Former world number 1 and 22-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal battled back from one set down to beat Belgium’s Zizou Bergs 4-6 6-3 6-3 at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia at the Foro Italico in Rome.
Nadal did not play his best tennis, but he was determined in the key moments of the match. He saved all five break points he faced and hit 23 winners to 32 unforced errors.
Ten-time Rome Masters 1000 champion Nadal earned an immediate break in the fourth game to take a 3-1 lead, but Bergs broke straight back in the fifth game. The Belgian player won five of the last six games to claim the opening set 6-4.
Nadal broke serve in the second game of the second set and held serve at love to take a 3-0 lead. Bergs earned break points in two of his last three service games and took Nadal to deuce in the ninth game before the Spaniard served out the second set 6-3 to level the match.
Bergs won the opening game of the third set, but Nadal broke serve the third game to take a 2-1 lead.
Nadal faced three break points when he went down 0-40 in the sixth game. The Spanish star saved all three of them before closing out the third set on his first match point.
Nadal set up a second round match against Hubert Hurkacz.
Nadal has a record of 7 wins to 3 defeats this season. He owns the most wins (70) at the Rome Foro Italico and won ten titles at this tournament.
“It was not my best match. I was practising better than how I played today without a doubt but I found a way to win. That is important at the beginning of the tournament. My game is more unpredictable than before. I did not play much tennis much tennis for the past two years, so it is up and down. I think I can do much better than I did today and hope I can do it in the next round. It is always emotional to play here. One of the most important events in my tennis career. The crowd has always been amazing with me. supporting me since the beginning of my tennis career, so I am super excited to play one more time here”, said Nadal.
