Match report

Novak Djokovic © Tennistalk.com
Internazionali BNL d Italia
Final
5/11/08 1 2 3 Tot
rs  Novak Djokovic 4 6 6 2
ch  Stanislas Wawrinka 6 3 3 1
Stanislas Wawrinka © Tennistalk.com

  • Djokovic earns first major clay title

    5/11/08 11:49 PM | David Cox
    It’s 10 ATP singles titles for Novak Djokovic, defeating Stanislas Wawrinka 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 in a hard-fought Rome final. 2008 is turning out to be quite a year for him, a first grand slam and 2 masters series titles

    Rafael Nadal is still the overwhelming favourite to win a 4th French Open next month but if he’s in the opposite half, Djokovic could well make the final. He’s also now within just over 300 points of Nadal in the ATP rankings so the Spaniard has a lot of pressure to repeat his 2007 performances at Roland Garros and Wimbledon to hold onto that no 2 spot

    Wawrinka made a flying start, breaking to go 3-2 up and surprising everyone by taking the first set. He had evidently prepared well tactically for the match, gaining a lot of success with the kick serve and pounding Djokovic’s backhand corner. Djokovic was not returning as well as he can and struggled to contain the Wawrinka backhand. Both players were finding some fabulous angles but Djokovic was overly reliant on this in the early stages, working the angles doesn’t always work as well on clay as it does on hard courts particularly if you’re up against a good retriever like Wawrinka.

    However, the mark of a champion is to hang in there till the tide changes and that’s just what the Serb did in set 2. He was aided by a significant dip in Wawrinka’s level, clearly lacking the intensity and power he’d shown at the start of the match, the Swiss went into a defensive shell. His groundstrokes definitely went awry, too many shots landing mid-court or in the net. Djokovic was more solid and he broke to go 4-2 ahead - 3 pounding groundstrokes giving him 0-30 and the break came as Wawrinka went wide going for the big forehand winner. The Swiss nearly broke straight back but Djokovic found some big serves and closed out the set with aggressive serve-volley play

    Low in confidence Wawrinka stopped taking the risks and trying to nail Djokovic’s backhand. The 3rd seed broke at the start of the decider and he always had full control, breaking again to clinch victory.

    “I'm very happy that I managed to win a major in this surface, because now I have more confidence approaching the big events on this surface, and on other surfaces as well,” said Djokovic. “This year has been like a dream for me, but I want to continue. I want to finish the year as the No. 1 in the race.”

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Comments

Djokovic is riding a lucky streak ! Soft draws and opponents who are the walking wounded.

chand , 5/13/08 10:28 AM



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