ROME: World No.1 Novak Djokovic stretched his winning streak over Rafael Nadal to seven matches on Friday with a thrilling 7-5, 7-6 (7/4) victory to book his spot in the Rome Masters semifinals.
Djokovic, the defending champion, now faces the winner of the Friday’s last quarterfinal, between Kei Nishikori of Japan and Austrian Dominic Thiem, as he bids for a fifth title in the Italian capital.
Nadal’s last win over the seemingly unstoppable Serbian goes back to his victory in the final of Roland Garros in 2014.
As a seven-time champion in Rome, Nadal’s commands plenty of support from the fans at the Foro Italico.
Nadal looked to have the measure of Djokovic by the time he won his first break at 3-2, but it seemed only to tighten Djokovic’s resolve.
Djokovic converted a third break point to pull level in the eighth game when Nadal misfired on a forehand.
In a pulsating 12th game, Djokovic upped the pressure and was rewarded on his fourth set point.
Nadal should have pulled the match level when he was 5-4 up in the second set, but a dogged Djokovic had other ideas.
With Nadal leading 5-4, Djokovic saved no less than five set points before breaking back on his first set point to level the set 5-5.
In an epic 11th game, Nadal raced to love 30 only for Djokovic to fight back and take the win after a Nadal return landed wide.
Djokovic was pumped, and despite Nadal serving to love to level 6-6, Djokovic moved up a gear in the tie-break.
He raced to 3-1 lead but saw Nadal defy his service game to claw his way back with a spectacular turn and shot at the net that had the crowd on its feet.
Yet Nadal was wasteful again. He squandered the chance to level when a return landed outside the tramlines, handing Djokovic a crucial 4-2 tiebreak lead from which he never recovered.
Djokovic and Nadal have now met 49 times and the Serbian has taken their career match to 26-23.
Earlier, Britain’s Andy Murray remained on course for a maiden Rome Masters final after overcoming Belgium’s David Goffin 6-1, 7-5 on Friday to book only his second career semifinal in the Italian capital.
“I’m being rewarded now for the work I’ve put in on the surface,” said Murray, who has now reached the latter stages of his last three tournaments on clay.
Murray lost to seven-time Rome champion Rafael Nadal in the semifinals of the Monte Carlo Masters last month and was defeated by world No.1 Novak Djokovic in the final of the Madrid Masters last week.
Murray was given a brief shock when Goffin, the 12th seed, broke his serve in the opening game.
The Belgian had underlined his ambitions for the tournament with a stunning 6-0, 6-0 whitewash of Czech Tomas Berdych on Thursday.
But Murray was not impressed, and the fans who thought they were in for an epic encounter on Center Court were soon dismayed as the Scot broke back immediately and twice again on the way to a crushing 6-1 first-set win.
“I went in expecting it to be very tough, and he got off to a quick start,” said Murray.
“But one of the most pleasing things for me was that every time he broke, I think I broke back immediately, so he wasn’t able to get momentum.”
Goffin dug deep in a closer second set, notably breaking Murray’s serve in the 10th game to level at 5-5.
But Murray, again, broke back immediately to take a 6-5 lead and then wrapped up the match in 1hr 35min to book his first semifinal berth at the tournament since 2011.
Speaking as the Nadal v Djokovic match was underway, Murray said he was not planning to watch. “My daughter is here. Because of the late finish last night, I didn’t see her before she went to bed.”
Murray’s win will further boost the Scot’s rankings points. After Swiss rival Roger Federer exited the tournament at the third round on Thursday, Murray will now be assured second spot behind Djokovic when the new ATP rankings are announced on Monday. Both Murray and Federer are currently tied on 7,525 points, well behind Djokovic (16,550).
Murray will now be expected to book his first final in Rome. Frenchman Pouille is a lucky loser who received a walkover into the last four after quarterfinal opponent Juan Monaco retired injured before their clash on Thursday.
But, having watched the 22-year-old Frenchman “kill” David Ferrer in a third-round shock, Murray is taking nothing for granted.
