Tennis Legend Rafael Nadal Crashes Out of Italian Open
Rome, May 16 – In a surprising turn of events, tennis icon Rafael Nadal has been eliminated from the prestigious Italian Open, one of the premier clay-court tournaments on the ATP tour. The 10-time champion was comfortably beaten 6-1 6-3 by world number nine Hubert Hurkacz of Poland in just 93 minutes, marking a potential final appearance for the Spaniard in the Italian capital.
Nadal, who has dominated the clay-court season for over a decade, acknowledged that 2024 is likely to be his final season before retirement. Should this be the case, the 22-time Grand Slam champion will retire with an impressive 70 wins and just 9 defeats at the Italian Open.
“Playing Rafa is something special. He’s just bigger than the sport at the end of the day,” commented Hurkacz on his victory.
Other Notable Results
In other notable results, world number one Iga Swiatek of Poland booked her place in the women’s last 16 with a 6-3 6-4 win over Yulia Putintseva. Swiatek, who has now extended her winning streak to eight matches, will take on Angelique Kerber in the next round after the German’s straight-set victory over Aliaksandra Sasnovich.
Additionally, former world number three Naomi Osaka of Japan continues her impressive run in the tournament, having not dropped a set so far. The Japanese star defeated Daria Kasatkina 6-3 6-3 and will face the winner of Linda Noskova and Qinwen Zheng in the upcoming round.
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