Painful defeat of Rafael Nadal in Rome | Tennis

sport">For the number 2 in the world, it was his first defeat against Schwartzman in ten mutual duels.

sport">Due to the corona crisis, Nadal did not play in an official match on the tennis court for more than six months. He also skipped the US Open, mainly because he did not think the corona situation in the world was safe enough.

sport">In Rome, Nadal wanted to gain enough competition rhythm to be able to start playing Roland Garros in Paris later this month. The gravel specialist started well in Italy with smooth victories over Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta (6-1 6-1) and Serbian Dusan Lajovic (6-1 6-3). The nine-time champion in Rome, however, misjudged the quality and fighting spirit of Schwartzman.

sport">After just over 2 hours, the surprising final score was on the scoreboard. The eighth-seeded South American plays in the semifinals against Canadian Denis Shapovalov. In the other semi-final battle, the first-placed Serbian Novak Djokovic will face the Norwegian Casper Ruud.

–