“It’s an important win against a young player,” Rafael Nadal after his thrilling victory against Denis Shapovalov

“It’s an important win against a young player,” Rafael Nadal after his thrilling victory against Denis Shapovalov

Rafael Nadal

Rafael Nadal survived a scare against Denis Shapovalov in the third round of the Italian Open 2021, as the Spaniard had to defeat the youngster in a three set battle. Nadal, seeded second in Rome, lost the first set and was a break down in the second set, before he made his comeback.

The final score-line of the match was 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 in Rafael Nadal’s favor. The Spaniard will now face the winner of the match between Alexander Zverev and Kei Nishikori in the quarterfinals. The second seed served poorly against the Canadian, as he was broken five times during the whole match.

Rafael Nadal has now beaten two incredibly talented players in his first two matches in Rome. He defeated Jannik Sinner in straight sets in the second round, and defeated Denis Shapovalov in three sets in the third round.

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Rafael Nadal hopes to recover in time for his quarterfinal match

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Rafael Nadal’s match against Denis Shapovalov lasted for almost 3 hours and 30 minutes, and the Spaniard hopes to recover in time for his quarterfinal clash on Friday. The second seed stated that a win against Shapovalov was a good confidence booster, going further in the tournament.

“It’s an important win against a young player. It’s a nice confidence booster.” “I played for three hours and a half. Let’s see how I wake up tomorrow morning. It’s always tough to recover from these kinds of matches and play the next day,” said Nadal.

Rafael Nadal will look forward to work on his second serve going into the French Open 2021. The Spaniard could manage to win just 49% of his points on second serve. Overall, it was a very close match, and Denis Shapovalov was unfortunate to have missed out on a win. The Canadian won 115 points in the match, whereas, Nadal won 120 points.

Rafael Nadal will hope to claim his 10th title in Rome this year, and second title of the season. Rafael Nadal lifted the Barcelona Open 2021 title, after defeating Stefanos Tsitsipas in a three set thriller. However, he has suffered quarterfinal losses at the Madrid Masters and Monte Carlo Masters.

Also Read: Nadal survives Shapovalov scare, saves two match points to enter the quarter-final