A year ago, Denis Shapovalov stunned Rafael Nadal in his native Canada at Rogers Cup on a hard court. On Thursday, Shapovalov and Nadal met for the first time since, but on Nadal's preferred surface: clay.
And there's a reason Nadal is the king of clay.
The Spaniard easily took down Shapovalov in the Round of 16 of the Italian Open, winning in straight sets, 6-4, 6-1.
Into the #ibi18 last 8 goes 7-time champion @RafaelNadal 💪
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) May 17, 2018
The 👑 of clay prevails 6-4 6-1 to improve to 53-6 lifetime at Rome. pic.twitter.com/VzSbG2Sbts
From the onset of the match, it was evident that anything Shapovalov won he would have to earn. While he began on serve, and held his way out to an early 2-1 advantage, it took eight break points saved from Shapovalov to get to that point.
Meanwhile, it wasn't until Nadal's 16th serve of the match that he dropped a point on his own serve.
But despite having to scratch and sweat his way into holds, Shapovalov was even with Nadal at 3-3 in the first set, until a double-fault from Shapovalov handed Nadal his ninth break point of the set. He finally was able to convert, when Shapovalov put a backhand shot into the net.
Nadal would cruise from there, keeping Shapovalov off balance and reaching en route to a first set victory.
If Shapovalov had to expend a good deal of energy just to keep the first set close, it may have shown to start the second. Shapovalov, who was also playing for the third consecutive day, dropped the first eight points of the second, getting broken and held on love to see Nadal rush out to a quick 2-0 lead.
At a moment when it looked like Shapovalov may finally fold, he did anything but though, producing a hold on love and requiring only 62 seconds to do so, a nod to Shapovalov's ability to forget whatever has just occurred in a match.
Never say die, @denis_shapo 👌
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) May 17, 2018
Fantastic finishing forehand. #ibi18 pic.twitter.com/H7SIjdcECr
But that was as far as Shapovalov would push back in the second set, as Nadal resumed his dominance, going on to win 32 of his 37 service points in the match. After seeing his second set lead cut to 2-1, Nadal went on to win the next four games, putting away Shapovalov with a break to end the match in straight sets.
It wasn't a lost tournament for Shapovalov, though, who with a victory in the opening round passed Milos Raonic in the ATP, becoming the highest-ranked male Canadian player, the first time Raonic has not held the distinction since 2010.