Rafael Nadal’s debut title in Rome, 20 years on

Tournament Feature

Nadal’s dazzling debut in Rome, 20 years on

Spaniard won first of his record 10 titles in Italian capital in 2005

Baroncini/AFP via Getty Images Rafael Nadal triumphs at the 2005 Internazionali BNL d'Italia. By Andy West

The greatest career in Rome ATP Masters 1000 history began in spectacular fashion at the 2005 Internazionali BNL d'Italia.

A then-18-year-old Rafael Nadal arrived for his Rome debut in early May amid plenty of hype. The Spanish lefty had already won four ATP Tour titles that year and entered the draw at a career-high No. 7 in the PIF ATP Rankings after putting together an 11-match winning streak to lift his maiden ATP Masters 1000 title in Monte-Carlo and then triumph on home soil in Barcelona.

Already established as one of the players to beat on clay, Nadal charged to the quarter-finals at the Foro Italico by seeing off Mikhail Youzhny, Victor Hanescu and World No. 13 Guillermo Canas for the loss of just eight games combined. Yet what began as a procession through the Rome draw for the teenage sensation soon developed into a see-saw journey towards the first of his record 10 titles in the Italian capital.

In the quarter-finals against Radek Stepanek, Nadal dropped his first set in nine matches, but that setback only seemed to spur him on to a 5-7, 6-1, 6-1 victory. He faced the same situation in the semi-finals against David Ferrer, but again the fifth seed rallied and he ultimately overcame his countryman 4-6, 6-4, 7-5.

Perhaps those hard-fought wins stood Nadal in good stead for the best-of-five-sets final, a rematch of his Monte-Carlo title showdown with Guillermo Coria. In the Principality three weeks earlier, Nadal had recovered from being bagelled by the Argentine in the third set to prevail in four sets. This time around, an absorbed Rome crowd was treated to a five-hour, five-set clash for the ages.

Unlike in Monte-Carlo, Coria was twice able to peg back the red-hot Nadal by claiming the second and fourth sets on Stadio Centrale. In the decider, the Argentine appeared to have outlasted his younger, visibly tiring opponent, and he took a 3-0 lead with a double break to move within touching distance of his third Masters 1000 title.

Yet then came a development that would become all too familiar to tennis fans — and Nadal’s ATP Tour rivals — across the following two decades. With the match into its fifth hour, the 18-year-old somehow found a way to flip the script.

Nadal reeled off four consecutive games en route to carving out his first championship point on return at 6-5, 30/40, but Coria held firm to force a tie-break. Again, Nadal appeared to have taken control of the match, and he led 5/1 before earning two further championship points at 6/4. A missed forehand return and a double fault let Coria draw parity before finally, after five hours and 14 minutes, Nadal claimed the two further points he needed to complete his win in what remains the longest final in Masters 1000 series history (since 1990).

Nadal celebrates after clinching the title at the 2005 Internazionali BNL d'Italia. Photo Credit: Baroncini/AFP via Getty Images

“I played today one of the toughest matches in my life,” said Nadal at his post-match press conference after his 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 4-6, 7-6(6) triumph. “I am very happy because it is a very important tournament for me.”

As plenty of players who have competed at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia across its 95-year history can attest, there are few stops on the ATP Tour with fans as passionate as those in Rome. When later asked how he had summoned the energy to fight back after being broken twice for 0-3 in the fifth set, Nadal was quick to cite the role the of the Campo Centrale crowd.

“I don't know. I think the public is very important for me because when I went 0-3 in the fifth, my energy was finished,” said the Spaniard, who four weeks later lifted his maiden major title at Roland Garros and went on to win a personal-best 11 tour-level trophies in 2005. “But the public all the time supported me. Because of that, I could win the match.”

Coria had beaten a 16-year-old Nadal in their first tour-level meeting in 2003, but he was never again able to solve the puzzle presented by the Spanish lefty, finishing his career with a 1-4 deficit in the pair’s Lexus ATP Head2Head series. The Argentine’s lament of what had gone wrong in the closing stages of their classic Rome encounter was likely later echoed by many players who may have thought they had Nadal beaten during his esteemed career.

“I thought that sooner or later he would give up, he would have a loss of pressure, but he didn't," said Coria. "I fought, I gave everything I had, I had my chances, and I tried to use them. He was always responding with incredible shots on the lines.”

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