Immaculate Djokovic Wins Rome Masters
Djokovic beats Nadal to hoist the Rome Masters trophy (Foto: eurosport.com)
After a heavy rain, which forced the organizers postpone the final, Novak Djokovic thundered past world champion Rafa Nadal 6-4, 6-4 to win his seventh straight title of the season and remain unbeaten in 2011. The 23-year-old has improved his record to 37 wins and zero losses to become a main favorite for the French Open.
Nadal himself declared after the game that Djokovic has plenty of chances to get the top spot in ATP, given his perfect ascension. Nole has defeated the Spaniard four times in the past four Masters meetings, last occasion in Madrid where he beat the crowd favorite in two sets. It was a tough game on Sunday despite the match was decided in two sets.
The first set found both players holding their services for eight games. Djokovic then grabbed the first break of the meeting, leaving the top seed Rafa two games behind at 5-3. But the Motne Carlo Masters and Barcelona champion broke back immediately, putting the Serb into trouble. Anyway, Djokoic, who had followed a crazy match against Andy Murray in the se mi final, managed to hold his last serve and clinch the opener to four.
As for the second set, it highlighted the two players winning back-to-back breaks. First, Nole made it 2-0, only to concede the third game and allow the Spaniard break him and win his serves. Thus, it went 2-2 at one point, the next five games being also held without any problem by the two. But the unexpected was yet to come. Djokovic managed to go 5-4 adrift and put Nadal under pressure in the tenth. The Spaniard served to stay in the match, while the Serb was struggling to end the meeting earlier. Which he did. Nole buried the ball with a powerful volley to hoist his seventh consecutive trophy of the year.
Admitted Nadal: “He’s playing the best right now. In the last few months he’s been at a different level. He’s doing amazing things. He’s playing with a lot of confidence. I’m the second in the race. My goal is to be there the next time.” On the other side, Djokovic said at the end of the game that Nadal remains the king of the clay, so the Spaniard is the main favorite at the Roland Garros.
The Serb is to pocked 438,000 euro and grab 1000 ATP points, while the Nadal leaves Rome with a 205,000 check and 600 points ATP. Their next stop is Roland Garros.
