Nadal progresses to last 16 at the Italian Open with win over Isner

(Tennis news) Defending champion Rafael Nadal defeated American tennis player John Isner 6-3 6-1 on Wednesday, thereby progressing to the last 16 of the Italian Open. The Spaniard returned from a rib injury this month and is now setting his sights on his 11th title in Rome. The 21 time Grand Slam winner successfully negated Isner’s serve, with the American having 450 aces in 2022, the highest at the ATP Tour. 

The match went with serve in the opening set but the American couldn’t capitalise on two break points at 3-3, which led to Nadal stepping up as the Spaniard broke in the next game. In the second set, Nadal broke the opening game as Isner ran out of gas. The Spaniard will face Denis Shapovalov in the next round, in their encounter last year, Nadal saved two match points in his journey for his 10th title in Rome.

Speaking after the match, Rafael Nadal said “The beginning of the match was not good for me and even he had some chances on the return to break. I was in his hands at that moment. Lucky that he missed those couple of shots. Then I was able to break and then the match changed." With reference to his next opponent Denis Shapovalov, the 21 time Grand Slam winner said “Last year was a joke, that match I saved here against him. I know how dangerous he is. I need to play well, of course, I need to play better than today. But it's another victory and now tomorrow again a chance to play against one of the best players in the world."

In other results, Stefanos Tsitsipas defeated Grigor Dimitrov 6-3 5-7 7-6(4) despite the fact that the Greek tennis player struggled in the second set when his opponent found his rhythm. With Tsitsipas serving for the match, Dimitrov broke to love and won four straight games to take it to the third set. The Bulgarian tennis player earned match points at 5-4 and 6-5 in the decider but Tsitsipas forced a tiebreak and went onto taking a 5-0 lead.

Speaking after the match, Tsitsipas said “Incredible fight, I'm extremely happy I was able to overcome this obstacle. Grigor played really well, and gave me a hard time on the court. The fact that I was able to process all of that and come back stronger in the third set tiebreak, it was such a great way to redeem myself."

Second seed Alexander Zverev, who lost in the Madrid Open final, also progressed to the last 16 after defeating Argentine Sebastian Baez 7-6(6) 6-3. Meanwhile, British number 1 Cameron Norrie lost to Marin Cilic 5-7 6-2 6-1 after suffering an injury scare. The 26 year old had problems in his right foot in the last 32 round and was seen receiving treatment in the third set and limped away at the end of the match.

Also read: Emma Raducanu forced to retire from Italian Open due to back injury

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