Rafael Nadal is on a comeback trail here in the Italian Open after his semi-final exit in the Madrid Open. The Spaniard is now through to the third round of the competition and he’s one of the favourites to win by the Italian Open 2022 odds.
Another player aiming for a bounce back is Alexander Zverev, who was having a poor start earlier this season. The German is still stinging from his Madrid Open final loss, and he’s also through to the third round.
Elsewhere, Nadal’s Big 3 colleague in Novak Djokovic is also doing well in Italy and he’ll aim for another deep tournament run in order to maintain his World No. 1 status.
Read on below as SBOTOP brings to you the latest Italian Open 2022 updates.
Rafael Nadal maintains incredible clay court record
Fresh from losing to Carlos Alcaraz in Madrid last week, Rafael Nadal went right back to work for his second tournament since his rib injury.
After getting a bye in the Round of 32, Nadal defeated John Isner, 6-3, 6-1, but it wasn’t easy as the final score would suggest.
The first set was a neck-and-neck battle until 3-3 when Isner had two break point chances but failed to capitalise with his multiple errors. When Nadal took the 4-3 lead, he carried the momentum into the second set to finish the match in 76 minutes.
Rafael Nadal has still never lost two consecutive matches on clay court, which is quite an achievement in his decorated career.
The World No. 4 is set to take on Denis Shapovalov next in the third round for a rematch of last year’s epic. Nadal holds a 4-1 edge against Shapovalov in their head-to-heads but barely survived in their five-set thriller during the Australian Open few months ago.
“Last year was a joke, the match that I saved here against Shapovalov. I need to play better than today, but after a while without being on court it is another victory and I have the chance again to play against one of the best players in the world,” said Nadal.
Novak Djokovic seeking his first title this season
For Novak Djokovic to get his first trophy of the season, he must go through a familiar foe in Stan Wawrinka. These two veterans have faced off 25 times prior to the third round here in Italy, and fans are left to wonder on whether or not this is their last meeting.
Djokovic holds the 19-6 advantage over Wawrinka in their head-to-heads, but the latter is on a two-match win streak over the former – including the 2019 US Open final. Wawrinka also famously beat Djokovic in the 2015 Rolando Garros final.
The Serbian is coming off a win over Aslan Karatsev in the Round of 32, while his Canadian counterpart just defeated Laslo Djere.
Both of these players are motivated to win for different reasons. Djokovic must reach the semi-finals of this tournament in order to retain his place atop the ATP rankings, while Wawrinka is looking to stave off retirement for now.
“This is exactly the reason I’ve been practicing and doing the rehab for more than a year. At my age, after all I’ve done in my career, to get the chance to play in front of the fans is why I’m still playing,” said Wawrinka.
Alexander Zverev seeking redemption arc
The German took the headlines few days ago for the wrong reasons as he slammed the ATP for the Madrid Open scheduling, which apparently cost him a title against Carlos Alcaraz.
“One thing I have to say is that the ATP’s job was an absolute disgrace this week. Two days ago I went to bed at 4, 4:30AM. Yesterday I went to bed at 5:20AM,” Zverev said. “You know, if any normal person goes to bed at 4AM, the next night at 5AM, it’ll be a tough time just to be awake for them.”
“And for me to play a final against Carlos Alcaraz, who for me is the best player in the world right now, in a Masters 1000 event the next day, it is difficult. Today on court, I’m a little bit — now I’m a little bit angry,” he added.
There’s no rest for the weary, though, as Zverev aims to get his 100th win at the ATP Masters 1000 level after beating Sebastian Baez and he’ll take on Alex de Minaur on Centre Court next.
Zverev has 5-1 advantage in his head-to-heads against de Minaur. However, this will be the first time that they’ll meet in a clay court.
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