AP
May 8, 2024
ROME -- Rafael Nadal won the Rome Masters on Sunday for his third straight clay-court title, edging Guillermo Coria in a fifth-set tiebreaker of a match that ended in darkness and lasted more than five hours.
Nadal won 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (6) to extend his winning streak to 17 matches. He appeared exhausted and debilitated from an injury to his playing hand when he fell behind 3-0 in the last set.
The 18-year-old Spaniard found the energy to rally for yet another victory, just as he fought back from first-set losses in his previous two matches.
"This was the toughest match of my life," Nadal said. "I want to thank the fans, without whom I would have lost 6-2 (in the fifth set)."
The match began in bright sunlight and concluded 5 hours, 14 minutes later.
Nadal beat Coria in a final last month at the Monte Carlo Masters and won the following week in Barcelona, Spain. He has a tour-best 31-2 record on clay this season.
Nadal's fifth title this season tied him with top-ranked Roger Federer for most on tour. His only loss in a final this year came against Federer in March at the Masters Series event in Key Biscayne, Fla., where he squandered a two-set lead. He is the first teenager to win five titles in a season since Andre Agassi won six in 1988.
Nadal, who is left-handed, needed a trainer to re-tape a cut on his left index finger after winning the third set. He played with the cut in his last two matches.
After falling behind 2-0 in the fourth set, Nadal called for the trainer again. This time, another bandage was placed on a different part of his left hand. After a lackluster fourth set, Nadal was treated again before starting the fifth.
When Nadal broke serve to make it 1-3 in the fifth set, he made his first fist pump in what seemed like an hour, stoically raising his bandaged hand. Upon taking a 4-1 lead in the tiebreak, Nadal managed to make a leaping fist pump.
Coria fought back, however, and Nadal couldn't finish the match off until his fourth match point, falling to the ground with joy as the Argentine's volley sailed long.
Most of the crowd was behind Nadal, even though this tournament was his first in Rome. A small group of flag-waving Argentines evened things out with their vocal support for Coria from the upper deck.
Nadal's victory in this $2.7 million tuneup for the French Open, which begins May 23, most likely will make him a big favorite in Paris.
Nadal turns 19 next month and is the youngest winner in Rome since Jimmy Arias took the title when he was 18 years, 9 months in 1983.
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