Tennis Tournament: Rafael Nadal, the defending champion, moved into the last 16 of the Italian Open on Wednesday with a 6-3 6-1 triumph against big-serving American John Isner.
Isner struggled to find answers once Nadal, seeking his 11th championship at Rome’s Foro Italico, regained his stride after returning from a rib injury this month and falling at the quarter-final hurdle in Madrid last week.
In 2022, Isner has almost 450 aces on the ATP Tour, but Nadal countered his booming serve by receiving from well behind the baseline – even on his second serve – breaking four times and limiting him to just one ace in the match.
In the first set, Isner squandered two break points at 3-3 before Nadal ramped up his game and broke Isner in the next game after a slip in focus from the towering American.
“I didn’t have a fantastic start to the game, and he had numerous chances on the return to break. At the time, I was in his hands “In a post-match interview, Nadal remarked.
“Lucky that he missed those couple of shots. Then I was able to break and then the match changed.”Nadal broke in the first game of the second set to set the tone, and he did not look back as Isner ran out of gas. In the next round, Nadal will face Denis Shapovalov, against whom he saved two set points in the third round last year on his way to his 10th triumph.
“Last year was a joke, that match I saved here against him. I know how dangerous he is,” Nadal added.
“I need to play well, of course, I need to play better than today. But it’s another victory and now tomorrow again a chance to play against one of the best players of the world.”
In other matches, Stefanos Tsitsipas beat Grigor Dimitrov 6-3 5-7 7-6(4), but he had to work hard once the Bulgarian found his stride in the second set.
When Tsitsipas was serving for the match, Dimitrov broke to love and won four straight games to force a third set.
In the decider, Dimitrov had match points at 5-4 and 6-5, but the Greek fourth seed saved both and forced a tiebreak, where he surged to a 5-0 lead before securing his victory.
“What an incredible fight,” Tsitsipas said. “I’m incredibly delighted I was able to conquer this obstacle.” “Grigor was excellent on the court and gave me a tough time.
“The fact that I was able to process all of that and come back stronger in the third set tiebreak, was such a great way to redeem myself.”
Second seed Alexander Zverev, who lost in the final in Madrid at the weekend, also advanced to the last-16 after he dispatched Argentine Sebastian Baez 7-6(6) 6-3.
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