mtenis.com.pl

There was little doubt that Rafael Nadal and Alexander Zverev were the most in-form players on the ATP World Tour, so it was only fitting that they battled it out for the final clay-court ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title of the season at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia.

A lot was on the line for Nadal — the Spaniard needed to lift his eighth trophy at the Foro Italico to regain the top spot in the ATP Rankings after losing it this week to Roger Federer due to his quarter-final loss at the Mutua Madrid Open (l. to Thiem) last week.

And despite trailing by a break in the third set, Nadal came back to defeat Zverev 6-1, 1-6, 6-3 in the Italian capital. After falling behind the baseline in rallies, the Spaniard used a second rain delay in the decider while trailing 3-2 to regroup, coming out firing to claim his 32nd Masters 1000 title.

Zverev, on the other hand, was in his fifth final at the elite level in the past 52 weeks after reaching his maiden championship match in Rome last year. He saw his 13-match winning streak come to an end, and now trails Nadal 0-5 in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series.

This is how the final unfolded...



FIRST SET - Nadal 6-1
For the second consecutive day, Nadal faced multiple break points in the first game of the match. But whereas he escaped a 15/40 deficit against Novak Djokovic, he couldn’t do the same from 0/40 against Zverev, changing a backhand-to-forehand crosscourt pattern to his own demise, eventually missing a backhand long.

But the top seed immediately responded with a break of his own and did not look back, breaking Zverev twice more to storm through the opener in 33 minutes. While the Spaniard is camping near the back wall to return the second seed's serve, the German is not taking advantage of that court positioning. Unbelievably, Zverev, on a 13-match winning streak, has won just five points on serve thus far (5/18).

Even when Zverev is able to attack during points, Nadal is not on his heels, but waiting for moments to change direction and step in himself. And when the defending champion has approached the net, he has gotten passed, while the Spaniard has shown beautiful finishing touch at the net. Nadal has even used a short, baiting slice so he could shuffle closer to the baseline and take the offensive on his next shot. At one point, the top seed won 16 of 19 points.


SECOND SET - Zverev 6-1
After Nadal rushed through the final six games of the opening set, it appeared he was well on his way to extending his FedEx ATP Head2Head series lead against Zverev to 5-0. But the German held to open the set, stopping the momentum, and from there he turned the tide.

Zverev broke for the second time in the match and instead of giving it right back, he held to love, with Nadal beginning to make more mistakes. And that was the only opening the German needed to play more aggressively, dictating far more than in the first set. And whereas the Spaniard seemed comfortable when playing defence in the first set, simply biding his time to pounce, the opposite was true in the second set. The 21-year-old took his shots a bit earlier to take time away from Nadal, not giving him time to react. And in neutral rallies, he was the one ramping up the pace and being the aggressor, keeping the Spaniard from taking control.

Zverev fell behind 0/30 as he served for the set, but did not let his focus slip, winning the next four points and closing out the set with a clean backhand winner down the line. Amazingly, he won 73 per cent of his service points in the second set after claiming just 28 per cent in the opener.

Nadal had won 17 consecutive sets in clay-court finals and it is his first 6-1 set lost on the surface since his loss in the Roland Garros quarter-finals against Novak Djokovic in 2015. The 31-year-old is 49-3 in tour-level clay-court finals after winning the opening set. His last loss under the circumstances came against Novak Djokovic at the Foro Italico four years ago.

THIRD SET - Nadal 6-3
Zverev had all the momentum in the final. He gained a break advantage with a smart return, looping it high and deep so he could quickly change court positioning, keeping Nadal back while hurrying up to the baseline. He took advantage of that by throwing in a drop shot and following it in, forcing an error from Nadal.

Rain caused a delay with Nadal serving at 1-3 15/0. The players quickly returned to court, and Nadal held. But the rain began to fall again, sending the players back inside. After a 45-minute delay, play resumed once again.

This time, Nadal immediately showed renewed aggressive intentions, pressuring Zverev and forcing the German to stay deep behind the baseline. That intensity helped the Spaniard break back for 3-3, before holding to 15 to take the lead. Zverev could not take advantage of Nadal's early struggles on his first serve in the decider, failing to push the left-hander back far enough with his second-serve returns.

