TENNIS – Rafael Nadal swept aside Grigor Dimitrov with a double 6-2 to qualify for his ninth final at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome and his 40th Master 1000 final. Nadal set up a eagerly-awaited final against Novak Djokovic. The final that everyone wanted. Diego Sampaolo
Interviews, results, order of play, draws of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome
Nadal broke serve to love for 1-0 when Dimitrov hit his backhand into the net and backed up his break holding serve in the second game to 15. In the first two games Nadal won 8 points to 1. Dimitrov held serve in the third game for 1-2.
Nadal won four consecutive points on serve for 4-2 before breaking serve for the second time in the match in the seventh game to pull away to 5-2 after 28 minutes. Nadal rallied from 0-15 to win four consecutive points closing out the first set in 33 minutes with 6-2. Nadal played a perfect first set in which he won 80 percent of his first serve points. Dimitrov made too many unforced errors
The start of the second set was very similar to the first set as Nadal broke serve to go up 1-0 in the opening game of the second set. Nadal faced a tougher challenge in the second game when he saved two break-back points.
Dimitrov held serve to win the third game for 1-2. Nadal backed up his opening break in the fourth game which came down to deuce before getting another break to pull away to 4-1 in the fifth game where Dimitrov committed an unforced error on his forehand. At 1-5 Dimitrov served to stay in the match and was able to fend off the first match point for 2-5.
In the eighth game Nadal made three unforced errors and faced the third break point of the match but he failed to convert it as he made an error with his backhand.
Nadal sealed the win with a forehand winner to set up a blockbuster final against Novak Djokovic who edged Milos Raonic in the afternoon.
Nadal won 73 percent of second serve points to win the fifth head-to-head match against Dimitrov but it was the first time that the Mallorcan star won in straight sets. On the contrary Dimitrov committed 32 unforced errors
“There are good days and bad days. Sometimes you have the right feeling and sometimes you don’t. I started the match in a perfect way. In the second set he made more mistakes than usual. I played a solid match with my backhand. Yesterday I played a good match and today was a good confirmation that I play better, that the forehand starts to fly again, as well as the top spins. It was a warmer day and that made the ball a little bit quicker. The first two matches I played here there was a lot of wind. It is true that I prefer daytime but the feeling tonight was good. Against Simon it was very cold and tonight the feeling was different.”
After three tough three-set battles against Giles Simon, Mikhail Youzhny and Andy Murray, Nadal won a one-sided match a comfortable night in which he was never under threat. He was too strong for Dimitrov who reached his first Master 1000 semifinal yesterday on his 23rd birthday. The young Bulgarian, who reached his first Grand Slam quarter final at the Australian Open, will have other chances in the future starting from the Roland Garros.
It will be the 41th head-to.head match between Nadal and Djokovic. The Spaniard leads 22-18 in their previous 40 matches. Djokovic beat Nadal in the 2011 final in Rome but the Mallorcan beat the Serb three times in their four Rome matches.
“Djokovic always plays unbelievable. He is a complete player and has all the shots. If I want to have chances to win, I have to play my best tennis and be aggressive. I twill be a very tough match.
Asked what he thinks about the new generation of players,” Nadal said:
“It’s normal that the younger players play better. It isn’t normal what has happened during the last 5 or 6 years with the same players winning all the most tournaments If you look at the history of our sport, the younger generation is always pushing. Dimitrov Raonic and Nishikori are very good players and they are young, not 18 or 19 like me and Djokovic when we started to be there but things are changing a bit. There are no more players of 18 or 19 starting to be at the top. It seems that players achieve their best a little bit later. They are the new generation who will win the most important tournaments in the next 5-6 years. It’s a normal thing, we don’t want to be here forever”, said Nadal
