Tag Archives: Italian Open

Diego Schwartzman to Face Novak Djokovic in First Group Stage Match at Maiden ATP Finals

Posted on by
Reply

Diego Schwartzman is preparing for the big dance…

The 28-year-old Argentine professional tennis player, who clinched the final spot at the prestigious season-ending ATP Finals, will play ATP Tour World No. 1 Novak Djokovic in his first group stage match.

Diego Schwartzman

Schwartzman, competing in his first-ever ATP Finals, will be the first Argentine player to compete at the tournament since Juan Martin del Potro in 2013.

Schwartzman is the eighth singles player from Argentina to feature in the 50-year history of the tournament, following in the footsteps of 1974 titlist Guillermo Vilas (1974-77, ’79-82), Jose-Luis Clerc (1980-83), Guillermo Coria (2003-05), 2005 champion David Nalbandian (2003, ’05-06), Gaston Gaudio (2004-05), Mariano Puerta (2005) and 2009 runner-up del Potro (2008-09, ’12-13).

Schwartzman joins fellow debutant Andrey Rublev of Russia, alongside former qualifiers  Djokovic of Serbia, Spain’s Rafael Nadal, Dominic Thiem of Austria, Russia’s Daniil Medvedev, defending champion Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece and Germany’s Alexander Zverev in the 2020 singles field.

There will be four players aged 24 and under at the ATP Finals for the second straight year. The last time this happened in back-to-back years was in 2008-09.

Schwartzman broke into the Top 10 of the ATP Rankings for the first time at No. 8 on 12 October after a run to his first Grand Slam championship semi-final at Roland Garros (l. to Nadal). A few weeks earlier, the Buenos Aires resident beat  Nadal en route to his first ATP Masters 1000 final at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome (l. to Djokovic).

As the first Argentine in the Top 10 since del Potro in May 2019, Schwartzman also finished runner-up at two ATP 250 events in a reduced 2020 season — at the Cordoba Open (l. to Garin) in February and at the bett1HULKS Championship runner-up in Cologne (l. to Zverev) in October.

At 5’7”, Schwartzman is the shortest player in the Top 10 since 5’6″ Harold Solomon, whose last week in the Top 10 began on 27 July 1981.

Diego Schwartzman Upsets ‘King of Clay’ Rafael Nadal in the Italian Open Quarterfinals

Posted on by
Reply

Diego Schwartzman has taken down the King of Clay in his ‘best match ever”…

The 28-year-old Argentine professional tennis player defeated former World No. 1 Rafael Nadal 6-2, 7-5 in the quarterfinals of the Italian Open on Saturday.

Diego Schwartzman

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, as he played in his first tournament in seven months.

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

“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 in the US Open because of travel concerns amid the coronavirus pandemic, had not played a tournament since winning a title in Acapulco, Mexico, in February. He now has one week to regroup before he attempts to win a record-extending 13th French Open title. Roland Garros starts next weekend.

“I’m going to keep working and keep practicing with the right attitude and I’m going to try to give [myself] a chance to be ready,” Nadal said.

Schwartzman came up with a series of clutch shots, perhaps none better than during the second game of the second set when he won a 17-shot rally to save a break point by running down a drop shot and passing Nadal with a forehand that landed on the line.

“It was my best match ever,” Schwartzman said.

Rafael Nadal to Face Pablo Carreno Busta in His Return to ATP Tour at the Italian Open

Posted on by
Reply

Rafael Nadal is heading back to competitive tennis play…

The 34-year-old tennis star will make his return to the ATP Tour against US Open semifinalist Pablo Carreno Busta at the Italian Open in Rome.

Rafael Nadal

In his first appearance since the ATP Tour suspension in March, the nine-time titlist will need to be at the top of his game when he meets his countryman for the sixth time in their head-to-head series (Nadal leads 5-0).

Carreno Busta has made a strong return to the ATP Tour, reaching his second US Open semi-final earlier this week. The Spaniard also lifted his maiden doubles trophy at the Western & Southern Open last month.

Nadal and Carreno Busta most recently met in the third round of this year’s Australian Open, with Nadal winning in straight sets. If he gets past Carreno Busta, he could meet Western & Southern Open finalist Milos Raonic in the third round. Nadal shares the bottom quarter of the draw with eighth seed Diego Schwartzman and US Open quarterfinalist Andrey Rublev.

The five-time year-end World No. 1 enters Rome with a 13-3 record this year. At his most recent event in February, Nadal did not drop a set en route to his 85th tour-level trophy at the Acapulco Open in Mexico.

