Clay title No 56 has Rafa back on top of the world
THe last thing rafael nadal needs when playing on clay is a dose of divine intervention but the roman gods obliged all the same, helping him to seize back the italian Open title.
The Spaniard was reeling at 3- 1 down against youthful defending champion alex Zverev in the decider before two rain delays reversed the momentum.
He ended up winning 6-1, 1-6, 6-4 against the slightly gawky but extremely talented 21-yearold from Hamburg to regain the world no 1 spot. The gods may have forsaken him this time but it will probably not be for long.
nadal’s entourage celebrated his 56th title on clay as if he had won yet another French Open. They knew he had got lucky.
The chances remain that in three weeks there will be similar scenes in Paris but it looks slightly less certain after this and there might be less of a procession towards an 11th roland Garros title.
nadal’s greater experience told as the German made more errors upon the resumption of the longer break at 3-2.
nadal’s step seemed lighter, having struggled when conditions became slower after the first hour. it remains difficult to see anyone beating him over five in Paris but, if you were proposing three people who might have a remote chance of doing it on a given day, it would be Zverev, though he has yet to go beyond the fourth round in a Grand Slam event, Dominic Thiem or a revitalised novak Djokovic.
nadal acknowledged that the break had been a factor, saying: ‘i came back with clearer ideas and i had a bit of luck.’
The fact is that he is exactly where he wants to be at this stage of the season, including being back at world no 1.
Zverev said: ‘The rain was not my friend today. He came out way faster, played way more aggressive than i did.
‘it took me a long time to get activated again. i ran out of time. The break took my momentum away. Maybe the fatigue of the last two weeks came in during the break.’
He was attempting the heady double of winning the Masters level events at Madrid and rome back to back — and came in with perhaps too much tennis under his belt. it also seems possible that, however good he is, his forehand is not quite of the consistently high standard yet to cause the seismic upset that is beating nadal on clay when he is fully fit and firing.
after breaking in the first game, Zverev managed only five points on his serve in the first set. The turnaround when it came was completely unexpected, the confidence draining from nadal. Zverev cut out the errors while gratefully accepting those that came his way. His backhand dropshot was a continual irritation to nadal and, after racing to 5- 0, he levelled the match.
The German broke early in the third before the first suspension was called at 3-1. after just one game, a longer break of 45 minutes ensued.
Zverev had plenty of time to stew and was broken immediately. That was all the invitation nadal needed.
earlier, defending women’s champion elina Svitolina took only 67 minutes to beat Simona Halep, her sixth consecutive win over a world no 1.
Svitolina, coached here by Britain’s andrew Bettles, is very much in the mix for Paris and took advantage of the fact that the romanian looked sapped by her arduous win over Maria Sharapova the day before.