Nadal maintained his aggression, pressuring Zverev to break again for 5-3, serving out the match without complications. He finished it off with beautiful touch at the net, carving a crosscourt backhand drop volley from near the service line.

The story of this match was simple — control the baseline, control the match. Nadal let off the gas in the second set, especially on the forehand wing, allowing Zverev to step in. But once the players returned after the second rain delay, the champion showed he would not make that mistake again, guaranteeing his return to the top spot of the ATP Rankings.

Rafael Nadal wygrał przerywany przez opady deszczu finał turnieju ATP World Tour Masters 100 na kortach ziemnych w Rzymie. Hiszpan przegrywał 2:3 w decydującym secie meczu z Alexandrem Zverevem, ale po wznowieniu gry pokonał Niemca.

Broniący tytułu Alexander Zverev stanął przed bardzo trudnym zadaniem. Rozgrywał 14. z rzędu mecz w ciągu trzech tygodni i mógł odczuwać spore zmęczenie. Do tego na jego drodze stanął Rafael Nadal, z którym wcześniej przegrał już czterokrotnie. Hiszpan był spragniony, aby po pięciu latach odzyskać mistrzostwo w Rzymie i powrócić tym samym na pierwszą pozycję w rankingu ATP.
16-krotny mistrz wielkoszlemowy zaczął niedzielny pojedynek od utraty serwisu, ale szybko uzyskał przewagę na korcie. Reprezentant naszych zachodnich sąsiadów nie był w stanie złapać właściwego dla siebie rytmu i przegrywał kolejne punkty. Nadal bardzo dobrze rozgrywał wymiany i wykorzystywał swoje szanse. Postarał się, aby 21-latek z Hamburga ani razu nie utrzymał podania i pewnie wygrał premierową odsłonę 6:1.

Ale Zverev nie przestraszył się bardziej utytułowanego rywala i zrobił wszystko, aby wrócić do gry. Postawiony pod ścianą prezentował coraz lepszy tenis i momentami gonił Hiszpana po głównej arenie Foro Italico. Nadal stracił inicjatywę i pozwolił Niemcowi na agresywną grę. Była to sytuacja, którą fani mogli zobaczyć już w sobotę, gdy w decydującym momencie Zverev odwrócił losy spotkania z Marinem Ciliciem.

Zverev uzyskał dwa przełamania i nie pozwolił, aby Nadal odrobił stratę. Drugiego seta wygrał 6:1, zaś w trzecim szybko postarał się o breaka. I wówczas, przy stanie 3:1 dla Niemca, nad Rzymem otworzyło się niebo i zaczął padać deszcz. Tenisiści zeszli z kortu na 10 minut, a po wznowieniu tenisista z Majorki zdołał tylko utrzymać podanie. Gra znów została przerwana, tym razem na ponad godzinę. Jak się okazało, był kluczowy moment tego pojedynku, bowiem po wznowieniu finału Rafa nie dał młodemu przeciwnikowi żadnych szans.

Hiszpan triumfował 6:1, 1:6, 6:3, ale zdecydowanie nie był to w jego wykonaniu wybitny mecz. W ciągu ponad dwóch godzin skończył 19 piłek i miał 21 niewymuszonych błędów. Do tego czterokrotnie stracił serwis, z czego dwa razy w fatalnym drugim secie, w którym posłał tylko jedno kończące uderzenie. Ostatecznie jednak to doświadczenie wzięło górę, gdyż Niemiec nie zachował spokoju po wznowieniu gry w połowie trzeciego seta. Sasza miał w niedzielę 21 winnerów i 29 pomyłek.

Nadal wygrał międzynarodowe mistrzostwa Włoch już po raz ósmy w karierze (wcześniej w latach 2005-2007, 2009-2010 i 2012-2013), ale na tytuł w Rzymie czekał od 2013 roku. To jego 78. trofeum w głównym cyklu, przez co wyprzedzi na liście wszech czasów Amerykanina Johna McEnroe'a i będzie samodzielnie zajmował siódmą pozycję. Dzięki zwycięstwu nad Zverevem powróci w poniedziałek na pierwsze miejsce w rankingu ATP, gdyż wyprzedzi Rogera Federera. Z kolei pokonany przez niego Niemiec zostanie najlepszym singlistą sezonu.

