VTR Open 2013 - Excellent Zeballos stuns Nadal to win first title
Horacio Zeballos bt. Rafael Nadal (1) 6-7 (2-7) 7-6 (8-6) 6-4
Horacio Zeballos claimed his first ATP World Tour title with a stunning victory over Rafael Nadal. The world no. 73 was playing in only his second final and had to come from a set down to win.
The VTR Open in Vina del Mar, Chile is a small tournament but had the eyes of the tennis world watching as Rafael Nadal had chosen it to make his comeback after seven months out with a knee injury. He had a great run to the final, not dropping a set, but Zeballos, who had already taken out three seeds, was just too good for him on the day.
Despite losing the first set on a tie-break Zeballos stayed strong and clinched the second set tie-break with his third set point. Nadal got the first break of the match at the start of the final set but Zeballos soon hit back. It stayed on serve until Zeballos was 5-4 ahead and he pounced on Nadal’s service game breaking to love to win the title. The final game included a magnificent drop shot and an incredible cross-court winner on the run.
Nadal came back on court soon after to play in the doubles final with Juan Monaco but lost that as well. They were beaten by Italian pair Potito Starace and Paolo Lorenzi in straight sets.
Brandon Knight (11/02/2013)
