They might not be the world no.1 and the world no.2 any more, but when Roger takes on Rafa in a final… well that is and always will be a big news!
How they reached the final
Both are playing a great tennis in Rome. Rafa had a tougher draw. After beating Fognini 6-1 6-3, the King of Clay defeated a spirited Gulbis in 3 sets (1-6 7-5 6-4) to then beat an always dangerous David Ferrer in the quarters 6-4 4-6 6-2. Then Rafa played a wonderful semifinal to beat Berdych 6-2 6-4.
Roger reaches the final without dropping a set. In the first 2 matches he defeated both Starace and Simon with the same result (6-1 6-2) to then play fantastic matches against a super Janowicz (6-4 7-6) and a very inspired Paire (7-6 6-4).
Head to head
Rafa leads 19-10, 12-2 on clay. These two have played already a final in 2006 in Rome when Rafa won an epic 5 setter 6-7(0) 7-6(5) 6-4 2-6 7-6(5). Roger lost that match even if he scored more points than Rafa (179-174)
The King of Clay is the favorite for this title, but Roger is play fantastic tennis… game on!