W niedzielę wyłoniono również nowych mistrzów turnieju debla. W Rzymie triumfowali Juan Sebastian Cabal i Robert Farah, którzy pokonali hiszpańsko-portugalską parę Pablo Carreno i Joao Sousa 3:6, 6:4, 10-4. Dla Kolumbijczyków to największe wspólne trofeum w głównym cyklu. Dzięki niemu są już niemal pewni występu w londyńskich Finałach ATP World Tour, do których bardzo pragnęli się w tym roku zakwalifikować.

Internazionali BNL d'Italia, Rzym (Włochy)
ATP World Tour Masters 1000, kort ziemny, pula nagród 4,872 mln euro
niedziela, 20 maja

finał gry pojedynczej:

Rafael Nadal (Hiszpania, 1) - Alexander Zverev (Niemcy, 2) 6:1, 1:6, 6:3

ATPWorldTour.com takes a look back at what we learned from the season's third and final Masters 1000 tournament on clay

1. Rafa Back On Top
Rafael Nadal is back at No. 1 in the ATP Rankings. The Spaniard, who won his eighth Internazionali BNL d'Italia title on Sunday (d. Zverev), begins his 174th week at the peak of the mountain.

Nadal also remains alone atop the all-time ATP World Tour Masters 1000 titles leaderboard. The Spaniard passed Novak Djokovic last month after winning his 11th Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters crown to capture his 31st Masters 1000 title. And with his eighth Rome crown, Nadal now has 32 Masters 1000 titles to Djokovic's 30.

2. Novak Is Back?
Speaking of Novak, is the Serbian officially “back”? It sure seemed that way in Rome, where Djokovic has now reached 12 quarter-finals in 12 appearances.

In his seventh tournament of 2018, the former No. 1 made his first tour-level quarter-final and semi-final of the season before falling to Nadal. Djokovic, though, still leads their FedEx ATP Head2Head series 26-25.

3. Kei Is Back, Too?
Djokovic, who's on the comeback from minor right-elbow surgery, wasn't the only former Top 5 player who looked in mid-season form in Italy. Former No. 4 Kei Nishikori, on the comeback from right-wrist surgery, made his second Masters 1000 quarter-final of the season (Monte-Carlo final, l. to Nadal) before falling to Djokovic 2-6, 6-1, 6-3.

The Japanese right-hander dismissed Feliciano Lopez in straight sets before fighting off then-No. 4 Grigor Dimitrov in three sets. Nishikori then dropped only three games against German Philipp Kohlschreiber.

4. Zverev Hitting Best Level Yet
Last year, Alexander Zverev announced his presence at one of the biggest tournaments on the ATP World Tour by winning the 2017 Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome, his maiden Masters 1000 title. Twelve months later, Zverev is making a habit of reaching Masters 1000 finals.

The No. 3 player in the ATP Rankings has now made five Masters 1000 title matches – 2017 Rome, 2017 Montreal, 2018 Miami, 2018 Madrid and 2018 Rome – and he's won three of the prestigious titles, including the 2018 Mutua Madrid Open earlier this month (d. Thiem). The 21-year-old has more Masters 1000 titles than any active player outside the “Big Four” of Nadal, Roger Federer, Djokovic and Andy Murray. Zverev is also in first place in the ATP Race To London.

5. Goffin As Resilient As Ever
In 2017, no one had more come-from-behind wins on the ATP World Tour than David Goffin (14). This year, the Belgian is as resilient as ever.

The 27-year-old reached the Rome quarter-finals, his fifth quarter-final of 2018, and he had to come back to do it. In the second round, Goffin fell behind a set against home favourite and Gazprom Hungarian Open titlist Marco Cecchinato. But Goffin came back for his fifth come-from-behind win of the season, according to his FedEx ATP Win/Loss Record.

The story of the fifth ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament of 2018

Zapraszamy do zabawy i wzięcia udziału w quizie, w którym można sprawdzić swoją wiedzę na temat turniejów WTA i ATP w Rzymie. Sprawdź, czy znasz odpowiedzi na wszystkie pytania!