Novak Djokovic booked an Open Era record 51st FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting with Rafael Nadal on Friday, defeating Kei Nishikori 2-6, 6-1, 6-3 at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia. The four-time champion notched his 10th tour-level match win of 2018, winning 66 per cent of second-serve return points to defeat Nishikori in two hours and 21 minutes. Djokovic now moves into his first semi-final on the ATP World Tour since returning from a right elbow injury in January. The Serb's last semi-final appearance at a tour-level event came at the 2017 Nature Valley International. "It means a lot to me to be able to play [in the] semi-finals of a tournament again," said Djokovic. "This is what I was looking forward...
Marin Cilic advanced to his first clay-court ATP World Tour Masters 1000 semi-final on Friday in a polished performance at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia. The fourth-seeded Croatian was solid on serve, good in defence and gave little away in a 6-3, 6-3 victory over No. 10 seed Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain over 66 minutes. “I’m feeling great [after reaching] my first semi-final on clay at a Masters 1000 event,” said Cilic. That's a good achievement. I was waiting many years for it to happen, so it’s definitely a happy moment for sure. “I served incredibly well, both on first and second serve. That was extremely important. It gave me a lot of freedom in my game. When I'm serving...
Mate Pavic earned a victory before taking the court on Friday at the Foro Italico. With Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo's loss at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia, it is guaranteed that the 24-year-old Croatian will become the 52nd player to reach No. 1 in the history of the ATP Doubles Rankings (since 1976) on 21 May. He will be the youngest doubles No. 1 since Todd Woodbridge in February 1996. However, Pavic and his partner, Oliver Marach, fell later in the day on Court Pietrangeli against Pablo Cuevas and Marcel Granollers. The Uruguayan-Spanish duo overcame a break deficit in both sets to oust the No. 2 seeds 6-3, 7-6(4) in one hour, 28 minutes. Cuevas and Granollers will play Pablo...
Rafael Nadal saw a 4-1 first set lead evaporate on Friday before regrouping to beat talented Italian Fabio Fognini, who was boosted by a capacity Court Centrale crowd at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia. The Spanish superstar denied Fognini his wish of an early first birthday present for his son, Federico (born 19 May 2017), in a 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 victory that keeps Nadal in pursuit of a return to No. 1 in the ATP Rankings. Should Nadal bite into his eighth trophy at the Foro Italico in Rome, which would represent a record 32nd ATP World Tour Masters 1000 crown, he would supplant Switzerland’s Roger Federer at the summit of men’s professional tennis on 21 May. He will next play...
If all Novak Djokovic needed was some confidence to work his way back into form, then he put the rest of the ATP World Tour on notice Thursday evening at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia. The four-time champion in the Italian capital put on an impressive performance to oust 2017 Monte-Carlo finalist Albert Ramos-Vinolas 6-1, 7-5, reaching his first ATP World Tour quarter-final of the season. "I'm happy. I haven't had too many matches of this quality of my tennis in the past 12 months," Djokovic said. "I think this was probably one of the three matches that I played this way in the past 12 months. So, it felt good. And it came at the right time in the place...
