Rafael Nadal maintained his perfect record of never losing back-to-back matches on clay with victory over John Isner at the Italian Open.
The Spaniard, beaten by Carlos Alcaraz in last week's Madrid Open quarter-finals, returned to his favourite surface with a 6-3 6-1 win over Isner.
Most importantly, Nadal regained some confidence as he recovered from a rib stress fracture that ruled him out for six weeks before the championship in Madrid.
Having already won 10 Italian Open titles, Nadal’s goal is regaining his top form in time for the upcoming French Open, which gets underway in less than two weeks. Nadal has won 13 of his 21 Grand Slam titles at Roland Garros.
The match against Isner was mostly decided during one brief stretch. Nadal struggled on his serve at 3-3 in the first set, missing a forehand into the net after which he double-faulted to set up break points for Isner. But Isner made unforced errors on both of his break-point opportunities and Nadal went on to hold his serve.
“I finished better than I started — without a doubt. He had some chances on the returns. I was in his hands at that moment. Lucky that he missed those shots,” Nadal was quoted as saying.
Nadal is next set to lock horns with Denis Shapovalov, the Canadian he defeated at the same stage in a grueling three-set comeback victory in 2021 where the Spanish player saved two match points.