Chasing his 10th title at the Foro Italico, the Spaniard will look to add to his 61-6 record at the ATP Masters 1000 event. Nadal is currently on a 10-match winning streak in Rome, having won the past two editions of the tournament. The 35-time ATP Masters 1000 winner won three-set battles against Alexander Zverev in the 2018 championship match and Novak Djokovic in last year’s final.

If Nadal triumphs for the third straight year in Rome, he will capture a 10th trophy at a single event for the fourth time in his career. He owns 12 French Open trophies and has won 11 crowns at both the Monte Carlo Masters and the Barcelona Open. Roger Federer is the only other player to have reached double digits at a single ATP Tour event in the Open Era. He owns 10 trophies at the Noventi Open in Halle and the Swiss Indoors Basel.

Rafael Nadal Outlasts Alexander Zverev for His Record-Extending Eighth Italian Open Title

Posted on by
Reply

Rafael Nadal is still the King of Clay…

The 31-year-old Spanish tennis star profited from a timely rain delay at a break when he was down in the final set to hold off defending champion and No. 2 seed Alexander Zverev 6-1, 1-6, 6-3 at the Italian Open in Rome.

Rafael Nadal

It was a record-extending eighth Italian Open title for Nadal, who’ll head to Roland Garros as the new world No. 1.

Nadal surrendered top spot in the ATP world rankings to Roger Federer last week after Nadal’s Madrid Open quarterfinal defeat to Dominic Thiem — the only blight on an otherwise impeccable clay-court season this year.

However, Nadal will return to the summit when the latest ATP rankings are published on Monday after he overcame world No. 3 Zverev in a thrilling finale on the Foro Italico’s Campo Centrale.

Billed as a clash between the two current top-form players on clay, Sunday’s final did not disappoint. After two hotly-contested semifinals on Saturday — Nadal saw off long-time rival Novak Djokovic while Zverev smashed a racket in anger during his victory over Marin Cilic — the championship match ebbed and flowed throughout.

Despite dropping serve in the opening game, victory looked like a foregone conclusion for 10-time French Open champion Nadal as he blistered through the first set in 33 minutes to put his young opponent on the back foot.

However, Zverev produced a phenomenal set of tennis to force the decider. The German changed tactics in the second set, becoming much more aggressive on the front foot and overwhelming Nadal with an array of powerful strokes.

The 21-year-old secured a double-break to move 5-0 ahead. After Nadal prevented the bagel, he leveled the match in style with a ferocious backhand winner down the line.

Rising star Zverev’s confidence grew further as he immediately broke Nadal at the start of the third, before the match’s turning point came in agonizing fashion.

With Zverev leading 3-1 in the final set, rain intervened and caused an hour’s delay in play. It proved pivotal, allowing Nadal precious time to regain his composure and hit back immediately after the restart.

Nadal rattled off four consecutive games — including two successive breaks of serve — to move 5-3 ahead before serving out a fifth to secure his eighth Italian crown and send out a warning to his rivals ahead of the year’s second grand slam.

Suarez Navarro Defeats Simona Halep to Reach Italian Open Final

Posted on by
Reply

Carla Suarez Navarro is one win away from an Italian affair to remember…

The 26-year-old Spanish tennis player beat Romania’s Simona Halep 2-6 6-3 7-5 at the Italian Open to reach her ninth career final.

Carla Suarez Navarro

“It was such a tough match from a physical standpoint,” Suarez Navarro told SuperTennis TV. “The biggest improvement I’ve made this year is in my mind.”

Suarez Navarro, who leads the tour this year in wins with 31, won the opening two games but once Halep settled down she started to dominate the rallies with her precise ground strokes.

Halep reeled off six straight games to take the opening set.

An easy miss off of a bounced overhead in the third game of the following set seemed to rattle Halep’s confidence as she became more tentative, especially on her forehand.

Suarez Navarro took advantage to take the lead as Halep’s frustration became clearly visible after she cracked her racket in distress in the sixth game.

With more time to hit, the Spaniard forced a decider repeatedly running Halep around the court with her breath-taking one-handed backhand.

Neither player could hold serve in the first eight games of the decider before Halep led to lead 5-4.

Suarez Navarro then got her service game together and after breaking again to lead 6-5, finally got over the line with her third match point.

“Her style is to hit the ball very high. It disturbs me, and I couldn’t hit anymore in the third set,” Halep said.

She’ll next face two-time Rome champion Maria Sharapova, who reached the final by overpowering qualifier Daria Gavrilova 7-5, 6-3 in an all-Russian matchup.

