Rusty Nadal beaten in first event in 7 months

Rome, September 20

Rafael Nadal’s first tournament in seven months ended with a 6-2 7-5 loss to Diego Schwartzman in the quarterfinals of the Italian Open.

Nadal, a nine-time champion in Rome, had never lost to the 15th-ranked Schwartzman in nine previous meetings. But Schwartzman dictated the baseline rallies and produced a series of drop-shot winners as Nadal uncharacteristically made unforced errors and struggled to get his first serve into play.

For two months during the lockdown, Nadal said, he didn’t touch a tennis racquet.

“It’s a completely special year — an unpredictable year,” Nadal said. “At least I played three matches.”

While Nadal won his opening two matches this week in straight sets, his rustiness showed from the start against Schwartzman.

Nadal committed nearly twice as many unforced errors as Schwartzman, 30 to 17, and won only 29 of 63 points on his serve — resulting in five breaks.

“Losing that many serves you can’t expect to win a match,” Nadal said. “So something that I have to fix. I know how to do it.”

Nadal, who chose not to play the U.S. Open due to travel concerns amid the coronavirus pandemic, had not played a tournament since winning a title in Acapulco, Mexico, in February.

Focus on French Open

Nadal refused to make excuses for his shock defeat, insisting that his focus is now on fine-tuning his game ahead of the French Open which begins September 27.

“We can find excuses, but I didn’t play well enough. Then we have to think internally, ‘Why? How I can fix it?’” the 34-year-old Spaniard said. “Now is not the moment to find excuses. It’s just to accept that I didn’t play well enough. It was not my night. He played a great match, I think, and I didn’t. These things can happen. After such a long time without competing, I played two good matches, and now I played a bad one against a good opponent. That’s how it is. I just want to congratulate Diego and I’m going to keep working,” he added.

Nadal, who skipped the US Open in New York due to Covid-19 concerns, said he would regroup before heading to Paris, where he will bid for a record-extending 13th title. “I probably will go back home and then let’s see what’s going on,” the 19-time Grand Slam champion said. “I did my job here. I did a couple things well and other things bad. I’m going to keep working and keep practising with the right attitude and try to give myself a chance to be ready.” — Agencies

Halep, Djokovic reach final

Top seed Simona Halep overcame Spaniard Garbine Muguruza 6-3 4-6 6-4 today to reach the Italian Open final and stay on course for her third straight WTA title. Romanian Halep, who skipped the US Open amid the Covid-19 pandemic, won the Dubai title before the Tour was suspended and lifted the Prague crown on its resumption. The 2018 Roland Garros champion cruised through the opening set against Muguruza and was on course for an easy win but Muguruza, who took a medical timeout for a back issue, battled back from 2-4 down to win the second set and force a decider. Watched on by a small group of fans who were welcomed back for the first time since the Tour was shut down, Halep regained focus in the third set and switched gears to surge ahead 5-1. Muguruza was not done yet, however, as she clawed her way back to 5-4. But the 2016 French Open champion, who was serving to stay in the match, made successive double faults to gift victory to Halep. The Romanian is looking to extend her winning run to 14 matches and seal a first title in Rome.

Novak Djokovic was made to work hard by Casper Ruud in blustery conditions before the world No. 1 got past the unseeded Norwegian 7-5 6-3 to reach the final. The Serbian had to save two set points in the first set before finding his groove to reach his 10th title clash in Rome and remain on course to win his 36th ATP Masters 1000 crown and overtake Rafa Nadal on the all-time list. “It was a tough two-setter today. It was over two hours for two sets,” said Djokovic. Reuters

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