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By Chris Oddo | Thursday May 17, 2018


Novak Djokovic played some of his strongest tennis of the season on Thursday at the Foro Italico in Rome, continuing a trend that started with his first-round win over Alexandr Dolgopolov and has now extended to six consecutive sets won by the former No.1 and four-time Rome champion.

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The Serb was dominant from start to finish except for one double-clutch late in the second set when he was broken while serving for the match, but for the most part this match saw another uptick in form from Djokovic and enough vintage shotmaking to raise a few eyebrows and maybe make a few people ask the question—can he win this title?

That’s a bit far-fetched considering that the Serb’s 6-1, 7-5 win over Albert Ramos-Vinolas places him in his first quarterfinal of 2018 and he has not earned a Top 5 win since last January, but Djokovic’s play and the way he has resonated with the ambience and surface at Rome point to a turnaround in his fortunes.


We knew it was going to come provided that a) Djokovic’s injury healed and b) Djokovic had the desire. Now that A and B appear to be certainties, the question switches from if to: when?

It’s probably not as important right now as it is for Djokovic to rack up wins and develop a feel for the competition again. He did that today as he has done all week, and he’ll get a stiffer test tomorrow as he bids for the semifinals against Kei Nishikori.

Win or lose in the quarterfinals, Djokovic senses that he has made strides this week, just a month after re-hiring coach Marian Vajda and re-committing to his game on the clay.

"I'm happy. I haven't had too many matches of this quality of my tennis in the past 12 months," Djokovic said, according to ATPWorldTour.com. "I think this was probably one of the three matches that I played this way in the past 12 months. So, it felt good. And it came at the right time in the place where I love to play, where I get a lot of support... I feel like each match is getting better. So, hopefully, it's going to continue in this direction."


The sanguine tone and the earthy smile are back, as is the ability to deliver some pretty sublime tennis on the clay. We saw that tonight as Djokovic had Ramos-Vinolas on a string for much of the evening.

Djokovic was confident from the baseline and played a diverse array of strokes to keep the Spaniard off-balance. He missed on several drop shots but kept at it, seemingly with the knowledge that he’ll need the shot in his arsenal on Friday against Nishikori and, if he survives that match, against either Rafael Nadal or Fabio Fognini in the semifinals.

For now, Djokovic is content to focus on Nishikori, a player he defeated in straight-sets last week at Madrid.

Nishikori eased past Philipp Kohlschreiber, 6-1, 6-2, finishing up at roughly the same time that Djokovic did on Thursday evening. Japan’s top dog has been solid on clay this season, putting up a final at Monte-Carlo to go with this run in Rome.

"It was strange playing Kei in the first round in Madrid. But, it was a very close match," Djokovic said. "I expect the same tomorrow. I expect a big fight from both of us."

 

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