A two-speed Nadal makes it through the first round in Rome

Nadal is very perceptive, almost visionary. At his pre-tournament press conference, the Majorcan declared: "All the matches are difficult for me today, difficult and more unpredictable than before". As it happens, the Spaniard was absolutely right. Opposed to a Zizou Bergs who didn't seem to have any complexes, Nadal came through in almost 3 hours (4-6, 6-3, 6-4).

Faced with a very aggressive Belgian (28 winners, 19 unforced errors), 'Rafa' struggled to find the key. Despite a good start to the match, the Manacor bull was taken by surprise by his enterprising opponent. Losing 5 of the last 6 games of the first set, the man who has won this tournament ten times in Rome found his back against the wall.

Perhaps still a little disturbed by the change in altitude (between Madrid and Rome), Nadal took a while to really get into his stride. But as the match wore on, he finally got the better of his opponent. Progressively rediscovering his heavy shots and his preferred patterns of play, the 14-time winner in Paris showed great fighting spirit to win in the end. Rafa' thus continues his journey in Italy and will cross swords with an opponent of a completely different calibre in the next round: Hubert Hurkacz (world No. 9).

Despite an uneven match, the Spaniard didn't seem that uncomfortable physically, and surely needs to play a lot of matches to get back into the swing of things. Nevertheless, this 5th victory in three weeks of competition ensures the essential.