Novak Djokovic wins his 3rd title in Rome!
The Serbian played a great final against Rafael Nadal to grab the final in 3 set.
Both Rafa and Nole played at their very best from the very beginning. It was the Spaniard to be the first one to make a move by double breaking Djokovic in the first 5 games (4-1 for the Mallorcan). Then Nole started to find his range to break Rafa in the 6th game (4-2) and set up his tennis for the next 2 sets. The opener ended 6-4 for Rafa.
Nole had a head start in the second set to immediately break Rafa in the second game (2-0) and then win 6-3 after a couple of breaks exchange. The overall impression was that Djokovic’s game was becoming better and better while Nadal started to have some doubts.
The Serbian was in control also in the decider to immediately break Nadal in the very first game. Rafa’s service wasn’t working anymore. The Spaniard was continuously struggling to hold serve for the entire 3rd set to be broken 3 times out of 4 service games (and the 4th one was a very tough hold). Finally it was Djokovic to win the decider 6-3.
The match ended 4-6 6-3 6-3 after 2 hours and 20 minutes. Nole’s upper hand is very clear if you see the statistics. The Serbian has fired 7 aces (0 double faults) while Rafa wasn’t able to serve a single ace to commit 2 double faults. Even more important Djokovic won 92 points vs. Rafa’s 73. Match Stats.
Djokovic: This was a great week
Djokovic was clearly elated by this title to comment “It’s been a great week considering where I’ve been a few weeks ago with the wrist injury. Luckily for me, I played with no pain and increased the level of tennis as the week went on. I’ve had some tough matches. Four out of five matches were three-setters and I had to come back from one set down yesterday against Raonic and today again. That gives me a lot of confidence. Winning against Rafa in the final of a big tournament on clay, his preferred surface, is definitely a confidence booster.
“Experience helped me stay calm and play the right shots at the right time.”
This is Nole’s 44 career title and with this win he is definitely the co-favorite with Nadal to win the French Open.
