3 takeaways from the final in Rome

It was another chapter in their historic battle, as Nadal and Djokovic faced off for the 57th time in their careers. It was also the sixth time that these two have battled it out in the finals of Rome, with Nadal now holding the edge over Djokovic, 4-2.

Win the victory in Rome, Nadal has now cut Djokovic’s lead in the head-to-head down to one, as the world number one leads Nadal 29-28. Here are some takeaways from the final in Rome.

Number 10 for Rafa in Rome

With the victory in yesterday’s final, Nadal is now a 10-time champion in Rome. It definitely did not come easy for Rafa this year. Nadal started off the tournament with a tough round of 32 match-up against the young Italian, Jannik Sinner. Nadal played well and was able to escape in straight sets to advance to the round of 16.

The toughest test for Nadal all tournament was the round of 16 match against the Canadian, Denis Shapovalov, who played lights out in the match. Shapovalov came out playing some of the best tennis of his life, winning the first set fairly easily, 6-3. Shapovalov was then leading 3-0 in the second set before Nadal came storming back to take the second set 6-4.

In the third set, it was the Canadian who found himself back in front and held two match points on Nadal’s serve at 6-5 in the set. Nadal again battled back to save both match points, leveling the set at 6-6 and forcing a deciding tiebreak.

In the tiebreak, Nadal jumped ahead early and never looked back, taking the third set 7-6(3), and advancing to the quarterfinals.

Nadal then found his groove the rest of the tournament, defeating Alexander Zverev in the quarters after losing to him just a week prior in Madrid, and then defeating American Reilly Opelka in the semis in straight sets.

Nadal can now add Rome to the list of tournaments he has won at least 10 times, which already includes the French Open (13 titles), Monte Carlo (11 titles), and Barcelona (12 titles).

Confidence boost for Nadal

This tournament has got to give Nadal a lot of confidence heading into the French Open, which starts in less than two weeks.

Not only did he beat three top 20 players on his way to the final here in Rome, but he also defeated his rival Djokovic in a spectacular performance in the championship. Nadal looked shaky on the clay in the last few tournaments, losing to Zverev in Madrid, and also losing to Andrey Rublev in Monte Carlo. Although he won the title in Barcelona in between those two losses, his confidence was not as high as it usually is coming into the French Open.

With a win against the world number one in Novak Djokovic, Nadal should once again feel unstoppable coming into next week’s Grand Slam, and should be the favorite once again to lift the trophy in Paris.

Is Djokovic vulnerable heading into the French Open?

Djokovic played a great match against Nadal, one that could have went either way early in the final set. The way that Djokovic outplayed Nadal in that second set should give Djokovic fans some confidence heading into the second Grand Slam of the year.

What should make Djokovic fans worried is the lack of success on clay this spring. Besides making the final here in Rome, Djokovic was unable to make the finals of his other two clay court tournaments he played this year. In Monte Carlo, Djokovic had his most surprising loss in a long time, losing to Daniel Evans in straight sets. Then, after winning his first couple matches in Belgrade in an ATP 250 tournament, he lost to Aslan Karatsev in the semifinals, another head scratching defeat from the world number one.

Now without a title since the Australian Open, I could see the first few rounds as ones to watch for Djokovic in the French Open. If he gets a tough opponent early, we could see an early exit from the world number one, giving Nadal a clearer path to the trophy.