Rome Italy) – It was tough, but Spaniard Rafael Nadal managed to overcome the first round at the Masters 1000 in Rome this Thursday. The former world number 1 had a hard time against the Belgian Zizou Bergs, who came from quali and took the lead, winning the first set. However, the Mallorca left-hander fought until the end and reacted, looking for a turnaround and closing the game with partials of 4/6, 6/3 and 6/4, after 2h47 of fighting.
In the second round, Rafa will face the Polish Hubert Hurkacz, seed 8, who is ahead of the competition and debuts against the Spaniard. It will be the first time that the two measure strength on the circuit. Nadal has won the only two matches he has played against Poles, while Hurkacz has 25 wins and 18 losses against Spaniards.
Holding the record for titles (10) and victories (70) in the competition, the Spaniard is also the tennis player who has made the most appearances at Foro Italico, making his 19th appearance this year. In seeking a comeback against Bergs, he won his debut at the tournament for the 18th time, where he only fell straight away in 2008, when he was defeated by compatriot Juan Carlos Ferrer in his only fall on clay debut at ATP level.
In addition to avoiding a rare debut defeat, Nadal also extended his positive run against the Belgians on clay. After losing to Olivier Rochus in his debut in ATP tournaments, in Mallorca 2002, when he was only 762nd in the world, the Spaniard never lost again and now has 13 consecutive victories against rivals from Belgium on his favorite surface.
Oscillation and turnaround in the 1st set
Nadal had a very firm start to the match, he was aggressive and managed to control the points well, making few mistakes. With a break in the fourth game, the left-hander from Mallorca looked like he would open 4/1 without any problems, but he took the break back and little by little he lost a little intensity and made more mistakes.
On the other side, Bergs took advantage of the situation to grow and equalize the confrontation. The 24-year-old Belgian grew in the final stretch, scored a break in the ninth game and confirmed the serve of zero in the sequence to close the set. Nada ended with just 55% service success, compared to the rival’s 67%, he had five fewer winning balls (4 to 9) and three fewer unforced errors (4 to 7).
Comeback from Nadal
Right at the beginning of the second half, a spectator fell ill in the stands and interrupted the match for a few minutes. Nadal took advantage of the break to talk a little with coach Carlos Moyá, confirmed the serve in the first game and managed a break soon after, with a double fault from Bergs, to take a 3/0 lead soon after.
The game was even and Rafa’s minimal advantage was threatened on two occasions. The first of them in the fifth game, when he saved a break-point, and the other in the ninth and last, saving a break-point again before confirming. The Spaniard increased his service success to 71%, lost the battle of winners (7 to 14) and had just three unforced errors compared to Bergs’ five.
Ups and downs before the turn
In the third and decisive set, the left-hander from Mallorca wavered a little, but held on in the important points and secured the victory. A break in the third game gave Rafa an advantage, which he knew how to manage until the end. After losing a break point in the fifth, he got out of the hole in the sixth, when he faced 0-40 and confirmed it with a lot of fight.
Bergs even tried to press in the eighth, but did not go beyond 30-30 on the Spaniard’s serve and had no more chances before the end. Nadal finished the match with a good overall performance on serve, with 66% success, two aces and four double faults. He made six fewer unforced errors than the Belgian (13 to 19), but scored 11 fewer winning balls (18 to 29).
