Zverev is a great closer at events and his play to take 14 of the last 16 points against Goffin cannot be taken lightly. If he makes mince meat of Marin he should be rolling for the final and fresh enough against a Nadal who was really shaky today in the first set. Nadal's last match was only 6-1, 6-4, 6-4 in Davis Cup and that was not the mighty Zedzilla. If Nadal doesn't serve really well a fresh Zedzilla definitely will break, but Nadal may be challenged to break Zverev enough. Rome is Nadal's worst clay M1000 so it really hinges on Zverev's legs on serve if he's clicking on all cylinders he could absolutely pull the upset.
I'm not sure he's all that tired. Berritini had the reach to return the Zedzilla first reasonablely well and trade blows with him and of course Zverev is notoriously beatable early in events. For me the Goffin and Edmund match difficulties were more mental. Edmund also fought well at the end, but Zverev had three early match points in the breaker where he basically decided to try to finish on a winner and went for hard shots under a lot of pressure rather than grinding tooth and nail. The Zedzilla shock and awe campaign worked really well against Goffin and then he just got too arrogant once again with his shot selection breaking himself late in the 2nd.I don't think he's having a problem with stamina and that's exactly what I'm worried about. He has played a lot of tennis in a very short time and with very little rest, so I'm just waiting for a fresher opponent to step up and defeat him. I don't get how he keeps winning if it's pretty obvious he's been running out of gas since he arrived in Rome, in his match against Berrettini he complained to his father about his legs, and against Edmund he looked in battery saving mode
The powerful play to take 14 of 16 against Goffin at the end of their match just a great, great sign that Zverev still has gas in the tank and was just trying to conserve energy with an aggressive game plan. I wouldn't right him off at all versus Nadal unless Cilic really troubles him. Zverev is just too good of a tournament closer when in this kind of mood not to bring it for the final fresh off a solid 2 set win over Cilic. He's been on amazing run and it really bodes well for more success that Zedzilla's a solid favorite today and may make a third straight final on clay in as many weeks, something Nadal has never done.
Nadal has had a much, much tougher draw and this may be telling for a final with a potentially red hot Zedzilla:
Nadal was really sharp early and his 4-1 lead could have been bigger. He just dropped a touch in level and Fognini was able to pull of a nice comeback. Nadal cruised the rest of the way, but the rallies were still a workout.
Nadal has had a much, much tougher draw and this may be telling for a final with a potentially red hot Zedzilla:
He was great against Dzumher.
Shapo was causing a lot of trouble in their match, but Nadal also just really sharp
Fognini really squared off nicely with Rafa for their first set and took five straight games to win it.
Djokovic came in nicely with a great win over Nishikori and Nadal was definitely way off his game in the first set with low first serve percentage (50%). Part of this was Nadal going very big on serve to keep Djokovic under wraps, but he really looked nervous on the whole. Nadal was better in the 2nd for sure, but he only broke Djokovic once.
Zverev when on fire plays a lot like Djokovic with his baseline domination and he has a monster serve. He was crushing backhands which will help him with Nadal who can be troubled by a great backhand on his forehand side as Djoko showed today. Also in Rome Nadal seems to not go with a really high bouncing dominate baseline game like RG and that means everything will be in the Zedzilla wheelhouse. Zedzilla cruising into the final may be able to prevail as the guy just knows how to win at the latter stages of events.
Friendship with Manchester United ended, now Zverev is my best friend
Interesting question. Haven't watched Cilic's matches but I feel like Z is getting a tad worn out. (3rd consecutive week of winning every match)
He’ll let you down also.Friendship with Manchester United ended, now Zverev is my best friend
Unfortunately that aspect of competition is lost on the brilliant minds of TT.
Lol forgot he got bageled.
Z will achieve a lot more than Cilic imo. Becoming #1 for a start.
How can you not root always root for the sexiest player
I really really hope you're right in this, I'd love to see Zverev in another final.
