After the 21-time grand slam winner won the first set, the problems started. In the second set, Nadal quickly faced a 1-4 deficit. So he had to get to work and shifted up a gear. He broke his opponent back and cleared the deficit: 4-4. Still, at a score of 5-6, he was broken again in favor of the Canadian and that cost him the second set. 6-1, 5-7.
Nadal lost in the deciding set. It was still equal until 2-2, but after that the Spaniard was unable to win a game: 2-6. In the last set, Nadal seemed to suffer from his foot, which he is chronically injured. Shapovalov won seventeen of the last twenty points.
A serious injury would be bad news for Nadal, with Roland Garros on the roll in just over a week. In Paris, Nadal would like to triumph for the fourteenth time.
“I live with an injury every day and that is sometimes difficult to accept,” said the Spaniard after his defeat.
Nadal has already won the clay tournament in the capital of Italy ten times, but it is not an eleventh overall victory. He again suffered from a chronic foot injury, which forced him to retire months before the end of the season last year. “Of course I do my best, but that is not always easy. There are many days when I can’t train in a normal way. Today the injury started to play up halfway through the second set and it was really unbearable for me,” said Nadal. “But I don’t want to deprive Denis of the credit he deserves. He was the best.”
Nadal, 35, won the Australian Open in January. It was his 21st Grand Slam title. He was also out for a month this year with a rib injury. The number 4 in the world is working towards Roland Garros, which starts on May 22. He has already won the Paris Grand Slam tournament thirteen times. „I started the game well, but when you start to suffer from your injury again, the positive feeling disappears. I have to accept it and will keep fighting.”
Djokovic
Novak Djokovic has easily reached the next round of the masters tournament in Rome.
He defeated his old rival Stan Wawrinka (37) in straight sets: 6-2 and 6-2. Djokovic dealt with Wawrinka in an hour and sixteen minutes. The Swiss, who dropped to 361st place in the world ranking, recorded his first victory in fifteen months earlier in the tournament.
Novak Djokovic
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Wawrinka could hardly contribute against Djokovic. The three-time grand slam winner, who was out of circulation for a year due to foot surgery, cleared a break in the second set, but then only won one point.
Djokovic will face Canadian Félix Auger-Aliassime in the quarterfinals.
Zverev and Tsitsipas to quarterfinals
Alexander Zverev has secured a place in the quarterfinals of the masters tournament in Rome. The German number 3 in the world was too strong in two sets for the Australian Alex de Minaur, the global number 22. It became 6-3 and 7-6 (5). For Zverev it is his 100th victory at a masters tournament.
In the quarterfinals, the 25-year-old German will face the winner of the match between Chilean Cristian Garin and Marin Cilic from Croatia.
Alexander Zverev thanks the audience
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Zverev already won the tournament in Rome in 2017. A year later he was again in the final, but lost to Rafael Nadal. Last weekend, Zverev was a losing finalist at the masters tournament in Madrid, where he lost to Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz.
The Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas also qualified for the quarterfinals in Rome. He defeated the Russian Karen Khachanov in three sets. It became 4-6 6-0 and 6-3 for the number 5 in the world. Tsitsipas will face the winner of the match between Serbian Filip Krajinovic and Italian Jannik Sinner in the quarterfinals.
Unbeatable Iga Swiatek in Serena Williams’ footsteps
Iga Swiatek has qualified for the quarterfinals of the WTA tournament in Rome. The Polish defending champion defeated Belarusian Victoria Azarenka 6-4 and 6-1 in the third round. Swiatek, who is first in the world ranking, thus booked her 25th win in a row.
In 2015, American Serena Williams was the last player to set such a series. She then won 27 games in a row.
Iga Swiatek celebrates a point
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The 20-year-old Swiatek is aiming for her fifth consecutive tournament victory in Rome after victories in Doha, Indian Wells, Miami and Stuttgart. After that last win, she took a break to recover from a shoulder injury.
In the quarterfinals, Swiatek will face Canada’s Bianca Andreescu. She defeated Croatian Petra Martic 6-4 twice.
Aryna Sabalenka from Belarus also effortlessly qualified for the quarterfinals. The number 8 in the world trumped American Jessica Pegula in two sets: 6-1 6-4.