STAGE IS SET FOR A BLOCKBUSTER NADAL VS. DJOKOVIC FINAL IN ROME BY RICKY DIMON

Written by: on 17th May 2014
Italian Open tennis tournament in Rome
STAGE IS SET FOR A BLOCKBUSTER NADAL VS. DJOKOVIC FINAL IN ROME BY RICKY DIMON

epa04211379 Spanish tennis player Rafael Nadal returns the ball to Bulgaria's Grigor Dimitrov during their semi-final match for the Italian Open tennis tournament at the Foro Italico in Rome, Italy, 17 May 2014. EPA/ETTORE FERRARI  |

A tournament with such mesmerizing matches from start to finish should only end one way: with the top two players in the world going head-to-head. And the Internazionali BNL d’Italia is doing just that on Sunday.

 

Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic have scraped their way through to the title match and will now face each other for the 41st time in their careers. Nadal leads the series 22-18 and 13-3 on clay. Djokovic, however, is 1-0 against the Spaniard this season and 3-0 in their last three. They most recently squared off two months ago in Miami, where the Serb rolled 6-3, 6-3. That gave Djokovic an 11-9 record against Nadal in finals (6-5 in Masters 1000 finals) and a 12-9 mark at Masters 1000 events.

 

The pair was never assured of another installment of the rivalry this week, as never on the same day did both men cruise. Whereas it was Nadal who struggled more often than not earlier in the tournament, Djokovic took a turn to be put through his paces on Saturday. Before Nadal cruised past Grigor Dimitrov 6-2, 6-2 in one hour and 22 minutes, Djokovic needed three hours to outlast Milos Raonic 6-7(5), 7-6(4) 6-3.

 

“It was a big win,” Rome’s second seed said after beating Raonic. “It gives me a lot of strength and belief that I hope I can carry into tomorrow’s final and the rest of the season…. He played at a high level, especially on his serve, and I cannot recall the last time when I felt so helpless in the return games. I couldn’t really read his serve.”

 

“Djokovic always plays unbelievable,” Nadal commented after his rout of Dimitrov. “He’s a complete player and has all the shots. If I want to have chances to win I have to play my best tennis, be aggressive. It will be a very tough match. That’s the only way. I have to be ready for the competition.”

 

Among the records already held by the Nadal-Djokovic rivalry going into Sunday’s showdown: most matches played in the Open Era (40), most finals played in the Open Era (21), most matches played at Grand Slams (tied with 11), most matches played in Masters 1000 events (21), and most finals played in Masters 1000 events (12).

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