"Tough to see him in pain there at the end" - Denis Shapovalov after beating Rafael Nadal in Rome 3R

Denis Shapovalov has said that it was "tough to see" Rafael Nadal in pain towards the closing stages of their third-round encounter. in Rome on Thursday.

The 23-year-old Canadian lost a lopsided first set 6-1. However, he burst into a 3-0 lead in the second. Although he squandered the advantage, Shapovalov broke Nadal again in the 12th game to level the match.

In a one-sided third set, Nadal was visibly in pain and his movement was severely limited as Shapovalov notched up his second win over the Spaniard in six attempts.

Following his win, Shapovalov expressed hope that Nadal's injury wasn't too serious and that he would be fit for Roland Garros later this month.

"Definitely tough to see him in pain there at the end. I never want to see that, especially with a great legend like Rafa. I mean, hopefully he's okay," he said. "He brings so much to our sport. Hopefully he's fit and ready to go for the French. Obviously he's got a lot of matches under his belt this year. It's been difficult."

The Canadian opined that Nadal's great start to the season might have made it hard for him to "take it easy."

"He's been winning so much, I think it's almost been difficult for him to stop playing and kind of take it easy," he continued. "Looks like it's torn on his body a little bit. Hopefully it's nothing too serious and hopefully he's ready to go."

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"It's definitely incredible to beat him, having match points against him last year" - Denis Shapovalov after beating Rafael Nadal

Denis Shapovalov and Rafael Nadal at the Internazionali BNL D'Italia 2022 - Day Five

At the same stage of the tournament last year, the Canadian squandered two match points against the Spaniard before losing in a third-set tie-break.

Shapovalov said he was happy to get over the line this time around.

"It's definitely incredible to me to beat him. Having match points against him last year was kind of a hurtful feeling. Coming back here this year, I definitely remember that match. Obviously great tennis, but that one really hurt. Happy to get the win this time around. It's been like five years since the first time I played and beat him. Definitely great that I was able to do it, especially on clay," he said.

Shapovalov will play Casper Ruud for a place in the Rome semifinals on Friday.