Denis Shapovalov rallied from a set down to stun Rafael Nadal at the Rome Masters on Thursday.
Shapovalov defeated Nadal 1-6, 7-5, 6-2 to enter the quarterfinal.
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After going down an instant break in the final set, Shapovalov won the final five games as Nadal struggled with an apparent injury, likely related to his chronic left-foot problem.
The moment that Shapovalov shocked Rome 🤯@denis_shapo | @InteBNLdItalia | #IBI22 pic.twitter.com/kKmTvmIuBS
— ATP Tour (@atptour) May 12, 2022
The one-sided finish belied the hard-fought nature of the contest to that point, with the first two sets seeing a combined 17 break points.
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“I am living with an injury. My day by day is difficult,” Nadal said after the match.
“I am trying hard but of course it’s difficult to accept the situation at times. A lot of days I can’t practise the proper way. Today it started halfway through the second set and it was unplayable for me.”
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It was only the second time in his career that the Canadian had beaten Nadal.
Djokovic halts Wawrinka comeback
Novak Djokovic moved to within one win of retaining his World No. 1 status as he overcame Stan Wawrinka 6-2, 6-2 on Thursday.
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The Serbian soaked up Wawrinka’s heavy ball-striking and pulled the former World No. 3 around to advance to the quarter-finals after 75 minutes.
Djokovic now leads Wawrinka 20-6 in their head to head, with their meeting in Rome their first since the Swiss star defeated the top seed at the US Open in 2019.
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