By Chris Oddo | Saturday May 18, 2019
It’s all coming together for Rafael Nadal on the red clay of the Foro Italico in Rome.
The eight-time Internazionali BNL d’Italia champion played his best tennis of the European clay-court swing on Saturday and brushed aside Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-3 6-4 to book his spot in the final.
Probing from start to finish with brutal efficiency off the forehand wing, Nadal weathered all storms and really never let the rising Greek to gain a foothold into the match. The Spaniard improves his perfect record in semi-finals at Rome to 11-0 and books a record 50th Masters 1000 final appearance, tying him with Roger Federer for the top position on the all-time list.
Nadal ended a personal streak of three consecutive losses in semi-finals on clay with his victory—something that he had never experienced before.
“Finally I won a semi-final, so happy for that,” Nadal said. “Happy because I am playing better every match, and every week I am improving so that’s a good feeling, good personal satisfaction after some not easy moments in terms of injury.”
Nadal will face either Novak Djokovic or Diego Schwartzman in Sunday’s final. The World No.2 owns an 8-2 lifetime record in finals at the Foro, with both losses coming to Novak Djokovic (2011, 2014).
It was a strong beginning, middle and end from Nadal today in Rome, as the slower conditions and overcast skies seemed to provide him with the perfect canvas to craft a dominant performance against a player that dealt him a difficult defeat in last Saturday’s Madrid final.
Tsitsipas, who defeated Fabio Fognini in the round of 16 and advanced to the semi-finals on Friday when Federer pulled out with an injury, had his moments and managed to stay within a break in both sets, but he never could manage much pressure against Nadal’s serving.
Impressively, Nadal won 19 of 24 second serve points and he managed to win 11 of 19 return points against Tsitsipas’ second-serve. This is where Nadal gained the territory he needed to bully the Greek in the rallies.
Nadal broke in Tsitsipas’ first service game of the match for a 2-0 lead with an incredible forehand passing shot down the line. He then saved the only two break points he faced in the next game.
In the second set Nadal broke for 2-1, converting his third break point of the game after a close call went against Tsitsipas on the previous point.
Tsitsipas seemed to lean on his inside-out forehand a little too much throughout the match, and it often allowed Nadal to counter with forehands down the line that put the Greek way out of position.
Nadal was so solid tactically, and his execution and depth of shot were as good as they have been all season.
The Spaniard dropped just four points on serve in the second set and he finished up with a love hold to clinch his victory in one hour and 42 minutes.