often the case. Then there was a rain delay and Rafa played solid tennis on resumption to get this thru.
fedexal..read some comments up the thread about injury or movement compromised..is that true? Last thing I want is an injury before RG or even a whif of it
Sanju, not true. Rafa looks OK, maybe a bit tired with all the running behind the baseline. Sasha’s big serve and big groundstrokes the reason for that!
I don’t think there is any injury concern . RG should be easy for the body with a day break. Rafa wont start before Monday for sure and he should totally disconnect from tennis for 3-4 days now.
Glad that Rome final did not get postponed to Monday. I still think Rafa did not have a very brutal tournament physically.
Overall Rafa would be feeling good as to how he responded against Fabio and today. And that completes a very successful run of tournaments for Rafa. He has never won all 4 tourneys and winning 3 out of 4 is a very good success rate.
yes a loss before RG is always good..he has always lost a match before RG in 07, 08,12, 13, 14, 17 his great years. 2010 was only year he won it all but he did not play Barcelona
im sure in rain break Moya told him what he was doing wrong..he will adjust the same against Zverev in RG if they meet..I am sure Alex will play him the same way..Alex is no clouch..he has beaten Fed twice and even Djoko
Moya did not accompany Rafa in Rome. He would join him in Paris.
Yes agreed. Rafa has beaten all the dangerous opponents in the clay warm ups. I hope he feels confident now and please no more doubts or shaky moments or walkabouts.
Sasha knows now how difficult it is to defend a masters title or to win B2B Masters titles. I think he looks a bit disappointed, he might have thought he’s going to win this being 3-2 up in the third set, but in tennis, you have to be prepared for all sorts of weather conditions, expected or unexpected happenings during the match; whoever can make the best of the situations will have better chances of winning and Rafa proves that today.
No-one knows what would be the result had there been no rain break. Yes, Zverev was on a roll because he was hitting his spots . But I still thought it was a matter of one break for Rafa.
Overall Rafa was the better player today.
the same thing was said in 2012 when djoko was on a roll and rain came in 4th set..but rain breaks dont win matches..there is no guarantee that sasha would have redlined non stop..the closer he gets..he could ahve tightened and rafa would have pounced
@fedexal 5:34pm,
Well said!
That was such a nail-biter, totally unforeseen that’s why it’s difficult to predict with any certainty the outcome of any match. Matches are won on the court. I’m so relieved! The rain saved the day for Rafa because Sasha was on a roll.
Vamos Rafa!
True nadline.
Rafa has surely regressed post MC and barcelona…losing sets to Foggy of all and such a poor set to Zverev is not what the doctor ordered..hopefully he will pick it up before RG..Good thing is Sasha will be in other half and can meet Rafa only in final
But, you have to look at his opponents here – Foggy is one who had given him problems on clay in the past, he took a set off Rafa at Madrid last year. Djoko is always Djoko, Rafa is wary of him whether Djoko is back to his best or not. Sasha is the red hot player on clay this season and he has won B2B events on clay before coming to Rome, not losing a set or losing serve at Madrid!
Imo, his opponents here at Rome are much tougher ones than his in the earlier events. We can’t expect Rafa to keep winning in straight sets without facing any problems; but of course he going walkabout when he was having the upper hand was something more concerning.
Did Zverev not even lose a serve in Madrid ? And Rafa broke him what 5 times today.
No wonder today’s win was big. Rafa would believe somebody had to play a match of his lifetime to beat him in 3 out of 5 sets.
lucky,
I agree with you. We cannot expect Rafa to win so easily with tough opponents. Fog can be dangerous when he decides to play. But Rafa adjusted his tactics and took control in the second and third sets.
I think Rafa gets more out of tough matches where he has to come from behind. Novak will always be a tough opponent for Rafa, even when he’s not at his best. Zverev is the hot player right now.
Rafa did well to find ways to win. Winning is what counts in the end.
I do agree that going walkabout is concerning.
Once Rafa dropped his serve in the 2nd set, through his own fault I’ll have to say, Sasha grew confident and Rafa lost his confidence making more and more errors but after the rain delay, he’d had time to calm his nerves and came out playing like it was a new match.
Well done to Sasha. He is going to be a great champion.
nadline..any movement concern or any injury concern? Rafa does not lose 6 1 sets usually on clay unless its total walkabout..
Let’s not forget Zverev was defending champion here! Rada hasn’t had much sucess in Rome lately so nerves played big part in this match! Zverev caught Rafa bu surprise playing extraordinary aggressive tennis in the second and Rafa seemed a bit tired after chasing power hitting from Zverev. In the third, after having some mental rest, Rafa regrouped and was in the groove again…when he is aggressive like that no opponent can match him!
Well done, Rafa! Rome conquered again!
Vamosss!
In other news, Raonic has pulled out of the FO with knee problems.
I couldn’t watch when they resumed play the last time. That was nerve wracking!
I will go back and watch my recording, but for Rafa to come back and win four games in a row was great.
I am so happy for Rafa! I am not concerned iw about Rafa losing the second set the way he did. He lost his focus and serve. Zverev played a lot better.
No signs of injury at all. I think it was a mental thing where Rafa let down in the second set. Rafa might have been tired from the match with Novak, but I think the rain delay helped him regroup.
Coming back in the third set is a good thing for Rafa. He had to come back and find a way to win. You get more out of the tough matches. This will set Rafa up nicely for RG.
Congratulations Rafa on your 8th Rome title!
😀💪👆👑🏆