ROME – For a brief period on Thursday, Rafael Nadal looked like a tired 37-year-old ready to retire.
Struggling to produce rhythm on both sides with his groundstrokes, committing an unusually high number of unforced errors and unable to stay in rallies, Nadal lost the first set of his Italian Open first-round match against Belgian qualifier Zizou Bergs.
Then came Nadal’s version, virtually unbeatable on clay and a 22-time Grand Slam champion, and the Spaniard rallied for a 4-6 6-3 6-4 victory in front of an adoring crowd in what will likely be his last tournament at Foro Italico.
Nadal was playing just his 10th match this year after missing almost all of 2023 with a hip injury that required surgery. He hopes to be competitive one last time at the French Open, where he is a record 14-time champion.
“That wasn’t my best match. I was practicing better than I played today, without a doubt. But I found a way to win,” said Nadal. “My game is more unpredictable than before. I haven’t played much tennis in the last two years. I can do this much better than I did today.”
Rome, where he is a 10-time champion, is Nadal’s last major warm-up tournament before the start of Roland Garros on May 26.
Nadal noted that after overcoming his abdominal and hip problems, the time has come to “prove whether I am capable of pushing my body to the limits I need to feel ready for what is to come.”
“I’m not just talking about Roland Garros. I’m talking about the next game. I need to lose this fear,” said Nadal. “Games like today help. At times I was moving faster. Some moments don’t. I need to get used to this, take this risk. … I feel more ready to try it than I have before.”
During his 70th victory in the Italian capital, the Campo Centrale crowd serenaded Nadal by chanting: “Ole, Ole, Ole, Na-dal, Na-dal.”
“I always liked playing here, this type of event is the most important in my tennis career,” said Nadal. “The fans have always been incredible to me, supporting me since the beginning of my tennis career. I’m really excited to be able to play here again.”
Nadal was coming off a straight sets defeat to Jiri Lehecka, ranked 31st, in the fourth round of the Madrid Open. But he has never lost consecutive matches on clay in his entire career and now that impressive statistic remains intact during what he indicated will be his final season on the tournament.
Nadal got off to a strong start, unleashing a 95 mph (153 km/h) forehand winner en route to an early break and a 3-1 lead in the first set. But he caught a break in the very next game when he missed three weak shots at the net.
Then, at 4-4, Nadal committed two double faults and was broken again, giving the 108th-ranked Bergs a 5-4 lead and a chance to serve out the set.
In the first set, Nadal made 16 unforced errors to Bergs’ 10.
During the first game of the second set, the match was briefly suspended when a spectator in the stands required medical treatment. This allowed Nadal to talk to Carlos Moya, his coach.
After the 10-minute suspension of play, Nadal took a 3-0 lead in the second set, increasing the power of his shots and becoming more aggressive.
In the third set, Nadal managed to add a point after falling to the red clay, quickly getting up to resume the rally and producing a delicate drop-shot winner. Then he hit a crosscourt forehand to take a 3-1 lead and fired a double-clutch punch.
There were more punches as Nadal came from 0-40 down on his serve to maintain a 4-2 lead in the third.
Nadal’s mother and sister, sitting behind the court, shouted encouragement and their 1-year-old son was also courtside – sitting on Nadal’s father’s lap.
The Nadal family can now look forward to a second-round clash with seventh-seeded Hubert Hurkacz. Top-ranked Novak Djokovic is on the opposite side of the board, while second-ranked Jannik Sinner and third-ranked Carlos Alcaraz have withdrawn due to injuries.
In other matches, Serbian qualifier Hamad Medjedovic beat Alexei Popyrin 6-3, 6-2; Thiago Seboth Wild defeated French qualifier Gregoire Barrere 6-4, 6-2; and Dominik Koepfer eliminated Andrea Vavassori 6-4, 6-3.
In the women’s game, top-seeded Iga Swiatek defeated American Bernarda Pera 6-0, 6-2, and third-seeded Coco Gauff advanced with a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Magdalena Frech.
Two former top-ranked women recorded victories over seeded players. Naomi Osaka defeated 19th-ranked Marta Kostyuk 6-3, 6-2 in a match that was suspended for about an hour because of rain, and Angelique Kerber defeated 17th-ranked Veronika Kudermetova 6-3, 6 -0.
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AP Tennis:
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