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By Chris Oddo | Saturday May 18, 2018


Rafael Nadal edged ever closer to his eighth title at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome on Saturday, battling past a rejuvenated rival who is just rounding into form.

Video Roma: Djokovic Gives Fan a Brand New Racquet

Nadal’s 7-6(4), 6-3 victory over Novak Djokovic sends the Spaniard into his 10th final at the Foro Italico, where he’ll face either Alexander Zverev or Marin Cilic for his 78th career title, and his 56th on clay.


Meanwhile, Djokovic’s loss marks the end of an eye-opening week that has week that has seen the Serb take a giant step in the right direction in terms of form and psychology. Though he was not able to overcome Nadal and saw his perfect 8-0 record in Rome semifinals snapped by his longtime rival, Djokovic has certainly turned a corner and set the table for the next step.

Could it come as soon as next month in Paris, where Djokovic certainly has to be considered a longshot contender for the title, particularly if he processes what he learned in Rome and advances his game further in Paris.

For now, he’ll have to be content with his performance in Rome, and how it ended—with a taste of top-tier tennis against the greatest player to ever step foot on clay. Djokovic held his own against Nadal and nearly came away with the opening set, which was played at very high quality.

But as is so often the case in the springtime on the red clay, the day belonged to Nadal in the end. He was calm and reticent for most of the match, showing little emotion almost as if he was intent on not showing his rival how much winning this edition of the rivalry meant to him.

While his mannerisms were muted, his game was far from it. Nadal responded to everything Djokovic threw at him and always found a way to drive the point home that he is indeed the boss of the clay at this critical bend in the road to Roland Garros.

The pair traded breaks in the early going, with Nadal breaking in the sixth game of the first set after Djokovic held at love in his first two service games. The Spaniard converted his second break point after putting sustained pressure on Djokovic with a series of topspin drives from both wings.

Djokovic answered back, snapping a forehand that caused a Nadal backhand shank for a break and 4-5 before the pair held serve three times collectively heading into a first-set breaker.

Here is where Nadal made his move, taking four of the final five points of the breaker and sealing the set with a perfectly placed backhand return winner down the line that left a frustrated Djokovic fuming as the set concluded.

The frustration from Djokovic’s camp was fiery, reminiscent of his days of domination when he accepted nothing less than the best, and while it didn’t guide him past Nadal in the second set it was another indication that things are starting to turn from his side of the equation.

Nadal proved to be too much of a force in the second set. He broke at love for 2-1, rifling a forehand pass that a net-rushing Djokovic could only volley long, and while Djokovic later found his footing and once again started to stand toe-to-toe with Nadal in the later stages of the set, Nadal held his nerve and his serve and eventually broke again, converting his second match point with a backhand winner, his 22nd of the afternoon.

Then he let out some raw emotion, swinging his fist and plunging it high into the air, before meeting his old friend and rival at the net.


They are old friends, and old rivals, but based on what we saw, the Nadal-Djokovic rivalry may have new magic in store.


Nadal improves to 25-26 lifetime over Djokovic, and 55-6 lifetime at Rome. Coming off a tough loss at Madrid to Dominic Thiem, the Spaniard is in the process of proving that it was just a one-off in Rome.

He’s still the king, and the king is still the boss of the clay. That’s the storyline we’ll likely be writing in the week leading up to Roland Garros, but Djokovic’s re-emergence will allow for a few more paragraphs, and a little more intrigue.

 

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