Rafael Nadal headlines a blockbuster day at the Rome Masters, as he goes up against talented Canadian Denis Shapovalov. Meanwhile, Stefanos Tsitsipas battles home favorite Matteo Berrettini for a place in the quarterfinals.
(2) Rafael Nadal vs. (13) Denis Shapovalov
Rafael Nadal appears to be doing what he’s done nearly every year of his storied professional career; he’s working himself into the best clay version of himself just in time for the French Open. The Spaniard, who captured his first title of the year in Barcelona, faced a red-hot Jannik Sinner in his first match in Rome on Wednesday. He played what was likely his best match of the season to advance 7-5, 6-4.
Denis Shapovalov does have a win over Nadal, but it was at home on the hard courts of the Canadian Open. The only time they played on clay (Rome 2018), Shapovalov absorbed an old-fashioned drubbing. Based on how his clay season is going, he might eat another tomorrow. The Canadian won a pair of matches this week to earn his third-round spot, but victories over Kamil Majchrzak and Stefano Travaglia won’t do much to prepare him for Nadal on clay.
With Nadal displaying some of his best tennis against Sinner on Wednesday, anything other than a straight-set win over Shapovalov would be a surprise.
Cheryl pick: Nadal in 2
Ricky pick: Nadal in 2
(5) Stefanos Tsitsipas vs. (9) Matteo Berrettini
Perhaps the most interesting match of the day on a loaded docket is the showdown between Stefanos Tsitsipas and Matteo Berrettini. Tsitsipas has shown some of the best clay-court tennis of his career so far in 2021, and he has his first Masters 1000 in Monte-Carlo to show for his efforts.
Berrettini is playing nearly as well as Tsitsipas. He just made the final in Madrid last week (lost to Alexander Zverev) and he won the title in Belgrade the week before. Berrettini will have the added benefit of playing in front of an Italian crowd tomorrow, as fans are permitted in at 25 percent capacity.
This one should be a cracker. The crowd will be firmly in Berrettini’s corner, but the Italian has played a lot of tennis in the past few weeks. Fatigue may be a concern if the match drags out into three sets. Tsitsipas won’t have the fans in his corner, but he comes in more rested because he lost early in Madrid.
Cheryl pick: Tsitsipas in 3
Ricky pick: Tsitsipas in 2
Nadal in 2
Tsitsipas in 3
Karatsev was out of this world. He’ll be heading inside the top 10 very soon if he stays healthy.
Karatsev flunked the Reilly test today. I didn’t see the match, just surprised to see the results.
Will be interesting to see if Sinner reaches my predicted ranking of just outside the top 10 (10-12) by the end of this year as well.
WWW?
You guys are on fire. After a string of losses you’ve certainly redeemed yourselves.
Actually it was just the few on Berrettini.
Shapo off to a flyer..
Definitely, how good will it be if he wins. They know they have a physical edge, makes a huge difference.
They probably read it here straight from the pro also. 😉
Avoid a bagel rafa…
Wow.. in a matter of 12 hrs rafa has gone from goating to this..
Shapo is Nadal v2.
Rafa very flat today.. no vamos after that set point save🙁 he is there for the taking today
Good job by Rafa to take the set to 60 mins long considering it was 4-0 to shapo after 16 mins.. but broken thrice in a set.. sheesh
yeah, no spark in Rafa today…Shapovalov is hitting hard and running like crazy…a wining formula against Rafa in 2 sets..the thing is, they can hardly sustain this level in GS and Rafa is more motivated and more focused when playing RG…this will probably be won by Shapo..still, no indication of Rafa’s level at RG…we shall see…
Yeah but this will probably be the first time in a full season that Rafa will have to win rg without winning a masters that year
Will Rafa play another tourney considering rg is 3 weeks away
He’s looking alright Rafa. At 35 he is still a beast on clay.
Broken again!!!
Shapo is absolutely creaming it
Dennis killing Rafa today .. can he bring the sinner form
In this form Rafa will keep his perfect rg final record considering it is highly unlikely he will make the final
Wonder if Ricky is starting to have his doubts now. I get the feeling he was still finding excuses for Nadal until now…
Wow.. never seen rafa so flat when down in a clay match since the 2015 rg qf
I wish Rafa was serving better…he can not rely on his serve these days and has to fight for every single point…that is so difficult at his age…and these youngsters play him like it was their last…also, I think the main mistake Rafa makes is not approaching the net more often…he can be so good at volleys. This way he is exhausting himself chasing these balls…but maybe he needs these workouts..
I refuse to think that Rafa is no longer the force on clay…but I have to accept that at one point there will be someone else lifting the RG trophy…I just hope it will not be this year…but then again, this is what I have been saying the the last five years… 🙂
Rublev, zverev, shapovalov.. russian connection🤔
Rafa breaks from 3 game points down
Fh, bh, serve all loose today
Some highlight reels on fh passes though
Back on serve but feel like rafa will have to break shapo at least twice to take the set
Rafa is standing so far back and is made to run so often, it’s just exhausting even just watching him play. Without a good enough serve, he has to struggle even on clay; all these youngsters come with big serves and hard hitting tennis. He will continue to struggle against any of these players. Even if he wins this match, he may have to face Zverev and then maybe Opelka, both big servers, how to win against them without struggling (esp with his poor serving level)?
