Internazionali BNL d’Italia, Rome

How did the defending champions fare in Rome?

Women’s Final: [1] Simona Halep (ROU) vs. [4] Elina Svitolina (UKR)

The defending champion was in no mood to play games today; she came out firing on all cylinders. Before Halep could take a calming breath, the first set was over and she was on the losing end. She did not win her first game of the match until the second set.

She tried to mount a comeback in the second set, but she was too far behind and although her body may have been ready for the challenge, her mind was not. They had split their two previous encounters on clay, with both matches going to three sets; however, there was no three-setter today. Svitolina was in total control the entire match and won easily 6-0, 6-4.

Men’s Final: [2] Rafael Nadal (ESP) vs. [3] Alexander Zverev (FRA)

Nerves, no matter how great you are, you are prone to feeling the negative effects especially when expectations are high. Today, the king of clay came pretty close to losing his throne. You have heard the saying, “saved by the bell”; well today Nadal was “saved by the rain”.

Nadal started the match full of tension and he was immediately broken; however, as we have seen him do on countless occasions, he immediately broke back and took control of the set. He won it 6-1 and everyone thought okay, “he has this in the bag”. Yet, that was not the case, Nadal fell victim to nerves and his forehand went awry. He could do nothing right for the second set and the beginning on the third, where he was immediately broken.

Zverev played the match of his life and his aggressive attacking style confounded his opponent. He was on track to defending his title and getting his first victory over the “king of clay”.  Then the rain came and Nadal had enough time to reassess his game. Zverev, who was riding an adrenaline high, crashed during the delay and could not fight back. When they returned after the second rain delay, Nadal broke twice to win 6-1, 1-6, 6-3.

This victory gave Nadal his eighth title in Rome and puts him back in the number one spot atop the rankings. Our spotlight player, Zverev, may have lost but he made his claim that he is ready to dethrone the king of clay.

SOURCE OF IMAGES: serveandrally