At the Rome Masters, Rafael Nadal was not able to make a fantastic start with his game. Nevertheless, he was still able to defeat Stanislas Wawrinka in a 6-4, 6-1 match, advancing him to the semifinals of the tournament.
Nadal is currently unbeaten on clay courts this season, and is currently aiming for his fifth title in six years. At first, Nadal had a bit of trouble finding his range when going against Wawrinka’s powerful service. Still he emerged victorious when he was able to break Wawrinka at the close of the first set, which then fueled his performance until the end of the match.
Rafael Nadal is fresh from playing at the Monte Carlo Masters some two weeks ago, and he believes that his performance then was definitely better than in the current tournament.
Fernando Verdasco also advanced to the semifinal round after displaying excellent performance against Novak Djokovic. In the semifinal round, Verdasco is set to go head to head against David Ferrer, who defeated Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in a 6-4, 6-1 match.
While Verdasco was defeated by Nadal at the Monte Carlo tournament, he was able to win the Barcelona Open around a week ago. If everything goes well, chances are that Nadal and Verdasco will be meeting at the Rome Masters finals at the end of the tournament.