He really needs to move forward into the court more often, uses his FH DTL more often instead of going CC so often! Also, he’s always hitting to his opponents’ BH, it becomes a habit, even when his opponents come with very solid BH and could go CC or DTL. I don’t understand why he’s not changing up and going to their FH more often for a change. His game is becoming so predictable.
Rafa’s opponents tend to attack Rafa’s backhand since that is his weak point these days.. Rafa thus feels more comfortable with his FH which goes to the opponent’s backhand side…it is simple as that…
wow. Rafa takes the set and shows no emotion whatsoever..
although, Shapo is lefty like Rafa…Rafa is usually more successful with lefties..
Rafa somehow seems to have managed to pull Dennis down to his own serving level
Please break here Rafa.. too much agony to go through watching you serving second in the decider
So Rafa serves a breadstick from 3-0 down.. cant believe he won that set playing as bad as he was
Rafa is still fighting. He wins the second set.
My guess is Rafa finally wore him down. Rafa will win the decider now. (I think)
Elizabeth,
I hope that you are right.
I’m hoping NNY. I don’t know how to predict – I’m at the bottom all the time now of the brackets. Rafa can do better. One goof from Dennis and it’s over. And he made the goof. Rafa rebreaks!
I really don’t understand what is going on with Rafa’s serve. But I do not think this is anything like his slump in 2015. Rafa is fighting and coming back. In 2015 it was like he was not there mentally. He could not fight back.
That is the one thing that is positive. It looked like he was going down in the second set. But these young guys are all coming out with a very simple strategy – hit as hard as they can and be aggressive. If Rafa is not moving forward then he must not be feeling confident. I think the problems with the serve are causing Rafa to lose focus and not be as aggressive as he needs to be.
After Rome, there’s two weeks before the FO, don’t know whether Rafa could improve his serve during that two weeks. His BH is not up to par too, needs lots of work.
Had Delbonis winning but not this easy. He is destroying these bigger names.
ok.. Rafa cannot afford to drop serve anymore. That bh miss in that game may come back to bite him
C’mon Shapo stay tough.
Rafa horrendous on the bh return two fluffed bhs at deuce..
anyway what happen ned in rome happen ned and soon we will be in paris
It’s not over yet! I didn’t pay much attention to Denis Shapovalov on clay because he claimed he didn’t like it. This is shocking to me. I love his unconventional tennis, but never thought he could get this far on clay vs Rafa.
Dennis makes two dfs faces three bps on clay againat rafa and is behind in so many points but still gets the hold… it is just that sort of the day.. and the best that happens from here is a tb and rafa shits in those lately
Yeah, Rafa should have won by now. On the bright side, the breeze is not helping Shapo. TB coming.
Shapos BH down the line stopped working for him. He started guiding it and not using racquet head speed.
Dude .. none of rafas shots are working since the beginning of the match
Law of averages – do your thing this tb
vmk, I liked the way you put it, it’s a bit humorous to me, to lighten the mood a bit, esp in this situation that Rafa is in. Thankfully, Rafa won the TB and so the match this time!
Well it’s not the first time that Rafa has a bad day at the office and runs into an unexpectedly inspired opponent. I think that this happened to him a lot more often than to Federer or Djokovic. Taking him three sets out of five on clay is a totally different thing though.
Anyway, he needs to fix his serve by RG, but this is doable. His recent problems are mostly due serving mediocrely or even badly, like in the first set today. He says it’s fine in practice, so he’s probably close. It will just click at some point.
Shapo is fighting a mental battle right now. This is what has held him back so far in his career.
His inability to hit through with the same level of conviction for the full match.
Oh ffs rafa.. clay season ought to be the stress free time to watch you play
This is the time rafa loses his grip on tbs lately .. when he is up
Game:absent mental fortitude: very much there
Wins the classic djoko style saving mps
Finally, we get a smile from Rafa! He wins! Well deserved! Great fighting spirit!
Vamos Champ! Keep fighting and keep improving! We love you!
On mp there was another barely over the net shot by rafa ala the tsitsipas match
But a back to back loss to Zverev seems to be looming😥 hope nishikori does soemthing
This was a roller coaster ride. Rafa manages to win a tb!
Doing it the hard way.
I couldn’t watch the tb. Too nervous. But it was not close.
I truly hope that Rafa can get his serving woes sorted out. That is what seems to be causing him the biggest problems.
So nothing wrong with Rafa, just training on:
– playing for over 3 hours
– wasting matchpoints
– saving matchpoints
– winning tiebreaks
Well, it’s good prep for RG. I guess. I really don’t expect Rafa to win Rome this year but I did want him to get some good matches in! He’s still short on matches this year. But he doesn’t recover the way he used to. I thought Rafa would cruise against Shapo. Not so much.
