Rafael Nadal Defeats Novak Djokovic to Claim 10th Italian Open Title

Make than 10 for Rafael Nadal

The 34-year-old Spanish tennis star defeated Novak Djokovic 7-5, 1-6, 6-3 to earn a record-extending 10th Italian Open title on Sunday.

Rafael Nadal

With whipping forehands that produced an average of 54 revolutions per second — to Djokovic’s 45 — Nadal’s biggest weapon was in top form.

“I have been playing better and better with my forehand the last couple of weeks, getting to the confidence point,” Nadal said. “That’s a huge improvement for me, very important shot. Especially on clay, it [gives] me confidence.”

The title reestablished Nadal as the overwhelming favorite for the French Open, where he’ll be aiming for his 14th title starting in two weeks.

But Nadal preferred to focus on his achievement in Rome — at least for the moment.

“To have this trophy in my hands for the 10th time is something hard to believe,” Nadal said, recalling how he won his first title at the Foro Italico in 2005 as an 18-year-old, when he beat Guillermo Coria in a match lasting more than five hours.

“Now, 16 years later, to play in the final again is incredible,” Nadal said in Italian during the trophy presentation. “It’s difficult to describe. Without a doubt this is one of the most important places in my career.”

Three forehand winners helped Nadal produce the decisive break in the third set, when Djokovic’s energy level appeared to dip.

The top-ranked Djokovic spent nearly five hours on court Saturday, when he had to rally for a rain-delayed quarterfinal victory over Stefanos Tsitsipas before winning another three-setter over local favorite Lorenzo Sonego in the semifinals.

Nadal played only once Saturday, beating Reilly Opelka in 1½ hours.

“He managed to break my serve and played better. That’s it,” Djokovic said. “I had my shot to win it, but wasn’t meant to be. I didn’t feel fatigue. Actually, I was very happy with the way I felt on the court. I could have gone for another few hours.”

It was the 57th meeting between Nadal and Djokovic, which is the most matches between two men in the Open era. It was their ninth meeting in Rome, where they have played more than anywhere else.

Djokovic now holds a slim edge in the all-time series 29-28, while Nadal holds a 6-3 advantage in Rome overall and 4-2 in Rome finals.

Diego Schwartzman to Face Novak Djokovic in First Group Stage Match at Maiden ATP Finals

Diego Schwartzman is preparing for the big dance…

The 28-year-old Argentine professional tennis player, who clinched the final spot at the prestigious season-ending ATP Finals, will play ATP Tour World No. 1 Novak Djokovic in his first group stage match.

Diego Schwartzman

Schwartzman, competing in his first-ever ATP Finals, will be the first Argentine player to compete at the tournament since Juan Martin del Potro in 2013.

Schwartzman is the eighth singles player from Argentina to feature in the 50-year history of the tournament, following in the footsteps of 1974 titlist Guillermo Vilas (1974-77, ’79-82), Jose-Luis Clerc (1980-83), Guillermo Coria (2003-05), 2005 champion David Nalbandian (2003, ’05-06), Gaston Gaudio (2004-05), Mariano Puerta (2005) and 2009 runner-up del Potro (2008-09, ’12-13).

Schwartzman joins fellow debutant Andrey Rublev of Russia, alongside former qualifiers  Djokovic of Serbia, Spain’s Rafael NadalDominic Thiem of Austria, Russia’s Daniil Medvedev, defending champion Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece and Germany’s Alexander Zverev in the 2020 singles field.

There will be four players aged 24 and under at the ATP Finals for the second straight year. The last time this happened in back-to-back years was in 2008-09.

Schwartzman broke into the Top 10 of the ATP Rankings for the first time at No. 8 on 12 October after a run to his first Grand Slam championship semi-final at Roland Garros (l. to Nadal). A few weeks earlier, the Buenos Aires resident beat  Nadal en route to his first ATP Masters 1000 final at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome (l. to Djokovic).

As the first Argentine in the Top 10 since del Potro in May 2019, Schwartzman also finished runner-up at two ATP 250 events in a reduced 2020 season — at the Cordoba Open (l. to Garin) in February and at the bett1HULKS Championship runner-up in Cologne (l. to Zverev) in October.

At 5’7”, Schwartzman is the shortest player in the Top 10 since 5’6″ Harold Solomon, whose last week in the Top 10 began on 27 July 1981.

Nadal Gunning for Ninth Straight Monte Carlo Masters Title

Rafael Nadal is back in the Monte Carlo Masters final again

Despite his injury concerns, the 26-year-old Spanish tennis star will be vying for his ninth successive Monte Carlo title after defeating France’s Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-3, 7-6 (3) in the semi-finals.

Rafael Nadal

Nadal will next meet World No. 1 Novak Djokovic on Sunday for the 16th time in a championship. Nadal leads 8-7 in their finals matches.

Nadal can improve upon his formidable record on the Monte Carlo red clay — winner of the last eight titles and 46 consecutive match victories.

Nadal has reached five successive finals since returning from a seven-month layoff for a left knee injury. He will go for his fourth title of the season against Djokovic, who cruised past unseeded Fabio Fognini of Italy 6-2, 6-1.

Djokovic and Nadal have not played against each other since last year’s French Open final, which Nadal won. He has won their last three encounters, after Djokovic took the previous seven — all of which were tournament finals. Nadal leads their head-to-head contests 19-14.

Nadal has been on a winning roll at Monte Carlo since 2005. His last loss here was to former French Open champ Guillermo Coria in 2003, and he missed the following year because of injury.

He insists he’s still some way from full fitness, despite dropping only one set so far.

“I know I need time to be 100 percent fit,” said Nadal, adding he thinks Djokovic’s injury was tame by comparison. “He stopped for, what, a few days for his ankle?”