ATP Masters Rome: Rafael Nadal goes down against Denis Shapovalov in the third set
The Spaniard Rafael Nadal loses in the end visibly drawn against Denis Shapovalov , who is in the quarterfinals of the ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Rome.
by Stefan Bergmann
last edit: May 12, 2022, 10:57 pm
No, it wasn't a pretty sight at the end of the game: Visibly marked, Rafael Nadal lost to Denis Shapovalov in the round of 16 of the ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Rome. The 23-year-old, who was born in Tel Aviv, won after 2:37 hours of play with 1: 6, 7: 5, 6: 2 and is thus in the round of eight. The Norwegian Casper Ruud, who defeated the American Jenson Brooksby 6:0, 7:6 (1), is now waiting there.
Shapovalov didn't do much in the first set, even the only game win he had to work hard for. In the second round, however, the Canadian got off to a really good start, after a still tedious first service game he took the service from his Iberian opponent to 15 and consequently went 3-0 and later 4-1 in front. However, the bull from Manacor didn't give up and reduced the lead to 3: 4 with a break to zero.
Is the French Open shaking now?
Up to 5:6 from the Spaniard's point of view everything went according to plan, but he didn't make the saving leap into the quick decision. Shapovalov took the service from the former world number one at 30 and thus fixed a third set. In turn, Nadal made a good start and made a break to 15 right at the beginning. The North American, for his part, secured the rebreak immediately.
After another break by Shapovalov, the tragic moment: Nadal wants to run a ball on the baseline, but breaks off in the middle with a pained face. Apparently the foot, which had been injured in many ways, made itself felt again - the 21-time Grand Slam winner could no longer get up and in the end went down without a real chance. All tennis fans can only hope that the situation will improve again by the time of the Grand Slam tournament in Paris - the French Open would definitely not be the same without Rafael Nadal.
skyrom2022
Here the single tableau from Rome.
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