Nadal blows away Djokovic for Italian Open title
http://www.hrlnews.com/2019/05/nadal-blows-away-djokovic-for-italian.html
Rafael Nadal proved that he would still be the man to beat when the
French Open begins later this month after he humbled Novak Djokovic 6-0
4-6 6-1 in the Italian Open final on Sunday to win a record 34th ATP
Masters 1000 title.
The Spaniard, who had shared the record of 33 Masters titles with the
Serbian world number one, warmed up for the defence of his Roland
Garros crown by securing his ninth Rome title.
Nadal got off to a flying start by whitewashing Djokovic in the
opening set. It was the first time there has been a 6-0 set during a
meeting between the two rivals.
Djokovic took the second by breaking Nadal’s serve for the first time
while leading 5-4, but the second seed responded in style by storming
through the decisive set.
When Nadal’s previous three claycourt tournaments had ended in
semi-final defeats, it no doubt gave his rivals hope that his long reign
at Roland Garros could be coming to an end this year.
However, the way he demolished the world’s top ranked player in the
opening and third sets on Sunday would have once again struck fear into
any of those challengers who had been harbouring hopes of lifting the
Musketeers’ Cup on June 9.
The Spaniard heads into Roland Garros in top form after seeing his
serve broken just twice en route to claiming his first title of 2019 in
his 50th Masters final.
“For me it’s always an honour to be here, I still remember my first
time here in 2005,” said Nadal, who will be chasing a record extending
12th French Open title when the claycourt major begins on May 26.
“To have the chance to come back and win this trophy after so many years means everything. It wasn’t an easy week for me.”
The 32-year-old left Djokovic in a daze as he stormed through the opening set in 39 blistering minutes.
The top seed fought back in the second as he saved four break points
before winning the decisive game on Nadal’s serve to take the set 6-4.
But the Serb, who had survived three-set battles against Argentines
Juan Martin del Potro and Diego Schwartzman to reach the final, faded in
the final set as he dropped his opening service game before Nadal
surged clear.
“I’m really glad that I managed to get into the third set,
considering the first set where I was blown away from the court,”
Djokovic said.
“Obviously third set was not much different from the first. I was
just running out of fuel a little bit today. Just kind of missed that
half a step, especially on the backhand side.
“He used it very well. He’s been playing some terrific tennis throughout the entire week. He was just too strong today.”
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