Seven-time champion faces No2 seed on clay of Foro ItalicoEmail tom.lutz@theguardian.com or tweet @tom_lutz 3.01pm BST Annabel Croft has told Sky Sports that Zverev’s chances against Rafa are … not good:“When you watch Rafa Nadal do what he does and stand so far back but put enormous height on it, he kind of floats that ball back to the baseline and kind of neutralises the point from there on in and it would be much more difficult for Zverev to really dictate and control from that first strike after the serve.” 2.53pm BST So here we are. A mere ten years, $90m in prize money and 69 career titles separate our two protagonists, Rafael Nadal and Alexander Zverev. But before you mark this one down as an easy win for Rafa, bear in mind that Zverev now has three Masters titles to his name at the age of just 21 and is in all probability a future world No1, once Federer retires at the age of 48.Rafa leads the head-to-head between these two 4-0 and won their only clay court meeting to date 6-1, 6-1 in Monte Carlo last year (he also won in straight sets when the two played each other in the Davis Cup last month). Continue reading…
Via: Rafael Nadal v Alexander Zverev: Italian Open men's final – live!
Categories: English News