Spain's Rafael Nadal returns the ball to Argentina's Diego Schwartzman during their quarterfinals at the Italian Open tennis tournament, in Rome, Saturday, Sept. 19, 2020. (Alfredo Falcone/LaPresse via AP)

Rafael Nadal’s first tournament in seven months ended with a 6-2, 7-5 loss to Diego Schwartzman in the quarterfinals of the Italian Open. Nadal, a nine-time champion in Rome, had never lost to the 15th-ranked Schwartzman in nine previous meetings. For two months during the lockdown, Nadal said, he didn’t touch a tennis racket. Earlier, Novak Djokovic lost his cool again midway through a 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 win over German
qualifier Dominik Koepfer — less than two weeks after getting defaulted from the U.S. Open.