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Rafael Nadal failed in the clay court tournament in Rome in the quarterfinals against Argentine Diego Schwartzman (ATP 15).
The Spaniard lost in the tenth game to the only 1.70m tall Schwartzman for the first time, and this surprisingly clear with 2: 6, 5: 7. Overall, the twelve-time Roland Garros champion lost half of his ten service sets. Nadal made his comeback at the Masters 1000 tournament in the Italian capital after Corona’s break. He had skipped the trip to the US Open to optimally prepare for the short sandy season with Rome and the French Open, which moved into the fall.
The tournament at the Foro Italico usually takes place in mid-May and has been won by Nadal for the past two years. In the world ranking, the defeat has no negative effects on the second in the world ranking, since the best result of the last two editions counts for the ranking under the special crown rules.
World No. 1 Novak Djokovic also showed some problems, but ultimately prevailed. The Serbian needed a good two hours to prevail in the quarterfinals 6: 3, 4: 6, 6: 3 against German qualifier Dominik Koepfer. In the semifinals he will face 21-year-old Norwegian Casper Ruud (ATP 34).
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