Novak Djokovic has set up a blockbuster quarter final encounter with Rafa Nadal at the Rome Open but the Serbian had to do it the hard way after overcoming Thomaz Bellucci 0-6, 6-3, 6-2 in 1 hour and 39 minutes.
It’s not every day that you see the world number one (whoever it may be) on the receiving end of a bagel but Djokovic posted what was probably his worst set of tennis in over a year, with plenty of unforced errors and no spark to his game. Albeit, credit must also be given to Bellucci who was tremendously solid from the back of the court and granted his opponent no lifelines. In fact, Djokovic only recorded three points in the opening three games. There were a few games where the stupefied Serb made inroads and looked like he would break his duck but Bellucci, who looked up for a long and draining mental battle, dashed those hopes and remarkably rounded off the first set 6-0 to the astonishment of Campo Centrale.
When Djokovic finally won his first game of the clash he raised his arms to the air and it definitely marked a turning point. He seamingly gor rid of the rust and started to hit the winners he’s always hit and erradicate his unforced errors. This forced Bellucci into making more mistakes and Djokovic finally broke the Brazilian in the sixth game and steered towards a 6-3 second set win.
It may have been one set all but the unanimous feeling was that the match was all but over. Djokovic broke Bellucci in the opening game and felt in control of every rally. Despite a couple of hiccups, notably at 3-2 on serve, Djokovic didn’t have much trouble closing out the deciding set 6-2 and will now have to recover quickly to take on Rafa Nadal, in what will be a huge match to draw many conclusions for the upcoming French Open. A huge mental battle which could hold a huge influence on proceedings in Paris in a couple of weeks time
