Nadal trips Djoko, nails first Italian Open final

A rampant Rafa Nadal turned on the style to beat his old rival Novak Djokovic, 7-6(4), 6-3, on Saturday and reach his first Italian Open final since 2014.

The top-seeded Spaniard will face defending champion Alexander Zverev who overcame fourth seed Marin Cilic of Croatia 7-6(13) 7-5 in the other semifinal.

The 21-year-old German, who won the Madrid Open last week, is the in-form player on the ATP Tour going into the French Open, chalking up his 13th win in a row to reach Sunday’s final.

Nadal’s clash with Djokovic, an openera record 51st meeting between the two, was a thriller, with former world number one Djokovic producing his best performance since returning from a longterm elbow injury.

“Playing against him is always a big challenge,” Nadal said. “He played well, and it’s always the same against him. When you go down a little bit in level, he’s always there and you are in big trouble.”

Djokovic made the stronger start as Nadal struggled to get his first serves in, the Spaniard coughing up two break points in the opening game which his opponent squandered.

Nadal soon pounced however, breaking Djokovic to go 4-2 up before the Serb rode his forehand to a stunning recovery.

Djokovic, a four-time champion in Rome, was helped by a fortunate touch off the net cord that gave him two break points, and he converted for 5-4 before holding serve to draw level.