I’m hoping Nishikori gives Zverev a good match today!
It is true that Rafa can’t seem to get in a groove. He can’t follow up on victories which should give him confidence. He’s been inconsistent, always battling from behind. I thought the win in Barcelona over a red hot Tsitsipas, would give him a boost. But he struggled in Madrid and is struggling now.
The one saving grace is his ability to stay on the match mentally and fight. The inability to hold his serve is playing havoc with his game.
In case anyone is interested, Nishi just won the first set over Zverev.
Up a break in the second right now, too.
Thank you NY!! I am keeping abreast with the scores on Google as I am on the road running errands. Rafa gave me a heart attack today, at the hospital now 😂😂😂😂!!
Rafa really needs to sort his serves out, not sure if his back is still an issue. I guess if it is at least he’s good to still be playing. I don’t ha Enoch hope for him winning this tourney, just want him to win RG!! But I will go home and watch the match on UTube, I can enjoy it a lot better!
Well I’m sure Zverev will come back and probably win, shame I can’t watch match now. Anyway, Vamos!!!
I’m interested. You may remember how Kei was a favorite of mine, NNY. He has been off my list because he was gone (injured?) then the Covid.
But at his peak, he can be very good on clay. Plus, he’s clever and likes to play the big guys. Not sure he’s at his peak or ever be close to those days again, though.
Tennis Channel is showing Muguruza v Svitolina. Going by the scoreline I can’t tell a lot about how much Zverev is paying attention. Kind of seems like Zverev wants the 2nd set. Kei has no serve, as everyone knows, so he has to make up for that and his height by using other skills.
Above comment is from Monalisa, sigh!
The anonymous comment is from you, Monalisa?
Yes lol! I forgot to put my name!
Mona,
Thanks for letting us know it was you!
😍
Nikishori did well to almost have 2 breaks in second set but now they’re back on serve
Well at least Zverev won’t be fresher tomorrow if he wins. I expect Rafa to beat him quite easily. Playing well in Rome after making the Madrid final is something that only Rafa and Djokovic managed to do a few times.
Rafa has played nearly 5 hrs over 2 days. I don’t think he will beat zverev that easily ..
Djokovic may have hands full too tomm against tsitsipas ..
Rafa is right now short of confidence against zverev..3 losses in a row
Respectfully I don’t think Rafa is beating anyone easily these days. The conditions in Rome will be much better for Rafa than in Madrid, but Rafa is just serving like crap. He gives up early breaks in sets and is battling from behind.
In his match with Sinner, serve stats showed he was getting in less than 50 % of first serves. When he did get it in, he won 70%. But for Rafa to only be getting in less than 50% of first serves is just not good.
I am expecting Rafa to make a match of it this time. But I just don’t see any victories cimjng easily for him right now.
Respectfully I don’t think Rafa is beating anyone easily these days. The conditions in Rome will be much better for Rafa than in Madrid, but Rafa is just serving like crap. He gives up early breaks in sets and is battling from behind.
In his match with Sinner, serve stats showed he was getting in less than 50 % of first serves. When he did get it in, he won 70%. But for Rafa to only be getting in less than 50% of first serves is just not good.
I am expecting Rafa to make a match of it this time. But I just don’t see any victories cimjng easily for him right now.
Apologies for the double post.
Rafa has late finish last night too .may have contributed to his poor play at the start of match
It was a giant success, the way Kei fought off Zverev to hold his serve. In the first game of set 3. Keep that up and win the set and match, Kei!
Rafa short of confidence against Zverev after just three losses… really? He surely knows why he lost against the Russian each time: Nadal was underprepared and the playing conditions were unfavourable.
And Rafa did lose to the guy who eventually won the tournament. Still, there’s no question that Rafa is well short of his clay court best. But give his opposition some credit. Sinner played a great match and barely lost. Shapo was balling for most of the match – I never dreamed he could play like that on clay.
Rafa’s serve, if it doesn’t Get Well Soon is going to be a huge problem for him. He’s well past the age where he can just use it to start the point then win it with his legs. He’s winning with his smarts, his variety and his experience. So far…
As mentioned earlier, Rafa’s young opponents would all hit as hard as possible, and serve big, ie playing very aggressive attacking tennis, to try to beat Rafa on clay. So far, only Rublev and Zverev managed to beat Rafa.
In Rome, the conditions is slower so perhaps these hard hitting opponents still couldn’t have their way against Rafa. Next for Rafa would be Zverev, but Zverev himself was struggling against Nishikori, needed 3 hours? 3 sets and coming from behind to beat Nishikori.
Rafa wasn’t playing well this clay season so far, was struggling too at Barcelona but managed to win the title there. His draw at Rome isn’t a friendly one, loaded with young big servers and hard hitters, all playing aggressive tennis against him; Zverev next and maybe Opelka next if Rafa beats Zverev, hard tasks ahead for Rafa!