Rain break helps Nadal climb back to world No1 spot

As everyone had expected at the start of the week, Rafael Nadal left his traditional bite-mark on the Rome Masters trophy yesterday. But no one predicted that he would need a perfectly timed rain shower to help him on his way.

This final against Alexander Zverev, the German 20-year-old who now stands at No 3 in the world, appeared to be heading for an upset early in the deciding set. After dominating the opening set, Nadal (right) then lost seven of the next nine games.

Zverev was heading for a fourth ATP Masters 1000 title. He had established a 1-6, 6-1, 3-1 lead when the rain arrived. The players then came back on for a single game, which saw Nadal hold serve for 2-3, before a second shower arrived. After that it was one-way traffic. Nadal reeled off the final four games to take the decider 6-3 and claim this title for the eighth time.

“If we analyse now, of course we can say that the rain delay helped me,” admitted Nadal. “But really what helped me is that I came back with a clear idea in terms of tactical issues and decisions that I take.”

Nadal thus extended his dominance over Zverev – who will be the second seed at the French Open – to five wins from as many matches. As Zverev admitted afterwards, the exertions of the past fortnight – which also saw him lift the title in Madrid – caught up with him.

“The fatigue I had because of the last few weeks – because of the break, it took me a very long time to get activated again,” he said.

This result means Nadal once again leapfrogs the absent Roger Federer and moves back to the top of the rankings for the sixth time.

In the women’s final in Rome, fourth seed Elina Svitolina ran out a 6-0, 6-4 winner over world No 1 Simona Halep.