ATP Masters Rome: Rafael Nadal wobbles only briefly against Isner
Rafael Nadal (ATP No. 4) reached the round of 16 of the Masters tournament in Rome without any major difficulties. Nadal won in two sets against the American John Isner. Final result: 6:3, 6:1 for the "Bull from Manacor".
by Florian Goosmann
last edit: May 11, 2022, 02:37 pm
Nadal only got into trouble once, at 3: 3 in the first round, when John Isner got two breakballs. Both times "Big John" had also arrived in the rally, but warped, once quite promising with the forehand. When Nadal had mastered this critical phase, there was little left for the service artist to win: In return, Nadal got the break directly and served smoothly to win the set.
In the second round, Nadal started with the break, two more followed, also to win the match against Isner, who looked like a beaten man shortly before the end.
Isner missed out on breaking a crazy streak by Nadal. He has never lost two games in a row on sand: in matches after a defeat on his favorite surface, Nadal now has 44 wins and 0 losses.
Rafael Nadal now meets Shapovalov
"He had it in his hand with both balls," Nadal looked back at the two break chances against himself - he himself started too flighty, made too many mistakes. "Everything changed with the break in the second set."
In numbers, there were ten more mistakes by Isner, who went for the point early - he probably had to do that against Nadal too. This time without success.
Nadal, ten-time winner and defending champion in Rome, now meets Denis Shapovalov. "It's another win, another opportunity to play again tomorrow, against the best players in the world," said Nadal, looking forward to meeting the Canadian.
Alexander Zverev had previously reached the round of 16 in Rome after beating Sebastian Beaz.
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