Rafael Nadal battled to a three-set victory in round one of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia on Thursday afternoon, beating Zizou Bergs 4-6, 6-3, 6-4. Nadal raised his level following a slow start to advance in two hours and 53 minutes.
The 37-year-old Spaniard lost the first set from a break up, but he cleaned up his game throughout the second and third. He raced to a 3-0 lead in the second and consolidated his advantage by saving a break point at both 3-1 and 5-3. A break for Nadal at 1-1 in the decider proved to be the final margin. Bergs, who fought off a break point to hold for 2-3, had a golden chance to get back on level terms at 3-3 but failed to convert a 0-40 lead.
Routine holds for Nadal at 4-3 and 5-4 sent him through to second round of a Masters 1000 tournament that he has won 10 times.
“That was not my best match,” Nadal admitted. “I was practicing better than how I played today, without a doubt. But I found a way to win; that’s so important at the beginning of the tournament. It’s normal. My game is more unpredictable than before. I didn’t play much tennis for the last two years. But I think I can do much better than I did today and I hope to do it in the next round.
“It has always been emotional to play here. These kinds of events are 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. (I’m) super excited to play one more time here.”
Nadal’s next match will be against Hubert Hurkacz on Friday, marking their first-ever head-to-head encounter.
