Rafael Nadal gets revenge

Rome, May 14

One week after his quarterfinal loss to Alexander Zverev at the Madrid Open, Rafael Nadal took his revenge against the German at the Italian Open here today. The nine-time champion saved all eight break points he faced in the second set to defeat Zverev 6-3 6-4 and enter the semifinals. Nadal’s win ended a streak of three straight losses against the world No. 6. “I played a very solid match with not many mistakes, playing the way that I have to,” Nadal said.

Nadal is now just two wins away from equalling Novak Djokovic’s record haul of 36 ATP Masters 1000 titles.

The Spaniard is through to his 12th semifinal here. He will face first-time ATP Masters 1000 semifinalist Reilly Opelka tomorrow. Opelka defeated Federico Delbonis 7-5 7-6(2).

In the women’s tournament, top-ranked Ash Barty retired from her rainy quarterfinal against 17-year-old American Coco Gauff while leading 6-4 2-1 due to a right arm injury. — Agencies