For a brief spell at the Foro Italico, Rafael Nadal really did resemble a weary 37-year-old player nearing retirement.
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Struggling to produce pace off both sides with his groundstrokes, committing an uncharacteristically high number of unforced errors and unable to stay in rallies, Nadal dropped the first set of his first-round match at the Italian Open against Belgian qualifier Zizou Bergs on Friday.
Then the fist-pumping, virtually-unbeatable-on-clay, 22-time grand slam champion version of Nadal emerged and the Spaniard rallied for a 4-6 6-3 6-4 victory before an adoring crowd in what will likely be his final tournament at the famed Roman venue.
Nadal was playing only his 10th match this year after missing nearly all of 2023 with a hip injury that required surgery. He's hoping to be competitive one last time at the French Open, where he is the record 14-time champion.
"That was not my best match. I was practising better than how I played today, without a doubt. But I found a way to win," Nadal said.
"That's so important at the beginning of the tournament. For me, it's normal.
"My game is more unpredictable than before. I didn't play much tennis for the last two years. So I'm up and down, on and off, but I think I can do it much better than what I did today and I hope to do it the next round."
Rome, where he is a record 10-time champion, is Nadal's last big warm-up tournament before Roland Garros starts on May 26.
During his 70th win in the Italian capital, the Campo Centrale crowd serenaded Nadal with chants of: "Ole, Ole, Ole, Na-dal, Na-dal."
"I've always been emotional to play here, these kind of events are the most important events in my tennis career," Nadal said.
"The crowd has been always amazing with me, supporting me since the beginning of my tennis career. So I'm super excited to be able to play one more time here."
Nadal was coming off a straight-set loss to 31st-ranked Jiri Lehecka in the fourth round of the Madrid Open.
But he has never lost consecutive matches on clay in his entire career and now that impressive statistic remains intact during what he has indicated is his final season on tour.
Nadal's mother and sister sitting behind the court shouted encouragement and his one-year-old son was also courtside, sitting on the lap of Nadal's father.
The Nadal family can now look forward to a second-round match-up with seventh-seeded Hubert Hurkacz.
Top-ranked Novak Djokovic is on the opposite side of the draw, while second-ranked Jannik Sinner and third-ranked Carlos Alcaraz both withdrew because of injuries.
Australian Associated Press
