Italian Open: Perfect 10 for flawless Rafael Nadal, Iga Swiatek rewinds to Paris — talking points from Rome

For the second time, Rafael Nadal and Iga Swiatek triumphed at the same tournament. For the second time, it has come on clay for the defending French Open champions. And both needed to save match points in the preceding rounds to lift the trophy. On Sunday, Swiatek claimed her first WTA 1000 title and later Nadal clinched his 10th title in Rome. The manner of wins, in the final, however, were far from similar.

Swiatek swept aside Karolina Pliskova 6-0, 6-0, dropping just 13 points, for her third career title. Later, Nadal beat Novak Djokovic 7-5, 1-6, 6-3 for his 36th Masters 1000 title, going level with the Serb, and surpassed him in the head-to-head (29-28).

Brutal Swiatek’s perfection shows

The early serve hold usually works as a building block to relax muscles, to shed nerves in tennis. Instead Pliskova, in the Rome final for a third straight year, readied to face the Swiatek serve, and it was all one-way traffic from then on. Rather, it was a case of driving down the Mumbai-Pune Expressway on a Sunday morning.

To put her dominance in perspective: Pliskova won only four points in the first set and 13 overall. Swiatek won 17 straight points on serve before dropping one and that was at 6-0, 2-0. That was also when Pliskova got near to getting herself on the board. The match was all over in 46 minutes.

“But it’s not easy to actually win the first set 6-0,” said Swiatek, “because you always have in the back of the mind that your opponent may start playing better and they can change the tactics completely, and then you have to adjust and then you’re going to start worrying. So when I was on the breaks, I was visualising that I’m starting that match from the beginning every time. Actually, I did that so well that I didn’t even know that it was 6-0 in the first set.”

🏆🇮🇹Incredible. Thank you for all kind words and messages. I will remember this week and the lessons I've learned. Grazie Roma!
🏆🇮🇹Dziękuję za wszystkie gratulacje i wiadomości.Ten tydzień (i lekcje, które odrobiłam) był dla mnie wyjątkowy i zapamiętam go na zawsze. Grazie Roma! pic.twitter.com/qYe5pSoFzu

— Iga Świątek (@iga_swiatek) May 16, 2021

From Pliskova there was no change in tactics, no change in strategy. There was no moonballing, no drop shots, no volleys, no variation in return position, no slices. Her ability to strike the ball with pace and into the corners didn’t arrive. If she tried to dictate play, it was met by a player who is extremely agile, comfortable on clay and remarkably accurate. It was as if you were watching her matches from Roland Garros last year.

The only difference between this week in Rome and the two weeks in Paris was that Swiatek wasn’t perturbed at French Open. This week, she needed to save two match points against Barbora Krejcikova for the title. If her performance in Rome is to go by, Swiatek has peaked at the right time in her title defence.

Nadal’s forehands win it

🤩 A familiar sight...

Your Rome champion for the 10th time, @RafaelNadal!

🇮🇹 #IBI21 pic.twitter.com/bjF4G1sTQx

— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) May 16, 2021

Rafael Nadal has now won 10 or more titles at the same tournament four times. 13-time winner at Roland Garros, 12-times in Barcelona, 11-times in Monte Carlo and now, 10-times in Rome. That’s a combined 46 titles from four venues. For comparison, Andy Murray has 46 career titles.

“I really wanted this title,” Nadal, 34, said . “This had been one of the first important titles I won in my career. I’d won 10 in Monte Carlo, Barcelona and Roland Garros and really wanted this one too.”

The Spaniard took his tally to 88 on Sunday. The fact that it came upon beating World No 1 Novak Djokovic added to the feat. Unlike their meeting in the French Open final, this one was more even and was decided in a slugfest. It had them going corner-to-corner, bringing each other forward with exquisite drop shots, clutch volleys, returns that landed within an inch of the baseline, some that took off of it, and jaw-droppingly-good pickups – one that had Nadal going crashing into the side hoardings.

