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
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.