Rafael Nadal vs Alexander Zverev (6-1, 1-6, 6-3)
A rain-drenched Italian Open final saw Rafael Nadal return to the top of the men’s standing at the expense of defending Rome champion Alexander Zverev.
Nadal has been on impeccable form on clay all season long; and despite his quarter-final defeat to Dominic Thiem in the Madrid Open a couple of weeks ago, he showed online gambling sites why he is the King of Clay and why he should never be counted out.
Sure enough, it wasn’t a walk in the park against Zverev, undoubtedly the only player who could argue to have a better clay performance than Nadal this year. However, Rafa showed his veteran savviness and turned the game around in a thrilling finale at Foro Italico.
Highlights of the game
Nadal opened the contest in style and looked to be on his way to an easy victory, but defending champion Zverev bounced back in the second set and led by two in the decider.
Following a lengthy rain delay, however, the Spaniard turned the live betting odds around to secure the victory and his eighth Italian crown.
Rafa cruised to the first set in just 32 minutes, with Zverev barely avoiding the bagel after Nadal dropped serve in the opening game. Nonetheless, what appeared to be another routine victory for the Spaniard turned into an online sports betting thriller as the German youngster blistered through the second.
Zverev took the initiative in the second frame and was aggressive throughout, using his sharp serve and crisp ball striking to overpower Nadal and move 5-0 up. It didn’t help the 31-year-old Nadal that he made a number of uncharacteristic errors as the 21-year-old Hamburg native levelled at 1-1.
The World No.3, who won nine of the next 11 games from the second set, led 3-1 going into an 11-minute rain delay in the decider. Nadal won the game after the restart, only to be halted by a longer rain delay.
It proved costly for Zverev as the delay took the momentum away from him and allowed Nadal to regain his composure. The German would not win a game after that as the King of Clay won four straight games, hitting a drop volley winner to close the match and clinch the title.
“When it happened, the rain delay, I didn’t feel in that moment that it would help me,” Nadal said after the match.
“That’s my feeling. It’s true that, if we analyse it now, of course, we can say that the rain delay helped me. But really, in my opinion, what helped me is that I came back with a clear idea in terms of tactical issues and in terms of decisions that I took after that break.”
Key statistics
Nadal won the contest and the title in roughly two hours and nine minutes, during which he fired 19 winners. Interestingly, according to ATP, Rafa also dominated the shorter rallies despite common views in the sport that the Spaniard is at his best in long rallies.
In rallies under five counts, Nadal won 33 times to Zverev’s 25. Furthermore, in rallies from single digits (0-9), the former won 62 times while the latter only had 51.
Zverev hit a total of 21 winners in the match, but his 28 unforced errors doomed his shot at defending his title and winning a rare double—having won the Madrid Open title recently.
Nadal is now 5-0 against Zverev. He defeated the #NextGen star while representing Spain in the Davis Cup last month.
What’s next?
Nadal’s victory allowed him to return to the top of the men’s standing after losing it to Roger Federer due to his poor Madrid stint.
He also got a piece of history with the trophy—his 78th overall—as he surpassed John McEnroe for the most Open Era titles. He’s currently in fourth place behind Jimmy Connors, Federer and Ivan Lendl.
Moreover, he extended his record to 32 Masters 1000 title, two more than Novak Djokovic’s collection.
Meanwhile, despite the defeat that snapped his 13-match winning streak, Zverev will rise to the top of the ATP Race to London leaderboard. He already has a tour-leading 30 wins this year, five more than second-placed Dominic Thiem and seven ahead of third-placers Nadal and Juan Martin del Potro.
The two players are now headed to Roland Garros for the French Open. Betting sites favourite Nadal, who won the title in 2017, is aiming for the ‘Undécima’ at the clay grand slam; and his latest win is undoubtedly a warning to all his rivals that are eyeing to stop him.
Zverev, on the other hand, will hope to replicate the form that rattled Nadal in this contest and build from it to win his first major title.
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