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Toronto Final:



Nadal 🎥 Tsitsipas



Cincinnati 1st Rd:



Cecchinato 🎥 Mannarino



Edmund 🎥 McDonald FINAL RESULT 🎾 💥 = Beatdown

🤕 = Injury

‼️ = Upset



Nadal d Tsitsipas 6-2, 7-6(4)



The first 60-70 minutes of this match were an utter beatdown. Rafa started fiercely, overpowering Tsitsipas from the baseline with some huge winners off both wings. The birthday boy Stefanos looked overwhelmed and outmatched against a Nadal who hadn't looked this good on a hard court since Beijing last year.



It was perhaps Nadal's serve which was most impressive until 5*-4 in the 2nd set. The Spaniard lost just one point(!) on serve in the entire first set and generally did a very god job of varying placement and speed, which successfully robbed his young opponent of any rhythm when returning.



Then something bizarre happened. Nadal sportingly gave Tsitsipas another 1st serve after his initial service motion had been interrupted by a scream from the crowd. From this point on, Nadal suffered a mini-implosion of confidence (he admitted post-match that nerves had completely gotten the better of him). He lost the next two points in Tsitsipas's service games with errors, dropped his own serve while serving for the match in the subsequent service game, and looked utterly on edge as we approached the tail-end of the set. This drop-off was seized upon by Tsitsipas who started to pepper Rafa's backhand until he was rewarded with errors. Nadal, momentarily remembering who he is, dug deep and summoned some of his earlier form to save a set point with some crushing offensive forehands which forced a tiebreak.



Despite Rafa still looking pretty tentative on his backhand wing for most of the breaker, in the end he was just too good when it mattered. Stefanos missed a forehand to hand Rafa the mini break for a 5-3* lead, and Nadal converted his first match point with a huge forehand winner.



Huge credit should be directed at Tsitispas for not only the incredible week he has had, but the manner in which he has played his tennis. Gutsy, aggressive play saw him improbably comeback vs Zverev, survive match points vs Anderson and nearly saw him comeback vs the world No.1 today. As for Rafa, the first set and half of this final was an incredibly high level of tennis. Hugely encouraging for his US Open prospects, especially on serve.



Also:



Cincinnati Day 1 :



Mannarino d Cecchinato: 6-7(7), 6-2, 7-6(7)

Edmund d McDonald: 6-3, 6-2 💥 SHOTS OF THE DAY 😮 Crazy pass from Nadal off what was a decent volley from Tsitsipas, with a bunch of sidespin.

(TennisTV) Same shot in slow-mo. The force that loads on to Rafa's left, leading leg before impact is amazing to watch at this fps. Look at his knee/foot/ankle take the impact...

(TennisTV) This sums up the 1st set. Rafa ripping 🔥.

(TennisTV) Tsitsipas crushing a backhand off a high-bouncing Nadal forehand. Basically the dream for any single hander.

(TennisTV) Comeback time? Both guys tipped the net cord but the impressive bit here is Rafa's penultimate shot, the huge forehand off a deep ball. It takes serious balls to pull that shot off from such a defensive position, set point down.

(TennisTV) Once again Rafa coming up with the goods when he needed to. Great little touch drop-shot to stay on serve in the breaker.

(TennisTV) INTERVIEW/PRESS BEST BITS 🎤 Nadal post-win:



- "I feel I've improved every match, it's important to win even if you're not at your best."

Source



- "Will I play in Cincinnati? I can't answer to you right now." (Rafa has now withdrawn from Cincy)

Source



- "Probably is not the week that I've played my best tennis, but my spirit of competition has been fantastic."

Source

Tsitsipas on facing up against Nadal:



- "And the patience that Rafa has is amazing. He never cracks. He will always grab you like a bulldog and always will have you -- he will always make you suffer on the court."