“He beat Goffin last week in Madrid and (Richard) Gasquet in Monte Carlo,” said Murray. “This week, he’s been a bit fortunate, but he’s very good. I don’t expect it to be easy.”
Djokovic, the defending champion, now faces the winner of the Friday’s last quarterfinal, between Kei Nishikori of Japan and Austrian Dominic Thiem, as he bids for a fifth title in the Italian capital.
Nadal’s last win over the seemingly unstoppable Serbian goes back to his victory in the final of Roland Garros in 2014.
As a seven-time champion in Rome, Nadal’s commands plenty of support from the fans at the Foro Italico.
Nadal looked to have the measure of Djokovic by the time he won his first break at 3-2, but it seemed only to tighten Djokovic’s resolve.
Djokovic converted a third break point to pull level in the eighth game when Nadal misfired on a forehand.
In a pulsating 12th game, Djokovic upped the pressure and was rewarded on his fourth set point.
Nadal should have pulled the match level when he was 5-4 up in the second set, but a dogged Djokovic had other ideas.
With Nadal leading 5-4, Djokovic saved no less than five set points before breaking back on his first set point to level the set 5-5.
In an epic 11th game, Nadal raced to love 30 only for Djokovic to fight back and take the win after a Nadal return landed wide.
Djokovic was pumped, and despite Nadal serving to love to level 6-6, Djokovic moved up a gear in the tie-break.
He raced to 3-1 lead but saw Nadal defy his service game to claw his way back with a spectacular turn and shot at the net that had the crowd on its feet.
Yet Nadal was wasteful again. He squandered the chance to level when a return landed outside the tramlines, handing Djokovic a crucial 4-2 tiebreak lead from which he never recovered.
Djokovic and Nadal have now met 49 times and the Serbian has taken their career match to 26-23.
Earlier, Britain’s Andy Murray remained on course for a maiden Rome Masters final after overcoming Belgium’s David Goffin 6-1, 7-5 on Friday to book only his second career semifinal in the Italian capital.
“I’m being rewarded now for the work I’ve put in on the surface,” said Murray, who has now reached the latter stages of his last three tournaments on clay.
Murray lost to seven-time Rome champion Rafael Nadal in the semifinals of the Monte Carlo Masters last month and was defeated by world No.1 Novak Djokovic in the final of the Madrid Masters last week.
Murray was given a brief shock when Goffin, the 12th seed, broke his serve in the opening game.
The Belgian had underlined his ambitions for the tournament with a stunning 6-0, 6-0 whitewash of Czech Tomas Berdych on Thursday.
But Murray was not impressed, and the fans who thought they were in for an epic encounter on Center Court were soon dismayed as the Scot broke back immediately and twice again on the way to a crushing 6-1 first-set win.
“I went in expecting it to be very tough, and he got off to a quick start,” said Murray.
“But one of the most pleasing things for me was that every time he broke, I think I broke back immediately, so he wasn’t able to get momentum.”
Goffin dug deep in a closer second set, notably breaking Murray’s serve in the 10th game to level at 5-5.
But Murray, again, broke back immediately to take a 6-5 lead and then wrapped up the match in 1hr 35min to book his first semifinal berth at the tournament since 2011.
Speaking as the Nadal v Djokovic match was underway, Murray said he was not planning to watch. “My daughter is here. Because of the late finish last night, I didn’t see her before she went to bed.”
Murray’s win will further boost the Scot’s rankings points. After Swiss rival Roger Federer exited the tournament at the third round on Thursday, Murray will now be assured second spot behind Djokovic when the new ATP rankings are announced on Monday. Both Murray and Federer are currently tied on 7,525 points, well behind Djokovic (16,550).
Murray will now be expected to book his first final in Rome. Frenchman Pouille is a lucky loser who received a walkover into the last four after quarterfinal opponent Juan Monaco retired injured before their clash on Thursday.
But, having watched the 22-year-old Frenchman “kill” David Ferrer in a third-round shock, Murray is taking nothing for granted.
“He beat Goffin last week in Madrid and (Richard) Gasquet in Monte Carlo,” said Murray. “This week, he’s been a bit fortunate, but he’s very good. I don’t expect it to be easy.”
