Rafael Nadal claims the Rogers Cup
Nadal defeats Tsitsipas at Rogers Cup to claim his 80th tournament title
Stefanos Tsitsipas was feeling good about himself, and for great reason.
The affable Athens native enjoyed an excellent run through the Rogers Cup at the Aviva Centre in Toronto, knocking off four top-10 players.
In front of a packed centre court in the final on Sunday, Tsitsipas was put firmly in his place by a living tennis legend.
Rafael Nadal was having none of the young Greek’s rise, spanking the youngster 6-2, 7-6 (4) to win for the 80th time in his stellar career.
Tsitsipas had several names in mind for Nadal after, and they were all complimentary.
“He will always grab you like a bulldog and always have you — he will always make you suffer on the court,” said Tsitsipas, who was celebrating his 20th birthday.
“It is amazing what he has built as a player. He was normal like all of us, and he managed to become this beast, this monster that he is today. That’s how you feel when you play against him.”
Nadal joined Jimmy Connors (109 titles), Roger Federer (98) and Ivan Lendl (94) as the only men to win at least 80 tournaments.
It marked the fourth time the 32-year-old Nadal, ranked No. 1 in the world, won the Rogers Cup, and it extended his career-leading total of Masters 1000 championships to 33, three more than Federer and six more than Novak Djokovic.
“It’s not about the 80th title,” said Nadal, who won the Rogers Cup for the first time since 2013.
“It’s about winning another Masters 1000.
“The 80th tournament is, of course, a great number, an important one. Very happy. But Masters 1000s are tournaments so difficult to win, sometimes are even more difficult to win than Grand Slams, because you can’t avoid tough opponents.
“I came here with the goal to win it. But I knew it was going to be a very tough one to make happen and it happened. So I’m very happy.”
In the doubles final, the second-seeded pair of Henri Kontinen and John Peers beat Raven Klaasen and Michael Venus 6-2, 6-7 (7), 10-6.
On a sunny afternoon, Nadal was clinical at times on the way to picking up a US$1,020,425 paycheque. In the first set, Nadal was dominant with his forehand, winning in 34 minutes as Tsitsipas couldn’t hide his frustration.
When Nadal went up 2-1, Tsitsipas turned and whacked a ball clean out of the stadium. Nadal twice broke Tsitsipas in the opening set, forcing his lessexperienced opponent to move around the court and taking Tsitsipas out of his comfort zone.
At one point, a fan was heard to yell “Have mercy!” as Nadal put his expertise on display.
In the second set, Nadal was up 5-3 and was on the verge of winning when Tsitsipas stormed back to take the next three games.
Nadal tied the set 6-6, then won the tiebreaker 7-4, capturing match point on a forehand winner. Nadal fell to his knees in triumph as the crowd, which had been behind Tsitsipas as well, roared in approval.
The match took one hour, 42 minutes to complete.
Tsitsipas earned $500,340 and will be ranked No. 15 in the world after starting the tournament at No. 27.
He impressed many on and off the court in beating Dominic Thiem, Djokovic, Alexander Zverev and Kevin Anderson.
Said Nadal of Tsitsipas: “He has everything. He has a very complete game. Big serve, great shots from the baseline. If he is able to keep improving, he will be fighting for the most important titles in tennis.”
Nadal later announced he would skip a Masters tournament in Cincinnati this week to rest for the U.S. Open.
“No other reason than personally taking care of my body and trying to keep as healthy as I feel now,” Nadal said in a statement.
Nadal proffered some advice not only for Tsitsipas, but to any up-and-coming player.
“I go on the court to improve something,” Nadal said.
“That’s the way I understand my career, the way I understand the sport. And when I arrive on a day and that does not happen, that’s going to be the day that I take a boat and go fishing.”
He will always grab you like a bulldog and always have you — he will always make you suffer on the court.