Rafa Nadal to meet Novak Djokovic in Rome Masters final

Sport360 staff 11:27 18/05/2014
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  • No-nonsense: Nadal needed just 82 minutes to beat Dimitrov.

    World No1 Rafael Nadal will battle Novak Djokovic for his eighth Rome Masters title after sweeping aside Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov 6-2, 6-2 in the semi-finals on Saturday night. 

    The Mallorcan, who was stretched to three sets in his three previous matches, against Gilles Simon, Mikhail Youzhny and Andy Murray, made sure he made quick work of Dimitrov, easing past the world No14 in 82 minutes.

    The victory saw Nadal reach his ninth final in the Italian city and his 40th on the ATP Masters 1000 level. It also marked his 51st consecutive clay-court semi-final triumph.

    The top seed saved all three break points he faced against Dimitrov, who was playing his first Masters semi-final. Nadal hit 10 winners and 15 unforced errors to Dimitrov’s 13 and 32.

    Earlier on centre court, Djokovic battled into the final by coming through a tough last four clash with Milos Raonic to beat the Canadian 6-7 (5/7), 7-6 (7/4), 6-3.

    The world No2 was stretched by the hard-hitting Raonic, whose serves were regularly coming in just under the 230 km/h mark.

    “I can’t recall the last time when I was feeling so helpless returning, even his second serves,” said Djokovic.

    With only five career singles titles, Raonic admitted he was happy to have pushed Djokovic all the way. 

    The 23-year-old said: “He played better than me and he deserves to win. I’ll take a lot of positive things (from the match), and I am happy with it. I take what I have done here and try to do better at Roland Garros."

    The pair’s only previous meeting came last year when Djokovic beat the Canadian 6-7 (1), 6-2, 6-2 in a Davis Cup semi-final rubber.

    A year on from that win, Raonic left a much bigger impression on the six-time Grand Slam champion.

    “He did surprise me with his movement, especially given his size, and he’s got variety in his shots. You could feel the improvement in his game,” he added.

    Djokovic, who took exactly three hours to rack up his second win against the Montenegro-born Raonic in as many encounters, has won the Rome Masters twice, in 2008 and 2011.

    “It is a big win because it gives me a lot of strength and belief that I can carry into tomorrow’s final, and also for the rest of season,” added the 26-year-old.

    Overall, Djokovic has won 18 of his 40 previous encounters with Nadal, including the last three, although they all came on hard courts. Of the duo’s 16 meetings on clay, Nadal has won 13 including their last meeting on the surface at the semi-finals of the French Open in 2013.

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