MADRID, 9 May. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Spanish tennis player Rafa Nadal surpassed this Thursday his debut at the Masters 1000 in Rome, fifth of the season, after defeating with much more work than expected and recovering from a bad start against the Belgian Zizou Bergs, against whom he had to come back to win in three sets 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.
The Spaniard continues to accumulate competitive tennis minutes on the court. In his debut at the Foro Italico he spent more than two and a half hours where he went from less to more, with an excessively erratic first round that he knew how to overcome to finish the match with good feelings and a predictable step forward against a rival, classified from the previous one and that gave him work until the end.
The former world number one went from less to more and after losing the first set, he settled much better, refined his shots from the back of the court, especially his ‘drive’, and ended the resistance of a Bergs and confirmed the improvement that he had offered last week at the Mutua Madrid Open with something that until now in this round he had not achieved, such as coming back from a game.
The start of the match was positive for Nadal who already confirmed from the beginning that Bergs was not willing to give him any ease and that he would need a good version. A good game on the second serve of his rival allowed him to break and go 3-1, but there came the first ‘jam’ for the winner of 22 ‘Grand Slams’.
Errors began to appear in Nadal’s game, unable to find a good rhythm in the match, while the Belgian, dominating with his ‘drive’ when playing, did not miss the opportunity to recover the break instantly. The Spaniard failed to react and in another bad game with his serve, he handed it over with a double fault to Bergs, who did not forgive to close the set later with his serve.
The man from Manacor seemed a bit frustrated with his tennis, but this time he was able to be patient and recover little by little in a second round that was initially interrupted by a medical mishap in the stands of the central court of the Foro Italico. That break did not sit badly with the former world number one, as he began to improve, with fewer unforced errors and more solidity from the baseline.
The ten-time champion on the Roman red clay withstood Bergs’ attacks in a second game that he ended up taking to take an advantage that this time he was able to consolidate to take a promising 3-0 lead. However, despite the rise in level, the Belgian continued to offer resistance and always demanding that the Spaniard not lower his tennis, now with fewer concessions.
Nadal suffered in his last two serves, with a break ball included at 5-4, but he took them forward to force a third and final set where his best version of the match was seen, with his drive doing a lot of damage, although It ‘only’ served to give him a small advantage because Bergs fought until the end of the match.
Thus, the 108th in the world resisted, clinging to their service and waiting for an opportunity to appear for the rest. This arose, and very optimally, in the sixth game, a 0-40 that he could not take advantage of because Nadal used experience and good shots to lift it. The Manacorí closed the duel without any further scares to meet a rival with theoretical greater potential such as the Polish Hubert Hurkacz, seventh favorite, but more ‘affordable’ on clay.
2024-05-09 14:30:32
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