Roma returned to smile at Rafa Nadal when he needed it most. The Balearic Islands rose again against the best possible rival, Novak Djokovic, current champion, to lift his tenth title there, the 88th in total of his surreal career, 36th of Masters 1,000 with which he equals the Serbian at the top of the historical table of the category. In the Eternal City there was a new duel of the mother of all rivalries, the 57th, between two of the best players in history, old rockers of 34 and 33 years old who do not give up and who faced each other for the ninth time (6 -3 for the winner) in the Centrale del Foro Italico. They did not disappoint.“The NextGen is us,” Djokovic joked intently at the trophy presentation. He later acknowledged that his admired arch nemesis was “better at decisive moments.”
And this time the balance tipped in favor of Nadal, who reached the final after saving two match points against Denis Shapovalov in the second round, with “some luck”As he said, but before he had surpassed Jannik Sinner and later, in the quarterfinals, Alexander Zverev, two other strong youngsters. Since 2017 he has almost leveled the head-to-head against Belgrade, who still dominates 29-28, but since 2017 and after Novak's seven-game winning streak, Rafa rules 5-3, with two titles in the transalpine capital (this Sunday and 2019) and another at Roland Garros in between. In Paris he will arrive with morale through the roof, for the 14th trophy and after defeating the number one. Notice for sailors.
It's nice to see the tennis offered by these two stars: tactical, varied, technically flawless and also powerful when necessary. Each one with their weapons, the remains of Djokovic, his backhand driver, Nadal's great inverted drive and his cross deliveries. , a divine mix with which he produced 37 winning hits. One does not tire of seeing them for many years and games that pass. They know each other so much that it is striking that they are still surprised. But it happens. It happened in the second game of the match, when Nole volleyed a shot from Rafa that smelled like a winner from below far from the net. It helped him on the way to the first break of the game. But in the following turn, a combination of cut backhand and high ball gave the Spanish counterbreak, which shortly after suffered another roll because of a raised line. “Every fucking day, we're going to kill each other in the end!” He complained. Djokovic later grumbled as he addressed his team after conceding a second break that was lethal as Nadal consolidated it to score the first set.
Time was the Balkan's worst enemy after the physical beating on Saturday (five hours in two demanding matches), and so he tried to find quick points in the second heat. His right shoulder began to bother him, overloaded from the exertion of the day before, and he found relief and reaction in meditation during breaks. He needed good serves, dropouts, winning shots that didn't force him into long exchanges or overrun. Nadal's task was to try to upset that plan and he tried 30-40 at 2-1. Although when he seemed most touched, Nole, a guy whose body language is never to be trusted, He was hopelessly ahead with two breaks (5-1). With intelligence, he slowed down the duel and that hurt the Manacorí.
Move and serve
Nadal had to order the game, make it more dynamic again, put a lot of movement into it. And so the third set started, with tremendous tension. The future of the crash also required him to serve better to continue the point with the drive and dominate. Because Novak played with a lot of elasticity and pen. The 3-2 was dramatic and pulling it off was a morale boost for the champion. So much so that the next rest was won in white (4-2) with a shocking determination. The auction was missing. The most complicated. The improvement of the service helped at the right moment and also the logical downturn of Djokovic, who had no choice but to surrender but not before fighting. It was another battle for history.
Results Masters 1.000 Rome.
Novak Djokovic
vs
Rafael Nadal
Sets: