Recap of the fiercest battles of 2012: Djokovic vs. Nadal – Internazionali BNL d’Italia 2012
King of clay, Rafael Nadal, gave a straight sets upset to the higher ranked Serbian challenger, Novak Djokovic, in the final round of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia. The Spanish contender resumed his winning momentum and clinched
his sixth winning title due to his superior command over the game. He nudged forward a 7-5, 6-3 win in a rain-drenched two hours and 20 minutes encounter.
In a post match interview, Nadal said, “I am happy that I won in Rome without losing a set against the best players in the world like [Tomas] Berdych and [David] Ferrer and Djokovic. It is a dream. [I have] the confidence I am
playing well and this comes when I play at the right level. Hopefully I will keep playing like this.”
Djokovic responded back saying, “He is always the favourite, even if I win against him seven times; he is the best player in the world on this surface. I think that the match today was quite close, even if he won in straight sets.
If you don’t use the opportunities against Rafa he gets momentum. I made a lot of errors which should not happen when you play against Nada.”
The 26-year-old Spaniard is one of the most successful challengers on the clay courts, and secured a record-breaking 21st ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title. He was unable to secure his winning momentum in the start of
the year but regained it back in the start of the clay courts season. His victory in Rome surely increased his morale for Roland Garros.
The Serbian number one had to face a tough competition at the hands of the more experienced rival. Initially, Djokovic held the serve and started to win against his rival. However, Nadal made a slow but an effective comeback, sweeping
away in the 11th game and stole the opening set.
The 26-year-old, Nadal, took hold of his transcending momentum and exerted immense pressure on his opponent. This made the situation very tough for the Serb, who started to make several unforced errors. Nadal pounced forward with
authority and cashed on the young Serb’s serve in the ninth game to seal his victory later.
The 25-year-old, Djokovic, attained a better initial serve precision of 64 percent, and double faulted four times at the critical moments in the match. He attained one ace, converting 32 of 47 first and 10 of 27 second serve points.
On the other hand, Nadal secured 57 percent serve with 27 of 39 points.
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