Note how quickly Rafa gets the racket away from his body knowing that he's falling. He can then have more control over how he falls and rolls. Essential skill in avoiding a more serious injury. https://t.co/1Lkq6zwfVL

— JB (@Minerva2BC@mastodon.world) (@Minerva2BC) May 16, 2021

But most decisively, it had Nadal’s forehands. The heavy top spin. That lefty spin that goes away on the backhand for the right-hander. And gets a loopy trajectory. The whipped forehands that produced an average of 54 revolutions per second — to Djokovic’s 45 revolutions. It resulted in 15 forehand winners in the first set and 26 overall.

“I have been playing better and better with my forehand the last couple of weeks, getting to the confidence point,” Nadal said. “That’s a huge improvement for me, very important shot. Especially on clay it (gives) me confidence.”

For now, it is back to Mallorca for Nadal to prepare for French Open that begins 30 May. “I think I have been improving this week, but I need to keep going with that improvement,” he said. “When you improve and you’re able to do it every day for a longer time, then you feel more confident and more safe.”

Djokovic runs close, but not enough

Congratulations to Rafa. Still exciting to meet in the finals 💪🏼

Grazie mille a tutti! Thank you everyone for your support in Rome! ❤️ pic.twitter.com/6IN09QEqA1

— Novak Djokovic (@DjokerNole) May 16, 2021

Despite the loss, Djokovic can take heart from a fantastic tournament and it is no shame to lose to Nadal on clay – especially given how their previous meeting went. The Serb spent almost five hours in two matches on Saturday against Stefanos Tsitsipas and Lorenzo Sonego. Two players who had form and crowd respectively behind them.

“He (Nadal) managed to break my serve and played better. That’s it,” Djokovic said. “I had my shot to win it but wasn’t meant to be. I didn’t feel fatigue. Actually, I was very happy with the way I felt on the court. I could have gone for another few hours.”

“Unfortunately decisive moments in the first and third set, you know, just went his way. It was a bit unfortunate.”

“Overall almost three hours of high-quality tennis,” said Djokovic, who will play a warm-up event in Belgrade next. “Of course I’m disappointed not to win it, but at the same time I’m very pleased with the level of tennis that I managed to find in the later stages of this tournament…I actually now started to feel like I actually want to feel on clay.”

In terms of how close things went, Nadal held his serve seven times from 30-30 across the match getting broken only twice. Had this gone Novak’s way, the outcome may well have been different.

Next Gen coming?

'We are the Next Gen' 😆@DjokerNole #IBI21 pic.twitter.com/E5YJ6t0pJv

— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) May 16, 2021

The question about Next Gen is starting to get exhausting. The time a young player wins, they’re asked about the legacy of the ‘Big 3’ and each time one of Djokovic, Nadal, Roger Federer win, they’re questioned over the absence of a young player at the top of the podium. Djokovic tried to give a sarcastic and humorous spin to it.

“Clearly, Rafa, Roger and I have reinvented the ‘Next Gen’. We are the ‘Next Gen’.” he said tongue-in-cheek at the ceremony. Over the course of the week, Nadal beat Jannik Sinner, Denis Shapovalov and Alexander Zverev while Djokovic toppled Tsitsipas in arguably the match of the year.

Djokovic, asked to clarify later in the press conference, said, “I mean, I said it (a) thousand times. Of course, the Next Gen is there, is coming, whatever. But we are still winning the biggest tournaments and Slams. I don’t know what to tell you other than that.

“I don’t know what to tell you other than that. I’m not focused on the Next Gen even though I know it creates a story. People like to talk about it. Fine. The guys are there. They are already establishing themselves in the top 5, top 10 of the world. Nothing new. But we are still there.”

Nadal trailed Shapovalov by a set and 0-3 in the third round. And then 1-3 in the third set. Later saved two match points at 5-6 in the third set. The Next Gen are knocking on the door, as Matteo Berrettini and Zverev have shown recently, but not doing enough to do it on a regular basis. Maybe, 30-plus is the new Next Gen.