ATPtennis.com
May 8, 2024
Rafael Nadal won his third consecutive ATP title and second consecutive ATP Masters Series shield by beating Guillermo Coria 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 4-6, 7-6(6) in a thrilling 5-hour 14-minute final at the Telecom Italia Masters Roma 2005, the longest final since records have been kept (1990).
Coria and Nadal played a superb match in front of a sell-out crowd at the Foro Italico, with the Spanish teenager repeating his four-set win over the Argentine in the Masters Series Monte-Carlo final
Coria seemed to have the upper hand when he led 3-0 with a double break and had a game point for 4-0 in the final set, but the Spanish teenager came back to lead 4-3. They then held serve until the tiebreak where Nadal won on his fourth match point
Nadal becomes the third consecutive Spanish winner in Rome after Felix Mantilla (2003) and Carlos Moya (2004) and the first player to win the Monte Carlo and Rome title in the same year since Thomas Muster in 1996
Nadal has won his last 17 matches and has a 41-6 record in 2005 (31-2 on clay) with the most match wins on the ATP circuit, and has five ATP titles in 2005 the most together with Roger Federer
Nadal will consolidate his hold on second place in the INDESIT ATP 2005 Race (behind Federer) and to No. 5 in the INDESIT ATP Entry Ranking when the new rankings are issued on Monday.
He is the youngest player, at 18 years, 11 months, to break into the Top 5 in the INDESIT ATP Entry Ranking since Michael Chang (17 years, 5 months) on Aug. 7, 1989. The last player to win five clay court titles in a season was Gustavo Kuerten in 2001 and prior to that countryman Felix Mantilla in 1997.
On his way to the final, Nadal defeated Mikhail Youzhny, Victor Hanescu, Guillermo Canas, Radek Stepanek and David Ferrer
On his way to the final Coria defeated Fernando Gonzalez, Nicolas Kiefer, Davide Sanguinetti, Fernando Verdasco and 2002 Rome champion Andre Agassi
In doubles, Michael Llodra and Fabrice Santoro claimed their first title of the year with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan
Llodra and Santoro won their first career ATP Masters Series title after losing in three finals, Llodra now has six career doubles titles and Santoro 15
The Frenchmen had lost to the Bryans in the Masters Series Monte-Carlo semifinals last month
The Bryans were looking to win their second title of 2005 (Scottsdale) and the 25th of their career
FIVE TITLE TEENS
Nadal is the first teenager to win five ATP titles in a season since Andre Agassi won six in 1988. Here is a list of players who won five or more titles in a season as a teenager:
Mats Wilander 9 1983
Bjorn Borg 7 1974
Andre Agassi 6 1988
Boris Becker 6 1986
Rafael Nadal 5 2005
John McEnroe 5 1978
Bjorn Borg 5 1975
Jimmy Connors 5 1972
MOST TITLES WON BY TEENAGERS
Nadal captured his sixth career ATP title as a teenager by winning Rome The most titles won by teens:
Bjorn Borg 16
Mats Wilander 13
Boris Becker 12
Andre Agassi 10
Andrei Medvedev 8
Lleyton Hewitt 7
Rafael Nadal 6
Michael Chang 6
WHAT THE PLAYERS SAID
Nadal: �It�s the toughest match I have ever played in my life, more than five hours, I won thanks to the support of the crowd. It was unbelievable out there.�
�When you�re in a(n ATP) Masters Series final you give everything you have as it doesn�t happen to you every day to play a big match. I have played three consecutive now, which is something incredible.�
�I have won three consecutive titles, I don�t know how to explain that. I am playing well and I have a lot of confidence obviously. I just want to continue at this level. Every time I win a match they ask me if I am the favorite for Roland Garros but the favorite for Roland Garros will be the player who plays the best there!�
Coria: "I'm a little bit disappointed because I ran for five hours just to lose with two points. Actually, I am very disappointed."
�It's normal but, you know, I lost with a top player who played a great match. So that's it, now I have to move on."
"I think I was pretty close to beating him today, but he's very confident. He has won a lot of matches lately and he's making some incredible shots. But I was really close today, so I hope it will happen sooner or later."
"I don't think there was a key point to the match. We went to 8-6 in tiebreak, so it was very, very close match. We ran for more than four hours, and you do a lot of errors. It's normal. It depends on the concentration."
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