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Defeat in exactly two hours: Alexander Zverev
Photo:
Clive Brunskill / Getty Images
This time, clay court king Rafael Nadal was too strong for Alexander Zverev. Despite a good performance, the German number one missed the semi-finals at the tennis tournament in Rome. Zverev lost at the Masters 1000 event endowed with 2.56 million euros in the quarter-finals against Nadal 3: 6, 4: 6 and thus missed another surprise against the 13-time French Open champion. Last week, Zverev had won against Nadal in Madrid on the way to the title and thus celebrated his third win in a row against the 34-year-old.
Zverev got off to a bad start in Rome and was quickly 4-0 down in the first set.
Zverev looked tired after his long match against the Japanese Kei Nishikori the day before.
But then the 24-year-old improved and fought his way back into the game.
Nadal now wobbled a few times and looked briefly battered after a fall.
But after 48 minutes he still got the first set.
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Crashed but not stopped: Rafa Nadal
Photo:
ANDREAS SOLARO / AFP
In the second round, Zverev fought for a total of eight break chances.
But Nadal played big in the dicey situations and fended off all opportunities.
Instead, he took the serve from Zverev to 3-2.
Although he did not give up and earned five more breakballs after losing the service.
Nadal, who was particularly successful with his stop balls, fended them off and made progress with his first match point after exactly two hours.
While Zverev now wants to relax for a few days in Monte Carlo and then prepare there for the French Open starting on May 30, Nadal will meet the American Reilly Opelka in the semifinals on Saturday.
Nadal has won the tournament in Rome nine times so far.
mon / dpa
