AP
by Andrew Dampf
May 3, 2024
ROME (AP) -- Rafael Nadal is tearing his way through the clay-court season.
The 18-year-old Spaniard overtook Roger Federer for most wins on tour this season with a 6-0, 6-2 victory Tuesday over Mikhail Youzhny of Russia in the first round of the Rome Masters.
Nadal is 36-6 this year. Top-ranked Federer, who pulled out of the Rome tournament with an injury to both feet, is 35-2.
``I'm playing good. I won the last two tournaments I played,'' Nadal said, referring to his titles in Monte Carlo and Barcelona.
The $2.7 million Rome Masters is a major tuneup for the French Open, which begins May 23. Three-time French Open winner Gustavo Kuerten believes Nadal has established himself as the favorite in Paris, even though Nadal has never played at Roland Garros.
``He is winning every tournament he plays,'' Kuerten said. ``He's beating everybody.''
Andre Agassi has yet to play Nadal, but the eight-time Grand Slam winner has taken notice.
``He has a phenomenal forehand when he's set, moves unbelievable, and is a great competitor,'' Agassi said.
Nadal is the first left-hander ranked in the top 10 in five years.
``You just don't see it as often. Everything is backwards. He hits the inside-out lefty forehand nasty,'' Agassi said. ``He plays a real physical game, similar to how (Thomas) Muster used to play, but defends the backhand way better, passes much better and while his serve doesn't seem to be tremendously effective, it is.''
Australian Open champion Marat Safin and French Open runner-up Guillermo Coria needed three sets to win opening matches. Safin, seeded second, rallied past Jiri Novak 6-7 (3), 6-1, 6-1. Coria, seeded ninth, used just one service break to edge Fernando Gonzalez 7-6 (5), 5-7, 6-4.
French Open winner Gaston Gaudio, seeded third, beat Slovakia's Karol Beck 6-4, 6-3. Eighth-seeded David Nalbandian, last year's Rome runner-up, lost to France's Fabrice Santoro 6-4, 1-6, 6-4, and Julien Benneteau eliminated 13th-seeded Tommy Robredo of Spain 6-1, 6-0.
Nadal, who also moved to a tour-best 26-2 record on clay this season, beat an opponent who had been sidelined since March with a knee injury.
``The match was never in danger,'' said Nadal, who is seeded fifth. ``These matches help keep me in condition.''
Safin surrendered a 5-2 lead in the first set before storming through the final two sets of this major clay-court tuneup for the French Open, which begins May 23.
``I don't know what happened,'' the Russian said. ``I think I was a little overconfident and tried to play really fast. Unfortunately, I made a couple of mistakes and lost my confidence. But in the second set I got my game back. ... Even though I lost the first set, I came back, that's a good sign.''
As Safin connected on a serve in the first set, his racket broke and he was left holding only the grip, prompting him to entertain the crowd by flexing and pointing to his right arm.
``I broke my racket once on a smash, this time it was a serve,'' the 6-foot-4 Safin said.
Coria broke Gonzalez for the first time in the seventh game of the third set when the Chilean with big, looping strokes hit two forehands long. He then maintained the advantage and closed the match in 2 hours, 50 minutes.
``I had to work until the last game,'' the Argentine said. ``It's very tough to play against a player that's hitting missiles all the time.''
Also, 11th-seeded Guillermo Canas of Argentina beat Andrei Pavel of Romania 7-5, 6-2; 12th-seeded Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia downed Olivier Rochus of Belgium 6-3, 6-3; and 15th-seeded Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic defeated Mario Ancic of Croatia 6-1, 6-7 (5), 6-3.
Nicolas Kiefer eliminated 2002 Rome finalist Tommy Haas 6-3, 6-1, and Alberto Martin won 6-0, 1-0 when Germany's Rainer Schuettler retired with a wrist injury.
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