Italian Open 2021: 3 things that stood out in Rafael Nadal's epic win over Denis Shapovalov

Nine-time Rome champion Rafael Nadal overcame Denis Shapovalov 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(7-3) in the Italian Open Round of 16 on Thursday. Shapovalov fought bravely for three hours and 27 minutes but eventually succumbed to the famed will-power and fighting spirit of the Spaniard.

Nadal has now reached his 16th quarterfinal in Rome, and he would be hoping to go on and win his 10th title at the historic event. On that note, here's a look at three things that stood out in the marathon match:

#1 Denis Shapovalov got off to a breezy start and won the first set without much trouble

Denis Shapovalov broke Rafael Nadal in the latter's first two service games, and looked like running away with the first set. Shapovalov quickly raced to a 3-0 lead, but his illustrious opponent made a comeback of sorts to win three of the next six games.

Shapovalov repeatedly struck deep returns, especially off his backhand, thus preventing Nadal from getting into position to play his subsequent shot. The Canadian's slinging one-handed backhand tested Nadal throughout the encounter, and some of his backhand winners were as clean as a whistle.

Shapovalov hit 11 winners in the first set, but Nadal put up a better fight in the latter stages by coming up with seven forehand winners of his own. A crosscourt passing shot and a down-the-line winner, both off the forehand side, were the pick of the shots that Nadal produced in the first set.

But Shapovalov consistently landed his groundstrokes deep into Nadal’s half of the court, and the Spaniard couldn't hold them off long enough.

#2 Rafael Nadal made a comeback as Denis Shapovalov's first serve started faltering

Rafael Nadal

The quality of Denis Shapovalov’s first serve dipped in the second set, which allowed Rafael Nadal to make a comeback into the match. Nadal started to give the Canadian a taste of his own medicine by landing his returns deep; he punished his opponent's second serve and repeatedly pummelled it into his backhand corner.

Still, it was Shapovalov who started the second set in the ascendancy. He raced to a 3-1 lead by breaking Nadal, before the Spaniard raised his game and won five games in a row to lead 5-3.

Shapovalov held to make it 4-5, but Nadal managed to serve out the set.

The first serve ratio of Shapovalov was only 50% in the second set, while Nadal managed to maintain a 70% ratio. Shapovalov also committed 15 unforced errors in the second set.

#3 The final set was a slugfest, but Rafael Nadal managed to scrape through

Denis Shapovalov put up a good fight, but lost narrowly in the final set

The slugfest between the two continued in the third set, with both players repeatedly exchanging crosscourt forehands and coming up with occasional down-the-line winners. However, Denis Shapovalov got visibly tired as the match progressed, and mishit some of his backhands to rack up the unforced errors tally.

Still, the Canadian managed to fight it out till the end, and served quite a few aces (12 in the match) to keep holding his serve. He also played the drop shot frequently and rushed to the net often in the third set, in a bid to shorten the rallies.

Rafael Nadal, on his part, defended superbly and hit some ferocious forehand winners, but couldn't quite come up with the decisive break. Nadal was then put under immense pressure serving at 5-6, and he was even forced to save two match points - both of which ended with Shapovalov forehand errors.

The set eventually went to a tiebreaker, where the Spaniard was able to keep his composure and wrap things up 7-3. Shapovalov didn't go down without a fight, but it was Nadal who was the last man standing, celebrating yet another memorable victory on red clay.