The Spaniard continues his impressive streak by not losing two games in a row on clay and moves on to the round of 16, where he will face Shapovalov.
Every time Rafa Nadal loses a match on clay, such as the quarterfinals of the Madrid Masters 1,000 against Carlos Alcaraz, the possibility opens up that he will lose twice in a row on this surface for the first time. But every time that door opens, Nadal closes it unceremoniously. The last to succumb to Nadal’s survival on clay this Wednesday was John Isner, who beat the Spaniard very easily (6-3 and 6-1). Much more than expected as the American, despite his limited mobility on these courts, has always been a major threat to Nadal due to his power on serve.
Isner is not a clay court player and needs cement to bring out his best version, but he is one of the few tennis players, along with Robin Soderling and Novak Djokovic, who is able to win two sets against Nadal at Roland Garros. The American rook fell in that first round match in 2011, but he always wondered if he could ever tip the Spaniards on his favorite surface.
However, that opportunity never came. The three times they have been seen on the ground they have fallen on the side of Nadal, who, moreover, has never dropped a set since that clash in Paris. Wednesday’s win at the Foro Italico was the most convincing of his career against the North Carolina player, with just four games on loan. Refusing to leave the top tier, the 37-year-old is still among the top 30 in the world, but his time to beat Nadal on clay has passed, although he briefly dreamed of it.
Isner started the game comfortably with the serve and kept the tie until he had two break points at 3-3. A ‘break’ in favor of this player is usually synonymous with death, so having Nadal fix them was a mental blow to the game. The American giant has never recovered since that second breakball lost nine of the last ten games of the game.
In just over an hour and a quarter of an hour, Nadal avoided his second consecutive loss on clay and showed a very strong image in a tournament he has won ten times since it was released in 2005. His way to Roland Garros continues with the addition of stops and the next , in the round of 16 of this Masters 1,000, will face Denis Shapovalov. The Canadian defeated Lorenzo Sonego in the first round, with monumental fury at the tournament and from the Italian crowd, and Nikoloz Basilashvili in the second, 6-4 and 7-6 (5), to face each other for the sixth time in his career to Nadal.
Shapovalov, number 16 in the world, took his first duel at the Masters 1,000 in Canada in 2017 and has since succumbed to the Spaniards. Not without presenting a fight as he won at least one set in the last two clashes and in the last one, in Australia 2022, the Canadian forced him to the fifth set. “I know how dangerous it is and I remember the game we played here last year. I will have to play better than today to have options,” Nadal said after his win over Isner.
Source: La Verdad
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