Nadal vs Djokovic in Rome final
Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal won Saturday to advance to the final at the Italian Open, which will be their 54th career meeting.
Djokovic had a challenge in his semifinal match before defeating Diego Schwartzman 6-3, 6-7 (2), 6-3 to reach his ninth final in Rome.
"He came out with the right game plan," Djokovic said of Schwartzman. "He was hitting the ball clean. He was hitting it fast. He was mixing up the pace. He was drop-shotting really well. It was really hard to read the play."
After the win in the second-set tiebreaker, Schwartzman gained confidence but couldn't take the momentum into the third set.
Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal won Saturday to advance to the final at the Italian Open, which will be their 54th career meeting.
Djokovic had a challenge in his semifinal match before defeating Diego Schwartzman 6-3, 6-7 (2), 6-3 to reach his ninth final in Rome.
"He came out with the right game plan," Djokovic said of Schwartzman. "He was hitting the ball clean. He was hitting it fast. He was mixing up the pace. He was drop-shotting really well. It was really hard to read the play."
After the win in the second-set tiebreaker, Schwartzman gained confidence but couldn't take the momentum into the third set.