Nadal edges past Djokovic for 10th Italian Open title
ROME: Rafael Nadal beat a tired Novak Djokovic 7-5, 1-6, 6-3 for a record-extending 10th Italian Open title on Sunday. The Spaniard recovered from a potentially dangerous fall after tripping over a raised line to take the latest installment of the most-played rivalry in modern men’s tennis.
It also re-established Nadal as the overwhelming favorite for the French Open, where he will be aiming for an even harder-tobelieve 14th title starting in two weeks.
Nadal beat Djokovic in straight sets in last year’s Roland Garros final.
The top-ranked Djokovic spent nearly five hours on court Saturday, when he had to rally for a rain-delayed quarterfinal victory over Stefanos Tsitsipas before winning another threesetter over local favorite Lorenzo Sonego in the semifinals. Nadal played only once on Saturday, beating Reilly Opelka in 1 ½ hours.
In the women’s final, reigning French Open champion Iga Swiatek
routed Karolina Pliskova with a “double bagel” 6-0 6-0. The 19-year-old took just 45 minutes to dispatch the 2019 Rome winner two weeks before she opens her title defence in Roland Garros.
Swiatek, ranked 15, claimed her third WTA title having followed her Roland Garros success with a win in Adelaide in January. “I’m overwhelmed, at the beginning of this tournament I would not have dreamed of winning it,” said an emotional Swiatek, who will break into the Top 10 as a result of her run in Rome. “When I was playing I didn’t even know what was the score. “When my coach told me it was 6-0, 6-0, I was, like, Really? Isn’t that a mistake?
“The key is just to not to think about it and just, you know, play.
“Because when you’re gonna think about the score, you can actually like ruin your mindset and ruin your attitude.”