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Rafael Nadal will kickstart his Italian Open title defense against World No. 27 John Isner in Rome on Wednesday.
The southpaw made a dream start to the season, winning three titles in a row, including his 21st Grand Slam title at the Australian Open. However, he suffered a stress fracture to his ribs during his Indian Wells campaign, which put him on the sidelines for six weeks.
Nadal returned to action last week in Madrid, where he bowed out to eventual champion Carlos Alcaraz in three sets in the quarterfinals.
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Back in Rome this week, the 13-time Roland Garros champion will hope to build some rhythm before heading to Paris.
Where is Rafael Nadal playing?
Rafael Nadal will play this week at the Italian Open. It is the last combined ATP and WTA 1000 outdoor claycourt event ahead of the French Open.
One of the most important stops on the European tennis calendar, the Italian Open was established in 1930. Currently, the men's competition is an ATP Masters 1000 event while the women's competition is a WTA 1000 event. The two were combined in 2011.
Nadal has collected the Italian Open title a record 10 times, the latest of which came last year in a three-set win over Novak Djokovic in the final.
Who is Rafael Nadal playing against?
Nadal's second-round opponent, the 6'10'' John Isner, is known in tennis circles for his booming serves. The American reached a career-high ranking of No. 8 in 2018, thanks to a semifinal appearance at Wimbledon, a quarterfinal at the US Open and a fourth-round showing at Roland Garros.
The 37-year-old has 16 titles to his credit, the most recent of which came at home in Atlanta last year.
Currently ranked 27th, Isner has had an inconsistent season so far this year. He managed to win just one out of his first five matches before making it to the semifinals in Dallas. His next notable performance was at Indian Wells, where his campaign was cut short in the Round of 16 by Grigor Dimitrov.
In Houston, Isner made a surprising run to the final on clay, finishing as the runner-up to Reilly Opelka.
He suffered a three-set second-round defeat to Cameron Norrie in Madrid last week. However, Isner bounced back and produced 13 aces on Tuesday to beat Argentine qualifier Francisco Cerundolo 6-4, 6-3 in Rome.
The win helped him set up a second-round showdown with Nadal, who he trails 1-7 in the head-to-head.
Rafael Nadal vs John Isner match schedule
Nadal and Isner's face-off will be the second match on Center Court on Wednesday, May 11.
Match timing: Approx 1:00 pm local time / 11:00 am GMT / 7:00 am ET / 4:30 pm IST.
Date: 11 May 2022.
Rafael Nadal vs John Isner streaming details
Viewers from the following countries can catch the action live on these respective channels and sites:-
USA: For viewers in the USA, Tennis Channel will broadcast the match.
UK: UK viewers can follow the action on Amazon Prime Video.
Canada: Viewers in Canada can tune in to TSN & Rogers Sportsnet.
Australia: Fans Down Under can catch all the action live on beIN Sports.
Italy: The host country will broadcast the tournament live on Sky Italia.
India: Indian tennis fans can catch all the action live on Sports18 & Voot.
For more information regarding the broadcast of matches, click here.
What is the foot injury that has troubled Rafael Nadal over the years? Check here
