Rafael Nadal’s last 2024 Italian Internationals end in the second round. The Majorcan suffers a very harsh 6-1 6-3 from the Pole Hubert Hurkacz, number 7 on the board. This is the heaviest defeat ever suffered at the Foro Italico in Rome by the man who won this tournament 10 times, in one hour and 32 minutes. Now Hurkacz will face the Argentine Tomas Martin Etcheverry.
It seems clear from the opening game, held by Hurkacz with great difficulty, after 22 points and 5 break points cancelled, that the Rome crowd will be able to witness a total battle. Nadal also manages to hold on after a couple of saves, but the Pole’s cyclone arrives and never stops, also because the laws of force are fundamentally enforced by someone who is currently in great form. Result: a resounding 6-1.
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The second set continues practically along the lines of the first: Nadal is not at all capable of expressing his usual game, Hurkacz takes advantage of it with his historic weapons, serve and forehand, he continues to make little mistakes, controlling the situation with ease. The break arrives in the third game, and he never recovers it. All this despite the fact that the Central defender tries in every way to push Nadal, aware that the farewell step is very close. The Majorcan loses his serve again in the ninth and, at that point, last game: everything ends in an almost unreal silence.
For Nadal 19 winners and 20 free errors, almost a symbol of a performance like today’s full of natural and understandable difficulties. Hurkacz’s performance was essentially perfect, with a 23-10 that says it all.
