Nadal the king of Rome, again
Rome, May 17: Rafael Nadal defeated world number one Novak Djokovic to win a 10th Italian Open title on Sunday.
Second seed Nadal won through 7-5, 1-6, 6-3 in 2hr
49min against the defending champion to match Djokovic’s record of 36 Masters 1000 titles and lay down a key marker two weeks out from the defence of his Roland Garros crown.
“I really wanted this title. This had been one of the first important titles I won in my career. I’d won 10 in Monte Carlo, Barcelona and Roland Garros and really wanted this one too,” said 34-year-old Nadal.
Djokovic and Nadal were facing each other for the
57th time, having last played in the 2020 French Open final which the Spaniard won easily in straight sets.
The pair have won 15 of the last 17 Rome titles between them, while Nadal leads their head-to-head in finals in the Italian capital
4-2.
Despite losing his opening service game Nadal broke back in the third game hitting twice as many winners as the Serb with 21 in the set.
A dip in form in the second set allowed Djokovic,
33, to break twice and get back into the game.
But Nadal got back on track in the third with Djokovic having played nearly five hours on court on Saturday between his rain-delayed quarter-finals and semi-final matches.
The Spaniard saved two break points on his serve in the fifth game and broke for love for 4-2.
Djokovic saved a first match point in the eighth game but Nadal made no mistake on his second chance in the following to seal his 88th career title after winning in Barcelona earlier this month.
SERENA SAILS PAST TEENAGER
Serena Williams brushed aside the challenge of local teenager Lisa Pigato in the opening round of the WTA tournament in Parma on Monday.
Williams, ranked eighth in the world, beat the 572nd-ranked Pigato, making her WTA debut, 6-3, 6-2 in the first meeting between the two players.
The 39-year-old American had been given a wild card to play in Parma after her premature exit from the Italian Open, where she crashed out in the second round in what was her first match in nearly three months since her semifinal defeat in the Australian Open.