Seven-time champion Rafael Nadal has booked his place in the quarter-finals of the Italian Open by beating Australian Nick Kyrgios in three sets.
After 2 hours and 39 minutes, our champ progressed through with a 6-7(3), 6-2, 6-4 victory in Rome.
Rafa’s last-eight opponent will be the winner of the match later today between Novak Djokovic and Thomaz Bellucci.
+++ on Day Five of The Internazionali BNL d’Italia on May 12, 2016 in Rome, Italy.
ROME, ITALY – MAY 12: Rafael Nadal of Spain plays a forehand in his match against Nick Kyrgios of Australia on Day Five of The Internazionali BNL d’Italia on May 12, 2016 in Rome, Italy. (Photo by Dennis Grombkowski/Getty Images)
ROME, ITALY – MAY 12: Rafael Nadal of Spain serves in his match against Nick Kyrgios of Australia on Day Five of The Internazionali BNL d’Italia on May 12, 2016 in Rome, Italy. (Photo by Dennis Grombkowski/Getty Images)
+++ on Day Five of The Internazionali BNL d’Italia on May 12, 2016 in Rome, Italy.
ROME, ITALY – MAY 12: Rafael Nadal of Spain serves in his match against Nick Kyrgios of Australia on Day Five of The Internazionali BNL d’Italia on May 12, 2016 in Rome, Italy. (Photo by Dennis Grombkowski/Getty Images)
ROME, ITALY – MAY 12: Rafael Nadal of Spain looks on in his match against Nick Kyrgios of Australia on Day Five of The Internazionali BNL d’Italia on May 12, 2016 in Rome, Italy. (Photo by Dennis Grombkowski/Getty Images)
+++ on Day Five of The Internazionali BNL d’Italia on May 12, 2016 in Rome, Italy.
+++ on Day Five of The Internazionali BNL d’Italia on May 12, 2016 in Rome, Italy.
El tesnista español Rafael Nadal devuelve la pelota al australiano Nick Kyrgios durante su partido de octavos de final del Master 1000 de Roma disputado hoy, 12 de mayo de 2016, en Roma, Italia. EFE/Claudio Onorati
El tesnista español Rafael Nadal durante su partido ante el australiano Nick Kyrgios de octavos de final del Master 1000 de Roma disputado hoy, 12 de mayo de 2016, en Roma, Italia. EFE/Claudio Onorati
ROME, ITALY – MAY 12: Rafael Nadal of Spain serves in his match against Nick Kyrgios of Australia on Day Five of The Internazionali BNL d’Italia on May 12, 2016 in Rome, Italy. (Photo by Dennis Grombkowski/Getty Images)
ROME, ITALY – MAY 12: Rafael Nadal of Spain celebrates a point in his match against Nick Kyrgios of Australia on Day Five of The Internazionali BNL d’Italia on May 12, 2016 in Rome, Italy. (Photo by Dennis Grombkowski/Getty Images)
ROME, ITALY – MAY 12: Rafael Nadal of Spain celebrates match point in his match against Nick Kyrgios of Australia on Day Five of The Internazionali BNL d’Italia on May 12, 2016 in Rome, Italy. (Photo by Dennis Grombkowski/Getty Images)
ROME, ITALY – MAY 12: Nick Kyrgios of Australia and Rafael Nadal of Spain shake hands after their match on Day Five of The Internazionali BNL d’Italia on May 12, 2016 in Rome, Italy. (Photo by Dennis Grombkowski/Getty Images)
ROME, ITALY – MAY 12: Rafael Nadal of Spain celebrates match point in his match against Nick Kyrgios of Australia on Day Five of The Internazionali BNL d’Italia on May 12, 2016 in Rome, Italy. (Photo by Dennis Grombkowski/Getty Images)
+++ on Day Five of The Internazionali BNL d’Italia on May 12, 2016 in Rome, Italy.
+++ on Day Five of The Internazionali BNL d’Italia on May 12, 2016 in Rome, Italy.
+++ on Day Five of The Internazionali BNL d’Italia on May 12, 2016 in Rome, Italy.
ROME, ITALY – MAY 12: Rafael Nadal of Spain celebrates match point in his match against Nick Kyrgios of Australia on Day Five of The Internazionali BNL d’Italia on May 12, 2016 in Rome, Italy. (Photo by Dennis Grombkowski/Getty Images)
+++ on Day Five of The Internazionali BNL d’Italia on May 12, 2016 in Rome, Italy.
Djokovic just got bagled in the first set. Will he lose the match? OMG!!!
RAFAAAAAAA maybe Belluci will do the dirty work for you.
RAFA ROCKS
Let’s hope not. Rafa needs to play Novak. Rome plays the most like RG and it would be a good test for Rafa to see what he should do in the inevitable matchup at RG.
I thought about that but if Nole loses Rome Rafa will see how vulnerable Nole can be. Confidence boost for Nadal.
VAMOS CHAMPEON!
Three more matches for the trophy.
Dictate from the onset. Don’t give your opponent a chance to break you.
You are playing better each day. Keep it up.
LUV THE RAFA!
