Djokovic floors Nadal again to claim Rome title

Rafael Nadal

ROME, (Reuters) – Novak Djokovic continued his  domination over world number one Rafa Nadal ahead of the French  Open by claiming the Rome Masters crown 6-4 6-4 yesterday to  stretch his unbeaten run this year to 37 matches.

Novak Djokovic

The Serb, who defeated Nadal for the first time on clay in  the Madrid Open final last weekend, won his seventh consecutive  title by flattening the five-times champion on the bigger points  in another brutal duel.

“I was amazed by the way I played,” Djokovic, who is just  five matches short of equalling John McEnroe’s 42-0 start  record, told reporters.

“I was on the verge of losing the semi-final match. This was  maybe my best performance on clay courts to beat the best man in  the world in straight sets.

“I served really well getting free points. I played the  perfect match against Rafa in Madrid and here.”
The 23-year-old said Nadal was still the man to beat in  Paris.

“Let’s get one thing straight — he’s still the king of  clay,” Djokovic said. “He’s the best person ever on these  courts. Winning twice in the last week is a great achievement  and gives me confidence coming up to France but he has been so  dominant over the years.”
Nadal, who had not been beaten on clay for almost two years  until last Sunday, was magnanimous in defeat and embraced his  conqueror as the players received a standing ovation from the  crowd.   “Compliments to Novak for his splendid performance and the  season he is having,” said Nadal, who had almost pulled out  before the tournament started due to illness.

“I’m not sad today. I’m not disappointed. I felt I played  better than in Madrid. I changed things. I tried to play more to  his forehand. I felt I was able to move well and play more  aggressively.

RAIN DELAYS START

“He played well in the important moments. At 15-30 in the  second set, he played down the line all the time. I was close a  lot of moments in the second set but it wasn’t to be.”

Rafael Nadal

A rain-delayed start gave Djokovic a few extra hours to  recover from Friday’s draining three-hour semi-final win over  Andy Murray, but there were ominous signs in the third game that  the world number two might still be weary as he dinked a  dropshot that barely reached the bottom of the net.

The Serbian recovered, though, crashing a forehand down the  line to take the game. Nadal remained unruffled and whizzed  around the court to bring an excited Foro Italico crowd to its  feet with a whipped forehand to level at 3-3.

After Nadal produced another superb running forehand,  Djokovic conjured an incredible angle with a whipped forehand to  hold serve.    In the next game, Djokovic won a marathon point at 15-all  and with the tension palpable, the Spaniard erred twice more —  floating a forehand long before mis-hitting another high into  the Rome sky to hand the Serb the first break at 5-3.

He faltered on his first attempt to serve out the set,  surrendering the advantage by netting the ball following another  exhausing rally, but broke Nadal again with a brilliant backhand  crosscourt winner to take the set.

An anxious-looking Nadal, who will be looking to win his  sixth French Open trophy when the claycourt grand slam begins  Sunday, fought back from 2-0 down in a fluctuating second  set before Djokovic underlined his mental toughness, forcing the  Spaniard into errors to break in the ninth game.

Djokovic saw his first three match points go begging —  thanks to two backhand errors and an unreturnable serve from  Nadal — but he made no mistake on the fourth.

After a furious exchange which featured two net cords,  Djokovic whipped a forehand and then watched on as a charging  Nadal could only roll the ball into the net to hand the world  number two another memorable victory.

Djokovic promptly collapsed on to his back and let out an  almighty roar to celebrate his victory.