By Richard Pagliaro | Friday, May 14, 2021
Rafael Nadal saved nine of 10 break points and survived a harsh fall topping Alexander Zverev 6-3, 6-4 to reach his 12th Rome semifinal.
Photo credit: Internazionali BNL d'Italia
Absorbing a baseline battering from Alexander Zverev in the Madrid quarterfinals last week, Rafael Nadal was bloodied and bruised after crashing to the clay in today's Rome rematch.
Climbing off the clay canvas with red dirt streaking the back of his plum shirt and blood seeping through cuts on his knuckles, Nadal went warrior mode beating back all challenges.
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Hurling himself into uppercut forehands, Nadal fought off eight break points in the second set knocking out Zverev, 6-3, 6-4 to reach the Rome semifinals for the 12th time in 17 appearances.
Nadal served 72 percent, saved nine of 10 break points and won 15 of 19 second-serve points repeatedly hitting his slider serve out wide to Zverev's backhand dragging the German off the court creating open space for his first strike. It all added up to a spirited performance.
"Is always the same in this sport, no? When you fight, normally you have something back," Nadal said. "That's what I did. You know, I fighted a lot yesterday. I suffered a lot, but I was able to find a way to win a very complicated match. That gives me the chance to be on court again today.
"Today I played much better than yesterday. I did a lot of things well, playing much more solid. So, yeah, I think I played one of the more solid match on clay this year against a very tough opponent.
The nine-time Rome champion snapped a three-match losing streak to Zverev avenging his Madrid quarterfinal loss as he continues his quest to win 10 or more titles at the same tournament for the fourth time. Nadal—who owns 13 Roland Garros titles, 12 Barcelona trophies and 11 Monte-Carlo crowns—will face an entirely different opponent in Saturday's semifinals when he meets massive-serving American Reilly Opelka.
Sporting the lumberjack look, the bearded Opelka banged 18 aces and erased all four break points he faced stopping Argentinian left-hander Federico Delbonis, 7-5, 7-6(2) in today's opening quarterfinal. Opelka has not dropped serve, or a single set, powering into his first Masters 1000 semifinal.
Questions surrounding Nadal's clay form followed dirt defeats to Andrey Rublev in his comeback event in Monte-Carlo last month where his serve went askew and in the high altitude of Madrid last week where Zverev fired flat strikes to force the Spaniard into defensive positions.
The 13-time Roland Garros champion delivered answers showing his appetite for a good fight remains fierce. Nadal withstood two match points out-dueling Denis Shapovalov in an epic three-hour, 27-minute conquest of the Canadian in a third-set tiebreaker yesterday.
That three-set slugfest only fueled Nadal for the bloody, sweaty battle vs. Zverev today. Even after his tumble, Nadal was moving well, spreading the court with his forehand and drop shot and, for the most part, he's played pressure points with strong self-belief this week.
"It's a great victory for me. Of course it's important because under pressure, under tough moments that sometimes I lost important points last couple of weeks, today, yesterday, before yesterday too, I was able to manage it well, no?" Nadal said. "To hold well the pressure, to put one more ball in. I think my movements have been improving. Today was a good day in that.
"I'm super happy, because after the battle of yesterday, to be able to be on court against a player like Sascha, he had tough match too, but he's more than 10 years younger than me, no? I remember well the feeling on the body when you are younger comparing for today and the feeling is completely different, no? And I was able to be fit, to be ready, and something that give me confidence. So I'm very happy for that."
Bursting out of the blocks like a man playing with something to prove, Nadal raced out to a 4-0 lead in this rematch of the 2018 Rome final.
Hitting his forehand with more menace than he had in Madrid, Nadal stepped in and hammered a backhand winner down the line for double break point. Zverev dumped his second double fault gifting the Spaniard the break and a 2-0 lead.
A series of crunching drives saw Nadal bang out a second straight break to go up 4-0 after 16 minutes.
Playing deep in the court, Zverev was vulnerable to the drop shot and Nadal wielded it well.
Still, the German began to find his range and broke back in the fifth game.
Serving for the set, Nadal confronted near catastrophe. Streaking forward, he seemed to slip on a loose section of the service line, crashed to the court and tumbled over bringing a hushed silence over fans.
The nine-time champion slowly rose from the red clay with a swath of dirt streaking the back of his purple shirt and blood leaking from his knuckles. Zverev offered him a towel and Nadal, tugging on his hip, cleaned up.
The second-seeded Spaniard survived his fall and a break point serving out the 49-minute opening set. Nadal had won 99 straight clay-court matches when taking the first set. Could Zverev snap that streak?
Swinging more freely, Zverev made his move pouncing on some mid-court balls to go up triple-break point in the fourth game of set two.
Then Nadal dug in with dedicated fury. Exploiting the German's deep court positioning, Nadal carved out a dropper to save the second and slid a forehand winner down the line to deny the third. Defending throughout much of the point, Nadal wrenched control and whipped a forehand down the line capping the longest point of the match—a 33-shot slugfest—leveling after four games.
Empowered by that spirited stand, Nadal conjured a flick lob to extend the fifth game. The 34-year-old Spaniard's court coverage spooked Zverev who missed a routine smash to face a break point. In the ensuing grueling exchange, Nadal pounded the German's forehand drawing the error to end a nine-minute game with the break and a 3-2 lead.
In the space of a few minutes, the 13-time Roland Garros champion went from nearly going a break down to a break up. Digging out of a double-break point hole, Nadal flattened a forehand down the line to deny the second break point, dabbed drop shots effectively, and scraped through a challenging hold to confirm the break.
After saving five break points in the set, Nadal steered a backhand wide to face a sixth while serving for the semifinals at 5-4. In the corner-to-corner rally, Zverev had chances to step in and drive the ball but played the percentages then dropped to a squat when his net-cord shot strayed.
Staring down his ninth break point of the day, Nadal drove Zverev deep then pulled the string on a dropper to erase it. Nadal saved a third break point in the game with the slider serve wide.
Two hours into the match, Zverev missed a forehand down the line giving the Spaniard match point.
The reigning Olympic doubles gold-medal champion closed with a stylish serve-and-volley bumping a backhand volley into the open court and breaking into a satisfied smile. Nadal will continue his hunt for a 36th Masters 1000 title to equal world No. 1 Novak Djokovic's record this weekend.
After going the distance to beat Shapovalov and knocking Zverev out in straight sets, Nadal aims to extend points against the towering Opelka.
"Well, [Opelka's] a very tough opponent to play. Super difficult," Nadal said. "He has huge, huge serve. So I need to be very focused with my serve and try to give myself some chances on the return.
"So let's see. Let's see what's going on. I know he has a huge serve and he's able to play aggressive from the baseline too. So I need to play well. That's it, no? Play solid, try to put one more ball in and try to make him play one more ball, no?"