HAH NOVAK LOST THE 1ST SET TO BELLUCCI.
A BAGEL HAHAHAHA. 0-6. HAHAHAHAHAHA.
This should be a confidence boost for Rafa when he plays against Novak tomorrow.
I did not see the match, but I expect Novak to pull it out, but at least he will need to do it in three sets. The match tomorrow is for late afternoon.
Me neither. But if Bellucci can do this it proves anything can happen.
And it’s the most hilarious thing to happen in tennis for a long time lol.
Novak underestimated Belucci hence the bagel in the 1st set! No big deal!!
You can bet he’d not for a second gamble with Nadal!!
The celestial forces say the Serbinator will triumph 7-5, 6-4 tomorrow…who am I to argue with them?
Nadal MUST add to his coaching crew to overcome the Djoker in the pack!!!!!!!!
hahaha you’re such a pathetic person. Everyone predicts Novak to win. That’s normal.
The funny part is how sad your life must be to spend so much time on another players site. Speaks volumes of your personality. Quite sad. But LOL worthy for me.
There are 2 other very ugly people here. If we all ignore them they will get the message. They are pathetic. They are dimwits. They have no social graces. LOL
RAFA ROCKS
A great, great win today against a very talented opponent. Sadly, Rafa did show some nerves in the TB, but then he was solid the rest if the match. I definitely thought it was better or as good at MC. I was not happy about the 4 DFs, but I think he served exceptionally well. Tomorrow will be a big test, but we Rafa fans have a lot to be happy about today!
Well done today Rafa just keep on playing as well as you done today keep on fighting so so want you to win tomorrow
Rafa you are always and forever our champion and just want the best for you
Just go do it tomorrow
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm………………..
Congratulations-such a sweet win! Stay tough-yours to win💪👊👑👍😄🇪🇸🏆❤️
Yaaaay Rafa won!!!! Tomorrow if rafabplays djoko (99.9%), he must not allow djoko to dictate from the very beginning. He has to be aggressive and attack as well as defend naturally but not go in the defensive completely. Djokos will is tremendous and that needs to be broken with arrack and good shot selection and as few unforced errors as possible. Naturally as always the serve will play a huge part.
Don’t know if I’m mistaken, but Rafael seems to be sliding much, much less than he used to – if at all. Djoko seems to be sliding around much more.
All Rafa fans should before the match send positive vibes and prayers for Rafa together at the same time.
Vamos Rafa!!!!
I also noticed that he doesn’t slide so much anymore.
Rafa, get on with it!! Go after Djokovic!!!! BEAT him!!! You CAN do it!!! VAMOS RAFA!!!!!
Vamos Rafa! Good luck for tomorrow!!!
Well done Rafa. Very well played. However please stop getting broken so easily early on in the match!
Looking forward to the Djoker match! Send him home please!
Rafa seems to THRIVE on come-backs, so I never worry when he falls behind. This has been his trademark since 2006, although he probably needs to change his style, …… but sadly only after Toni accepts a super coach on the team to re-engineer Rafa’s hard-on-his-body style.
Yeah Rafa has always been like this. Passive is the correct word. It’s become a habit of his, a pattern. Because of his unbelievable defending, his uncle and his skill to go from Defense to offense like no other tennis player ever he doesn’t shy away from this pattern only when he’s forced to.
Remember when Rafa said I can’t play good without confidence ? How a good game comes from confidence and not the other way around. This is one of the very few times I disagree with him. Today he lost the first set…when you lose 1st set you lose confidence. Always. But Rafa always plays better when he does because he feels he HAS to be aggressive then and that’s when his confidence grows. He had only 2 winners that first set I think and after that he had 20 almost 10 a set. Sometimes playing aggressive leads to a boost in cofidence if you’re persistent enough which Rafa has been now for a couple months. With most skilled players if you want to overcome something you try and try and try till it clicks. With basketball players such as Curry they might go 0/10 but they keep forcing it and forcing it and because of their immense talent they find their groove again and bring out a performance few athletes can. Same with Rafa. His FH, FHDTL were never gone. When I was watching him during last year when he hits a FH DTL that’s bad he just thinks oh I lost it I shouldn’t try that much this match and tries to rely more on his BH. Shank a FHDTL ? Try again next point. Try and try. Instead Rafa just goes back to his old pattern on D. When Rafa plays aggressive and his game is there no one can touch him. Being aggressive is a choice, being in form is
You’re making sense for once, Rafa underscore 86!
and you’re still a STUPID LOONEY TUNE prophet
Soooo happy for you, Rafa!
RAFA ROCKS
Rafa’s banana-curve FH is back and devastating to his opponents! Nick played a great game without a doubt, taking the first set, but Rafa is without a doubt the Master of Comebacks, and he showed strong signs of the pre-2014 Rafa. He showed great mental strength today, seems to be physically strong, and READY for tomorrow’s showdown!
VAMOS RAFA! RAFA THE ULTIMATE WARRIOR! VAMOS RAFA!!!!!!
Rafa is coming to his best gradually but still needs SuperCoach to join force with Uncle Tonny!
AGREE!!!!!!!!! VAMOS RAFA!
