Leaving behind that defeat in the quarterfinals in Madrid, Rafael Nadal (4th in the world) turned the page and made a great debut at the Masters 1000 in Rome after beating John Isner (27th) 6-3, 6-1 in just one hour and 16 minutes of play.
With a more difficult game than normal due to the American’s serving and net style, the ten-time Foro Italico champion managed to dominate the situation without too many shocks. The break at 4-3 in the first set was the unbalancing one that tipped the balance in his direction and put the Central Court uphill for Isner.
In this way, The Spanish beast not only stretches the record to 8-1 against the current 27 in the world, instead, he increases to 19-0 aggregate in clay-court games against American players.
On the other hand, the 13 times champion of Roland Garros increased the number of victories in the Italian contest. 69 in total, remaining only four of the maximum record of triumphs in tournaments of this category that he owns: Monte-Carlo with 73.
In the next round, he will come face to face with Denis Shapovalov (16º) with whom he has a 4-1 record. The last confrontation was with a victory for Manacorí in the Australian Open 2022 quarterfinals.
