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sports Diabierna 14 Mei 2021

Never count him out: Nadal rallies past Shapovalov in Rome

(AP) — When it comes to
long, grueling clay-court Djokovic said he played "at
battles, nobody is better least 20-30% better" than he
than Rafael Nadal. did against Taylor Fritz in his
opening match in Rome.
Nearing his 35th birthday,
the Spanish great showed he's "So I'm on a good trajectory,"
still got the stamina to with- he added.
stand much younger chal-
lengers in a 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (3) Also reaching the quarterfi-
comeback win over 22-year- nals was 6-foot-11 (2.11-me-
old Denis Shapovalov on ter) American Reilly Opelka,
Thursday that secured him who eliminated Karatsev, an
a spot in the Italian Open Australian Open semifinalist,
quarterfinals. 7-6 (6), 6-4.
Opelka served 18 aces to re-
Nadal roared back from 3-0 cord his third consecutive
down in the second set and straight-set win this week
then saved two match points — after entering Rome on a
on his serve at 6-5 in the six-match losing streak that
third. included dealing with a bout
of COVID-19. He has yet to
It seems — and it's been this drop his serve this week.
way since Nadal started dom-
inating back in 2005 — that Opelka next faces Argentine
the Spaniard gets tougher qualifier Federico Delbonis,
and tougher to beat the lon- who beat Felix Auger-Alias-
ger matches wear on. sime 7-6 (3), 6-1.

"That's why he's won so many In the women's tournament,
matches on clay," Shapovalov top-ranked Ash Barty beat
said. "It's not the first time Veronika Kudermetova 6-3,
Rafa's done this. I'm not Zverev also won in a come- from the opening rounds be- 6-3 and will next face Ameri-
the first person to lose with Nadal struggled to hold serve back, beating Kei Nishikori cause of the coronavirus pan- can teenager Coco Gauff,
match points. He does well at the start, while Shapovalov 4-6, 6-3, 6-4. demic, capacity was at 25% who defeated Madrid cham-
with the pressure in those was blasting aces and winners as part of the Italian govern- pion Aryna Sabalenka 7-5,
moments." with his one-handed back- "I have to do things better for ment's re-opening plan. 6-3. French Open champion
hand. Nadal dug in, though, tomorrow," Nadal said. Iga Swiatek beat Barbora
Nadal, who will be aim- and started to win the longer "I missed the crowd as much Krejcikova 3-6, 7-6 (5), 7-5.
ing for a record-extending rallies. Earlier, top-ranked Novak as anybody else — one of the
14th French Open title next Djokovic seemed to enjoy biggest reasons why I keep on The 17-year-old Gauff said
month, was also pushed at Shapovalov missed a back- every moment of his 6-2, 6-1 playing," Djokovic said. she was helped by a breathing
times in a straight-set win hand to conclude a long rally win over Spanish qualifier technique she learned from
over 19-year-old Jannik Sin- on his first match point then Alejandro Davidovich Fo- A five-time champion in watching the Japanese anime
ner that ended late Wednes- shanked a forehand on his kina. Rome — with his last ti- series Demon Slayer.
day. second. A costly double-fault tle coming in September
handed Nadal a 3-1 lead in Djokovic will next face Tsit- when the tournament was "The main character, Tanjiro,
Then there was his long the tiebreaker and the Span- sipas, who eliminated Mat- moved amid the pandemic he has this breathing tech-
three-set victory over Ste- iard quickly closed it out after teo Berrettini 7-6 (3), 6-2 in — Djokovic has had a rough nique right before he fights.
fanos Tsitsipas — another 3 hours, 27 minutes. a matchup of top-10 players. start to the clay season. When I get nervous, I no-
22-year-old — in the Barce- tice that slowing down my
lona Open final last month. Nadal, a nine-time champion "It's going to be a battle," said He lost in the third round breathing helps me a lot,"
in Rome, will next face Alex- Djokovic, who has reached loss to Daniel Evans in Mon- Gauff said. "At least five to 10
"To be able to win these kind ander Zverev, the 2017 Rome the quarterfinals in each of te Carlo followed by a de- times it was in my head. You
of matches against young champion and the winner of his 15 Rome appearances. feat to Aslan Karatsev in the got to do the total concentra-
players give me confidence last week's Madrid Open. semifinals of his home tour- tion breathing that Tanjiro
with my body," Nadal said. After spectators were banned nament, the Belgrade Open. does."

Montevideo to host final of Copa Libertadores, Sudamericana

(AP) — The Centenário people has seen about 3,200 Nov. 20. executives plan to deliver a Centenário in the next few
stadium in Uruguay's cap- deaths from COVID-19, "radical renovation" of the years.
ital Montevideo will host among the lowest rates in "The single-match finals will
the finals of the Copa Lib- South America. be a kind of relaunch of the
ertadores and the Copa Centenário stadium to mark
Sudamericana tourna- "The good health situation the South American bid to
ments in November, pos- projected for November in host the 2030 World Cup,"
sibly with fans attending Uruguay, a country that plans CONMEBOL said.
the matches despite the to vaccinate a large percent-
pandemic. age of its population in July, The Centenário stadium was
was decisive in an exceptional built for the first World Cup,
South American soccer body year affected by the pandem- which Uruguay hosted in
CONMEBOL said Thurs- ic," CONMEBOL said. 1930. Uruguay has a joint bid
day it picked Uruguay as host The Centenário stadium will with Argentina, Paraguay and
because of its good record in host the Copa Sudamericana Chile to host the 2030 show-
fighting the coronavirus. The final on Nov. 6, and the Copa case tournament. CONME-
country of about 3.5 million Libertadores title match on BOL said Uruguayan soccer