Novak Djokovic dethrones Rafael Nadal to clinch title at Internazionali BNL d’Italia
Reigning world number two, Novak “Nole” Djokovic maintained his winning streak on tour as he dethroned defending champion, Rafael “Rafa” Nadal in the title match at Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome, Italy on Sunday.
Playing in their fourth title match this season, Nole was ruthless against the once mighty Spaniard as he took only two hours and twelve minutes to secure a straight sets 6-4, 6-4 victory. If hard court victories weren’t satisfying enough, Djokovic has now defeated the King of Clay twice in two weeks on the latter’s favourite surface – the red clay court.
Standing on a four match winning streak against the Spaniard and a 36 one for the season, Djokovic entered his seventh title match of the season with full confidence and six titles under his belt.
Winning the toss, Djokovic elected to serve first and plausibly held the opening game. The very next game, Nadal got himself onto the scoreboard with the very same ease. From there on the scoreboard kept ticking on even terms with each player winning on their service. However, Nole caught a lucky break in the eighth game, when three unforced errors from the Spaniard allowed the Serb to lead 5-3. Although Djokovic got broken in the very next game, he returned the favour in the tenth game to clinch the first set 6-4.
A set under his belt, Djokovic came out firing in the second set as her raced to a 2-0 lead. Although Nadal fought back brilliantly and brought the score on even terms at 4-4, he still had much to do if he intended to stay in the game. Winning the ninth game on his service, Djokovic faced Nadal’s service at 4-5. After exchanging long rallies, Djokovic was able to finally break Nadal and secure his straight sets victory over the Spaniard for the second time this season.
With this win, Djokovic now extends his winning streak to 37 matches, only six short of Mc Enroe’s record set in 1984. The Serb also tightened the race to world number one as he now lags only about 405 points behind Nadal.
Championship victory aside, Djokovic played exceptionally well considering the fact that he showed signs of fatigue from his three set thriller in the semi-final round against Brit Andy Murray.
Talking to the press after his victory, an elated Djokovic told the press, “I was amazed the way I was going to be under the circumstances and the conditions that I was. [It was a] really hard match last night against a player that was playing great. I was on the verge of losing a match and I was coming back and to be able to perform perhaps my best tennis on clay courts and he is the number one player in world history and just amazing. I am still trying to enjoy this victory.”
Djokovic now intends to beat the Spaniard one more time should they meet in the finals of Roland Garros – the prestigious Grand Slam that starts next week.
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