Rafa at full speed, an effective revenge against Zverev for the defeat in Madrid

Rafa Nadal does not shine on clay in the current part of the season, but everything could turn around after today's great edition in a duel with a player in form.

In the quarterfinals of the Masters in Rome, Nadal defeated Alexander Zverev, against whom he experienced three consecutive defeats in mutual duels and against whom he lost the quarterfinal duel recently in Madrid, a tournament that the German later won.

Rafa won in two sets - 6:3, 6:4.

The beginning of the match was brilliant, Nadal led 4:0, and Zverev had the last chance to save the set in the ninth game, when he missed a break point...

The second set was very exciting, and Rafa gained the advantage in three unusual games.

First, when his rival was leading 2:1, he saved three tied break chances, then he took away Zverev's serve for 3:2, and finally canceled the re-break opportunity twice and took the lead 4:2.

At 5:4 he served for the match, Zverev reached three break points, but the Spaniard played at a high level when it was most difficult and after almost ten minutes of fighting he reached 6:4.

In the semifinals, he will face the surprise of the tournament, the American Riley Opelka, who beat Federik Delbonis 2:0 in the first match of the day.