Muguruza’s Cinderella Run Comes to a Halt at the French Open

Posted on by
Reply

The clock has struck midnight for Garbiñe Muguruza, but not before making a massive impression at Roland Garros.

The 20-year-old half-Spanish-half-Venezuelan tennis player’s Cinderella run at the French Open came toan end at the hands of No. 7 seed Maria Sharapova.

Garbiñe Muguruza

Sharapova rallied to beat Muguruza, who was competing in her first Grand Slam quarterfinal, 1-6, 7-5, 6-1 in the quarterfinals on Tuesday.

Sharapova, the 2012 winner, overcame a sluggish start for the second match in a row, having defeated No. 19 Sam Stosur 3-6, 6-4, 6-0 in the fourth round. She improved to 18-3 in major quarterfinals and won her 48th match at Roland Garros (against 10 losses), breaking a tie with Serena Williams for the most among active players.

Williams, the world No. 1, barely added to her total at this year’s tournament because she proved no match in the second round for Muguruza, currently ranked No. 35 in the world.

Muguruza, a player to watch for a while, entered the French Open 0-5 against top-five players and 3-8 against the top 10. In her two most recent tournaments, she’d lost to Stosur in the second round of the Madrid Open and to No. 61 Francesca Schiavone in the second round of the Italian Open.

But the French Open was a different story as she crushed Williams 6-2, 6-2, followed that upset with two more routine victories and rolled to an early lead against Sharapova.

Muguruza dominated the first set on by breaking her opponent three times in five chances and hitting only seven unforced errors compared to 13 for Sharapova, who served at only 55 percent and won 2-of-9 second-serve points.

Sharapova, however, showed some of her trademark fight in the second set. After giving away a break lead with back-to-back double faults, the 27-year-old Russian had to hold at 4-5 to stay in the match. Muguruza then played a poor service game to get broken, and Sharapova served out the set.

“A lot of the games in the first set she was always up 30‑Love, 40‑Love, and then I’d win a point or two,” Sharapova said. “Then she’s the one with the confidence. You never are giving her a chance to think. In the second set, when you’re making her hit a second ball after her serve or when you’re being a bit more aggressive on the second serves, taking a bit more chances, all of a sudden she’s not hitting so freely.”

The key point of the third set came when Sharapova saved five break points while serving at 2-1. Both women struggled to string together two good points in the 10-minute game, with Muguruza taking the more offensive stance and forcing Sharapova to defend.

Sharapova struggled all day with the depth on her shots and couldn’t open up the court consistently enough to hit through her young opponent. But the Muguruza forehand broke down under pressure and began to leak errors. Sharapova finally earned the hold, won the next game for a double-break lead, at 4-1, and coasted from there.

“I knew that the match wasn’t over,” Sharapova said, when asked about the quick first set. “I still had a fair bit of time to change things around. Little by little I started playing a bit better, started getting in the court a little bit more, playing a little bit more aggressive, serving better than I did in the first set, returning as well, giving myself more looks at break points.”

“It’s tough now because I had the opportunity to win the match,” said Muguruza. “But I need more experience in these kind of matches. I think I played very good in three sets, but in the important moments I need to improve my mentality.”

Nadal Soundly Defeats Roger Federer to Earn His Seventh Italian Open Title

Posted on by
Reply

Once again, Rafael Nadal is proving to be the man to beat on clay…

The 26-year-old Spanish tennis star dropped only four games in beating Roger Federer in 68 minutes to earn his seventh Italian Open title.

Rafael Nadal

“I’m playing much better than I dreamed of a few months ago,” Nadal said. “I’m doing the right things to play well.”

In the 30th career meeting between the archrivals, who share 28 Grand Slam singles titles amongst them, Nadal claimed the 6-1 6-3 victory at Rome’s Foro Italico.

He has now won six of his eight tournaments since returning in February from a seven-month break due to knee injury.

Nadal improved to 20-10 in his career against Federer, and he showed once again that he will be the player to beat when the French Open starts next Sunday. He’s looking to win an Open-era record eighth title at Roland Garros.

With 11 wins in their 13 previous matches on clay, Nadal was a heavy favorite against Federer in Rome, but the way he dispatched of his competitor was still quite impressive.

“He played very aggressively from the start,” said Federer. “He didn’t make too many mistakes and had a good match overall.

“Rafa has much more topspin than all the guys I played this week, so the change was quite a big one. I tried to play offensively, but unfortunately I didn’t have the best day.”

“It didn’t go the way I was hoping it to go.”