Nadal returns to Rome with hard-fought victory over impressive Zizou Bergs
The Spaniard continued his farewell tour with a challenging three-set win over Zizou Bergs to move into the second round in Rome
Inside/Panoramic
The third leg of Rafael Nadal‘s farewell tour started on a victorious note, as the 10-time champion returned to the Italian Open with a battling win over the hugely impressive Zizou Bergs, defeating the Belgian 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 at the Foro Italico in front of friends, family and a rapturous Rome crowd.
Despite falling short of his scintillating clay-court best, it was another highly successful outing for Nadal, whose body held up just as well as it did in Madrid last week, while he also extends what is likely to be his final appearance at the Italian Open. He will play seventh seed Hubert Hurkacz in the second round.
But anyone who thought the 22-time Grand Slam champion would be given an easy passage into the last 64 by the world No 108 was sorely mistaken.
Bergs was excellent throughout, both tactically and technically, as he targeted Nadal’s backhand with persistently precise and powerful groundstrokes while defending his serve valiantly. The Belgian refused to allow the weight of the moment to get to him, instead raising his game to match the occasion.
It was Nadal who struck first, however, breaking in the fifth game to lull the Italian crowd into a false of security as Bergs broke straight back in the sixth.
As the Belgian began to defend his own serve with increasing confidence, a hushed murmuring rippled around Campo Centrale following the ninth game, a worryingly loose service game from the Spaniard which contained two double-faults and handed Bergs another break at a crucial juncture.
Bergs served out the set to love in emphatic style, sealing the opener with a jumping cross-court forehand drive volley to leave the Italian crowd in a somewhat stunned silence.
rafa roars back to take the match to a decider
Throughout the opener, Bergs had outplayed Nadal in most statistical areas, with Nadal’s 16 unforced errors particularly hurting him.
But this is Rafa in Rome. Whatever the size of the occasion, or the lack of match time, it still somehow always seemed inevitable that he would turn the match around.
Nadal duly obliged.
A lengthy delay due to a crowd issue near the start of the second set appeared to give the Spaniard the chance to reset, with Nadal winning the opening six points of the middle stanza en route to moving a break up.
That break proved crucial, as the rest of the set went on serve with Nadal repeatedly having to fight hard to stave off a break back from his opponent.
Into a decider it went, and – as has time and again been the tale of Rafa in clay-court battle – the 10-time champion turned the screw on his opponent at the perfect moment, using the momentum beautifully to carry him to an early advantage in the third stanza.
Nadal broke Bergs in the third game of the final set, prompting a delirious response from a crowd who have watched this player dominate here for nearly two decades.
The remainder of the contest was not all smooth sailing, however, as Bergs yet again proved his mettle, applying pressure on Nadal in the sixth game, as the Spaniard fended off three consecutive break points to keep hold of a vital lead.
The rest of the match went on serve, and Nadal stepped up to baseline in the 10th game of the decider to comfortably serve out a thoroughly testing win just as rain began to fall around the Foro Italico.
nadal not at his best, but farewell tour gathering momentum
“It was not my best match,” Nadal revealed in his on-court interview. “I have been practising much better than I played today but I found a way to win, and that’s super-important. As I said before, my game is more unpredictable now, I didn’t play much in two years. But I think I can play much better than today. I hope to do it in the next round.
“It’s always been emotional to play here. [One of] the most important tournaments in my career, and I am so excited to be able to play here.”
Bergs has earned his own chapter in Nadal’s goodbye story. He pushed the Spaniard close and did not give the 14-time Roland-Garros champion any respect until the match was over, when he simply told Nadal at the net, “this was an honour.”
For Nadal, he may leave the court feeling slightly disappointed with his own level, but there were enough flashes of the old clay-court brilliance for him not to be too concerned.
Today was all about getting the victory, and he did just that. With it, Nadal’s farewell tour only continues to gather ever more pace and momentum.
