Nadal – Djokovic: Rome's 'classic' final returns

Rafa Nadal and Novak Djokovic dispute this Sunday the final of the Masters 1,000 in Rome. The Spanish and the Serbian meet once again in the Eternal City to experience the 57th confrontation between them. It is the dream final of the tournament and the sixth time that Nadal and Djokovic play the title at the Foro Italico (Sunday 16, 5:00 p.m.) .Rafa Nadal beat the American giant Reilly Opelka with a double 6-4 to seal the ticket to the final of the Masters 1000 in Rome, in which he seeks his tenth crown at the Foro Italico. The Spaniard became the first finalist of the tournament, waiting for Lorenzo Sonego and Novak Djokovic to resolve their second match of the day and the winner to occupy the other remaining place in the final, with a less arduous path than the Spanish, but With a busy day on Saturday, Djokovic took advantage of the ‘second life’ that the rain gave him on Friday and that forced him to suspend his match against Tsitsipas when he lost a set and 2-1 down in the second. Novak was used on Saturday morning to force the third set and come back against the Greek (4-6, 7-5 and 7-5) and, already in the semis, in the afternoon he dismounted Italian Lorenzo Sonego (6-3, 6-7 and 6-2), who remained at the gates of the final despite raising two match points, thus making it possible to meet Rafa Nadal and Novak Djokovic, faithful to their appointment in Rome, witnessing five more endings with the same protagonists. Both the Spanish and the Serbian reach this final with the status of ‘champions’, at least as far as defending the points is concerned, due to the new ATP scoring system – they defend half of the points of the best result of 2019 (Nadal, champion) and 2020 (Nole, winner) -. This Sunday, one more chapter in an eternal struggle, which leaves these numbers:It’s another battle in Rome between two gladiators 🍿 Who will take the title? 🏆 # IBI21 pic.twitter.com/cdmnb1w4g5 – ATP Tour (@atptour) May 15, 2021 How many times have Nadal and Djokovic met? 56 have been the times that Rafa Nadal and Novak Djokovic have met on a track tennis. The first duel took place at Roland Garros 2006, and the Serbian had to retire injured after giving up two sets by double 6-4. This Sunday in Rome will be the 57th duel between the Spanish and the Serbian. The balance is fairly even, although it leans slightly in favor of Novak, with 29 victories compared to the Spaniard’s 27. When was the last time they were measured? The last confrontation between Nadal and Djokovic took place last October in the final of Roland Garros 2020. The Spanish had a perfect match and won in three sets (6-0, 6-2 and 7-5) to win his 13th title in Paris and his 20th Grand Slam. have faced each other in Rome? The Foro Italico in Rome has witnessed the duel between Nadal and Djokovic up to eight times, with five victories for the Balearic and three for the Serbian. Nadal won the 2007 quarter-finals, in the semi-final of 2018 and in the final of 2009, 2012 and 2019. While Nole was the winner in the final of 2011 and 2014 and in the quarterfinals of 2016. This Sunday is the sixth final in the Eternal City between Nadal and Djokovic . Djokovic congratulates Nadal in the final of Rome 2019 (Getty) How many times have they met in a final? Throughout their careers, Nadal and Djokovic have met in 27 finals, in tournaments of different categories, with a favorable balance for the Serbian from 15-12.Considering only the finals on clay, things change, the Spaniard has won eight times against the Serbian’s four. And on land, how many times have they met? On land, both tennis players have met in a total of 25 occasions. In this case, Nadal has won 18 times, compared to 7 in Belgrade. Is Nadal the favorite when played on clay? Djokovic is one of the most dangerous rivals for Rafa Nadal, also on clay. It was hard for the Serbian to beat the Balearic on his talismanic surface, he did it for the first time in Madrid in 2011. From that moment, their particular fight on land was fairly even with six victories for each, but taking into account the most recent clashes between both In brick dust, Nadal has won the last four games. How many titles does Nadal have in Rome? Nadal has conquered Rome nine times (2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2018 and 2019). And Djokovic? Rome is the clay tournament that he does best. He has won it in six seasons (2008, 2011, 2014, 2015 and 2020). Most Nadal-Djokovic matches by event: 🇮🇹 Rome – 9 🇫🇷 Roland Garros – 8 🏆 ATP Finals – 5 🇺🇸 Indian Wells – 4 🇲🇨 Monte Carlo – 4 @RafaelNadal @DjokerNole # IBI21 pic.twitter.com/IoDXh6uN1t – Tennis TV (@TennisTV) May 15, 2021 In which season have you met the most times? The Nadal – Djokovic duel is the most frequent on the circuit. In 2007 and 2009 the two met seven times, respectively. While in 2008, 2011 and 2013 they did it a total of six times. The rest of the years they have met at least three or four times per course. In 2010 they only coincided twice, while in 2006 and 2017 on only one occasion.In recent years, they have met at least a couple of times as happened in 2018, 2019 and 2020. This Sunday is the first time they are measured in 2021. In duels per season, who was the winner? 15 previous seasons in which they have met, Nadal has emerged victorious in seven seasons: 2006 (1-0); 2007 (5-2); 2008 (4-2); 2009 (4-3); 2010 (2-0); 2012 (3-1) and 2017 (1-0). On the other hand, the one from Belgrade has done it four seasons: 2011 (0-6), 2014 (1-2); 2015 (0-4) and 2016 (1-2). In 2013 there was a tie: in six clashes there were three victories for each one, a more common situation in recent years where equality reigns: 2018 (1-1); 2019 (1-1) and 2020 (1-1). How many comebacks have there been between Nadal and Djokovic? Of the 56 times they have met, in 49 games the final victory was won by the one who won the first set. There have only been seven comebacks. Four in the case of Djokovic and three in that of Nadal. One of them was precisely in Rome. In the 2014 final, Nadal scored the first set, but missed the match against Djokovic (4-6, 6-3 and 6-3). Nadal’s most heroic comeback against Djokovic came in the semifinals in Madrid 2009, in the first edition held at the Caja Mágica. Nadal gave up the first quarter, but took the second and third sets, both in the tiebreak (3-6, 7-6 (5) and 7-6 (9)). Pulse in Masters 1,000 With 36 titles, Novak Djokovic is the tennis player who has more Masters 1,000 in his showcases, although this Sunday Nadal has the opportunity to tie him if he conquers his tenth crown in Rome.Hegemony in the same tournamentRafa Nadal is the tennis player who has won the most titles in the same tournament, with his 13 titles at Roland Garros. In Barcelona he has 12 and this Sunday he is looking for double digits in Rome. Djokovic can also boast of having several titles in the same tournament, but he is still far behind, with his nine titles in Australia