Novak Djokovic is still too much for Roger Federer on clay!
The world no.1 had to battle against the Maestro only for 8th games (4-all) to then sail to a smooth victory in the final in Rome.
Roger was definitely coping with Djokovic in the first 8 games. The Swiss was “not so inferior” on the baseline, but he was clearly lacking that special thing that you need to beat the Serbinator. Things changed when Roger failed to convert a break point on the 4-all score line. It’s not that the world no.2 played that point that bad, but again he didn’t do much to grab that break. Eventually Nole held that service game and from that moment on it was clear that Roger lost something. The Swiss couldn’t cope anymore with the Serbian especially in baseline rallies and, of course, that is lethal on clay.
Eventually Nole broke Roger in the 10th game to win the opening set 6-4. The second set was extremely smooth for Djokovic that broke Roger immediately to gain a 3-0 lead (5 consecutive games for the world no.1). Federer was completely unable to find a solution and eventually Djokovic won 6-4 6-3 in just 75 minutes. Match Stats
Djokovic: I was able to find my way.
Nole commented “Roger put a lot of pressure on my service game at 4-4, but I managed to respond well, to gain those break points, move him around the court, and then I played a couple of great points that gave me the set. When you’re a set up, the momentum is shifting to your side and you start to feel better.”
This is Djokovic’s 5th title of the season, the 4th consecutive ATP1000 master and 53rd title of his immense career. This is the 4th time Nole wins in Rome (2008, 2011, 2014 and 2015)
After this final Djokovic has an incredible 22 winning streak… going for more?
| THE MAESTRO MAY LOSE, BUT HE IS STILL… THE MAESTRO! |
| TOO MUCH NOLE… JUST TOO MUCH! |
