ROME – Rafa Nadal is back on the Foro Italico throne after defeating Alexander “Sascha” Zverev 6-1, 1-6, 6-3 in a see-saw final that lasted two hours and six minutes and was twice suspended by rain delays. Nadal’s eighth title in Rome comes after a five-year drought. Between 2014 and 2017, Djokovic captured two titles, while Murray and Zverev won one each.
In Sunday’s final, Rafa took advantage of two rain delays that came when Zverev was up a break in the third and final set, after the German dominated the second with the score of 6-1.
When the two contestants came back on the court with the 21-year-old German leading 3-2, Nadal won four consecutive games that allowed him to capture the title and sit on top of the world rankings once again. When the new rankings come out on Monday, Federer will slip down to No. 2, but Roger could reclaim the No. 1 sport if Rafa fails to defend his French Open title. The Swiss superstar will skip the biggest clay-court tournament in the world to better prepare the grass court season.
Nadal’s experience prevailed over Zverev’s youth especially in the way the two managed the rain delays that affected the championship match. Nadal dominated the first set 6-1, but Zverev – who was riding on a 13-match winning streak – bounced back and claimed the second set with the same score. The German then broke the Spaniard at the beginning of the third set and was up 3-1 when the rain suspended play for the first time. When the two players came back on the court, Nadal held serve for 3-2 before the match was suspended for the second time.
When play resumed, the Spaniard became unstoppable and marched on to his eighth title in the Italian capital. It wasn’t the greatest final in terms of quality and entertainment. The first two sets were dominated by either player and the rain delays caused a major momentum shift in the third.
It will be interesting to see how Zverev will fare in Grand Slam events this year. So far, he hasn’t been able to pass the round of 16. “In Paris I will not be on Rafa’s side of the draw… which is a very good thing,” Zverev joked in his post-match press conference.
“I believe Sascha will have a few Slams in his resume two years from now,” Nadal said. Zverev is now the No. 3 player in the world and the Fab Four are at the end of their careers. I believe that Nadal’s prophecy will become true, even if best of three sets and best of five sets are almost two different sports.
The women’s final that preceded the men’s championship match was very disappointing, with Elina Svitolina absolutely dominating Simona Halep 6-0, 6-4.
(Article translation provided by T&L Global – Translation & Language Solutions – www.t-lglobal.com )
