Nadal beats Zverev, claims title and world No.1 ranking
ROME: Rafael Nadal came out on top in a matchup of this year’s top two clay-court players, beating defending champion Alexander Zverev 6-1, 1-6, 6-3 on Sunday to win a record-extending eighth Italian Open title.
Nadal recovered from an early break in the third set after a 50-minute rain delay.
The victory means Nadal will reclaim the No. 1 ranking from Roger Federer on Monday.
Federer is sitting out the clay season to prepare for Wimbledon. Nadal and Zverev had each won two titles on clay this season entering the final, with Nadal lifting trophies in Monte Carlo and Barcelona and Zverev taking Munich and Madrid.
Nadal improved to 5-0 in his career against Zverev and gained an extra measure of confidence entering the French Open, which starts next Sunday.
SVITOLINA DEFENDS TITLE
Earlier, fourth seed Elina Svitolina successfully defended her Italian Open title with a dominant 6-0, 6-4 victory over an outof-sorts Simona Halep.
World number one Halep came through a tough three-set semi-final against Maria Sharapova on Saturday and was well off the pace, failing to coax even a single break point opportunity the entire match. “It’s amazing that I could come and defend my title here. It’s really something very special for me,” Svitolina said after defeating Halep in the Rome final for the second year in succession.
The Ukrainian, who has now won the last eight finals she has appeared in, stormed out of the blocks and kept Halep under relentless pressure, serving at a high level and chasing down everything the Romanian sent her way.