After a performance with ups and downs, Angelique Kerber reached the round of 16 of the WTA tournament in Rome for the first time since 2018. Rafael Nadal, on the other hand, failed in the 2nd round.
The 36-year-old three-time Grand Slam winner Kerber prevailed in her third round match against Aljaksandra Sasnowitsch (Belarus) 6:3, 7:6 (7:4) and is still without losing a set.
Kerber now against the world number one
In the round of the last 16, the hardest possible task awaits Kerber. The former world number one meets current number one Iga Swiatek (Poland), the two-time Rome winner won against Yulia Putinzewa (Kazakhstan) 6:3, 6:4 on Saturday.
Against the world number 113. Sasnowitsch had Kerber mostly in control of the game in the first set. In the second round, the Kiel team lost the thread after taking a 2-1 lead and ended up trailing 2-5. She then fought her way back into the match, fended off three set points and finally dominated the tiebreak. After 1:27 hours, Kerber converted her first match point.
Nadal disappoints in Rome
Meanwhile, Rafael Nadal is starting his last French Open without any sense of success. The Spanish tennis top star lost to Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz 1:6, 3:6 in the second round of the Masters tournament in Rome and was once again far from his best.
In his preparation for the clay court Grand Slam in Paris (from May 20th), which he has won 14 times, the 36-year-old Nadal recently failed in the round of 16 in Madrid. In Rome, where he is the record winner with ten titles, Nadal had to do hard work in the first round against the Belgian qualifier Zizou Bergs (4:6, 6:3, 6:4).
Hurkacz, ninth in the world rankings, who won his first ATP tournament on clay in Estoril in April, dominated from the start, especially with his serve, while Nadal barely found his way into the game. In the second round, the Spaniard kept up at least largely on an equal footing – but his performance still gave no hope of a big farewell in Roland Garros.