Source



On what he learnt today:



- "Of how much I have to work. How much gap there is between him and me in our games, and how much more I need to do. I don't want to be rude, but bust my ass more on the court. Work more hours and become stronger and more solid baseliner. And withstand pressures, physical pressures on the court that to him it just seems like nothing special. That's the big difference between my game and his game."

Source



Best part of his week?



- "Beating Novak Djokovic. Yeah. Very emotional."

Source



Full Trophy presentation including crowd singing happy birthday to Tsitsipas. WHO'S PLAYING TOMORROW? ⏰ Cincinnati Centre Court

11am Start - Local Time (4pm UK)



Isner vs Querrey (H2H: 2-4) (3rd match on court) 🔥



NB 8:30pm - Local Time (1:30am UK)



Djokovic vs Johnson (1st Meeting)



Grandstand

11am Start - Local Time (4pm UK)



Nishikori vs Rublev (1st Meeting) 🔥

Pouille vs Murray (H2H: 0-4) 🔥



NB 7pm - Local Time (12:00am UK)



Wawrinka vs Schwartzman (1st Meeting) 🔥 Stadium 3

11am Start - Local Time (4pm UK)



Gasquet vs Carreno Busta (H2H: 0-1)

Shapovalov vs Tiafoe (H2H: 0-1) 🔥

Ferrer vs Paire (H2H: 3-0)



Court 4 (11am)

J Sousa vs Gojowczyk (1st Meeting)



Court 7 (NB 2:30pm)

L. Mayer vs Mmoh (1st Meeting)



Court 11 (11am)

Marterer vs Klahn (1st Meeting)

Chardy vs Verdasco (H2H: 2-1) EXTRAS...🔍🎤📊 After winning today, Nadal is now the oldest Rogers Cup champion in the Open Era.

That was Nadal's 80th title and 33rd Masters title (a record).

Nadal is now tied in 2nd place with Novak Djokovic for most titles at the Rogers Cup (4). Lendl holds the most (6).

That was Rafa's first hard court masters win since 2013.

All time titles (Open Era):



Jimmy Connors - 109

Roger Federer - 98

Ivan Lendl - 94

Rafael Nadal - 80

Nadal is 0.2% away from equalling Bjorn Borg's career win/loss% record of 83.1%. The Toronto win took Rafa to 82.9%, who currently sits in 2nd, all-time, behind Borg.

Dominic Thiem withdrew from doubles in Cincinnati with an illness. Same thing happened to Domi last week in Toronto before going out tamely to Tsitsipas. Not ideal.

Source

Immediately after match point Rafa checked his phone and asked the cameraman how his buddy Tiger Woods was getting on. Video

Thanassi Kokkinakis won his first title since 2015 with a win in the Aptos Challenger.

Video

Seems wise.

Source Rafa withdraws from Cincy: "No other reason than personally taking care of my body and trying to keep as healthy as I feel now."Seems wise.

Full Video Rafa gave Tsitsipas another first serve after the Greek's service motion was interrupted by a call from the crowd. The guy still cares about winning just as much as his 15 year old self. Incredible.

(TennisTV)

More photos and source. Fed hard at work on the practice courts in Cincinnati. Novak with some very smooth groundstrokes in practice with Goffin. Full Video Djokovic looked very good. But then again he did in Toronto on the practice courts too.

Full video LOL 😂 Roger trolling Nick on Instagram. Murray with the SASS. Rafa getting bamboozled by the Rogers Cup Trophy.

(TennisTV) 'The Racquet' is concise ATP tennis news, stats and analysis, delivered weekly/daily to your inbox. Make sure you never miss an issue: Subscribe Tweet Forward GAME, SET & MATCH 👋 The Racquet is created, and written, by Matt. You can find me on twitter by tapping/clicking this. You early subscribers (Beta testers) get access to 'The Racquet' Discord. Tap/click the Discord button below to join (we even have Jerzy Janowicz emojis). If you know anyone who would like 'The Racquet' here is the link to send them so they can sign up: https://theracquet.co See you tomorrow for Cincinnati Day 2!