Looking forward for this match and what a privilige tonwatch thos match
I mean rafa played fire with fire
the backhand down the line , the inside out forehands was so great to watch
actually rhe best shot was when rafa played one wide inside out forehand actually jumping and falling backwards was a treat to watch
apart from some nervy moment in a tie breaker rafa played absolutely fantastic
Tomorrow who ever he play….what ever he does it was good match he played today for good preparation for rg 16
Now (if) he gets opportunity to play novak it is so important to play him before RG 16
The power and force rafa applied on his shots was unbelivable
And the most important who stood absolute rock solid with his defence
i mean the defence today was at its best and that gives rafa a much needed confidence
I have not seen such type of defence in recent past from rafa
Vamos rafa
Have a healthy day and enjoy the victory
I thought rafa played really well in the monte carlo final too. Monfils was pretty great for the 1st two sets as well. It was good to see nick behaving himself a little better today – i warmed a bit to him because of it
Very good performance by Rafa.
He has shown some improvements in key areas of his game- i.e. FH, FHDTL and Bankhand. Overall, impressive match, however, he has to improve on his serving to have a good chance against Djokovic/Belluci.
Despite the false proclamations from the South Waste fake prophet, Rafa astounds the haters once again.
Vamos Rafa!!
LOL, the Nutty prophet, aka shallow thinker, is a total Nole fan, comes here and pretends to be a Rafa fan, and tries everything to jinx him. Hope he makes more predictions against Rafa, coz he’s WRONG 100% of the time ….. LMFAO )))))))))))))))))))))
The guy is a looney, probably a frustrated man battling with an intense lack of achievement and probably dealing with mental disorders.
I’ve never seen anyone that obsessively stalks his hero’s rival. It all comes to FEAR, he can see the handwriting on the wall, the tide is changing and fear and paranoia has set in. He probably spends more time on Rafa fans site than Novaks.
The Neanderthal told us that Rafa will never win a Masters or GS unless he sacks Toni and yet he turned out to be a tool as Rafa won at Barcelona and MC and also got to the Semis in Madrid.
The fake prophet can keep hating while Rafa continues to win
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm………Thank you Chris, Omo Ibo.
Chris forgot to mention your small hands, looney tune, and we know what frustration that can be! LMFAO
Question…Is this the best Rafa has played this year ? He played some good stuff in MC and Barcelona but I felt he was at his best today. Serve was VERY good, his FH was there, FHDTL and his backhand as always very consistent and helped him change things up. Also let’s not forget Kyrgios played very good too and with his serve that made things tough for him but despite that broke him often. Hopefully he can keep this up.
possibly the best he’s played this year, but still about 75% of the original Rafa, so there’s hope that he can step up even on this game! I am still convinced he will beat Nole at their next meeting, could be tomorrow ………..
I’m very optimistic too, however, all I want is a very competitive match and not a whitewash by Novak. Historically, Novak often beat Rafa in clay tourneys before the FO but its the 5 set at RG that gives Rafa the edge.
I think Rafa might win Novak tomorrow (if he wins against Thomas) but I will be happy with Nadal taking a set at least.
Chris Nbakwe – I’m with you brother, …. know you’re being realistic, but I so badly want Rafa to win, not only tomorrow, but the final and take the 1,000 points with total confidence to RG
VAMOS RAFA, VAMOS ULTIMATE WARRIOR!!!
Why can I only click on the ”reply” button to Rafa_86s first post ? I can’t click on Chris’ post and reply to it.
Either way, as long as Rafa beats him at RG that’s all that matters. If losing to him here would mean winning at RG then great. But as long as he takes it to 3 sets and shows he CAN win against him even if he loses I’ll be fine. I just want him to show us he can beat him even if he doesn’t tomorrow. One thing is for certain…if 1 guy can beat him it’s this guy as he has done SO MANY times in the past. As long as Rafa’s game is there they should all be worried about him. Even at this stage they should be worried. I just want Rafa to play like today…aggressive. Not passive, returning the ball in the middle of the court, letting opponent dictate. He was the one dictating and that’s how he beats Novak in the past, that’s when Novak makes mistakes. Rafa has nothing to lose tomorrow, he can and should play freely, he doesn’t NEED an 8th Rome M1000 (sure would be nice but it’s all about the slams).
Have you ever listened to Queen’s ”Another One Bites the Dust”?
I think you should man, Rafa underscore 86.
Kyrgios was lucky to get that first set. Without his serve Rafa would’ve won in 2.
Either way, Kyrgios was on fire today and Rafa was vintage Rafa. Great winners, great FH and surprisingly great serve. For the most part it was very consistent and good placement on his serves which didn’t result in aces but kept giving him easy points setting up his good FH.
Revenge is sweet, eh? (If a bit gruelling.) Now do the same tomorrow, probably against you-know-who. Bye, bye, Nick – have a good flight home.
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm….dont be too fast there, Susieq!
It may well be Rafa’s turn tomorrow, who knows?
Rafa, the King of Clay, so happy and so proud of you! Rest well, and good luck tomorrow! Forever your fan!