Djokovic sets up final clash with Nadal at Italian Open
HOURS after defeating Stefanos Tsitsipas in the quarter-finals, top seed Novak Djokovic triumphed in a semi-final epic against Italian Lorenzo Sonego to reach his 10th final at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia.
World No. 1 Djokovic was up a set and a break against Sonego and held match points in the second set, but he was in for a battle as the Italian dug deep and rallied Campo Centrale to send them the distance. But the five-time Rome champion raised his level in the deciding set to seal the victory 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-2 after two hours and 43 minutes.
“I have only myself to blame for not closing the match in two sets,” Djokovic said. “At the end of the day he is showing why he reached his first semifinals. He’s a quality player. Not easy to play against him. Obviously he had the crowd behind him. It was an electric atmosphere out there on the court.”
The defending champion booked a mouthwatering 56th clash against rival Rafael Nadal in the championship match. Nadal and Djokovic have won 14 of the past 16 editions of this event and will meet for the ninth time at the Foro Italico on Sunday (Nadal leads 5-3).
“I don’t have much time [to recover], I played a lot of tennis,” Djokovic said. “Hopefully I’ll have fresh legs because that’s what I definitely will need. It’s necessary in order to have a chance against Rafa.
“He also had some tough matches, obviously myself, with rain delays and everything that has happened today. Hopefully tomorrow I’ll be fresh and I’ll give it all.”
The Serbian was made to do double duty after yesterday’s rain halted his quarterfinal match against Tsitsipas, but Djokovic returned to the Foro Italico on Saturday and came back from a set and a break down to claim a 4-6, 7-5, 7-5 victory.
Up against Sonego, who defeated him in their only previous ATP Head2Head encounter last year in Vienna, Djokovic had to be on fire from the outset to weather the Italian’s highlight-reel worthy drop shots and forehands and secure a record 53rd ATP Masters 1000 final berth.
After defeating seventh seed Andrey Rublev earlier in the day, Sonego set the tone early on against Djokovic with a perfectly disguised drop shot in the very first point, and Djokovic responded by racing up to the net to track it down for a winner. As the partisan crowd roared for their home favourite, Djokovic applied the pressure and used his backhand to dictate play, earning the decisive break at 2-1 in the opening set.
Djokovic must have read the scouting report on Sonego, because he was ready for the many drop shots that came his way and frequently responded in kind, to great success. He kept Sonego guessing as he changed the direction of the ball with his down-the-line backhand.
The World No. 1 created eight break points in the tightly contested 91-minute second set, which came down to the wire with the opening 10 games going to the server. At 4-4, Sonego buried a putaway passing shot into the net and followed it with a double fault – giving Djokovic an opening and two break points, but the Italian held firm after a marathon 10-minute game.
Sonego responded emphatically in another 10-minute battle a game later, bringing up his first two set points, but once again Djokovic held firm. Sonego rallied the fans at the Foro Italico as he dug his way out of a 0/3 deficit, and converted his fourth set point to narrowly escape with the second set.
Sonego didn’t miss a beat as he raced ahead to a 0/40 lead in Djokovic’s first service game, but the World No. 1 raised his level to deny him the early break. Instead it was Djokovic who drew first blood at 2-1, and silenced Campo Centrale as he took a 4-1 lead. Nearly one hour after his first match point, Djokovic finally arrived at a second and sealed his victory after Sonego sent a forehand into the net.
Earlier, Nadal extended his perfect Internazionali BNL d’Italia semi-final record to 12-0 with a 6-4, 6-4 victory against Reilly Opelka.
The nine-time champion claimed a single break in each set to move one win away from a record-equalling 36th ATP Masters 1000 title.
After saving two match points against Denis Shapovalov in the third round and nine of the 10 break points he faced against Alexander Zverev in the quarter-finals, Nadal continued to find his best tennis in critical moments against Opelka. The second seed saved four break points at 2-1 in the first set and broke serve in two of the three games to advance to the championship match.
“I did the thing that I had to do today,” Nadal said in his post-match interview.
“It is not an easy, beautiful match to play and, [against] a player like Reilly, [you aren’t going to] have rhythm. You know you are going to have just a few options on your return and you know he can play very aggressive from the baseline. That is what happened at the beginning of the match. He had some options [for the] break and it was super important for me to save those moments.”