It was a thrilling precursor to what could well be the same lineup in the French Open final at Roland Garros next month.
After a patchy start to the clay court season, Nadal looked near his unstoppable best at times against Djokovic who had no answer to his opponent’s thundering ground strokes in the opening set, as Nadal secured the first ever bagel in the pair’s rivalry — 54 matches and 142 sets.
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With question marks over Nadal’s fitness this season and Roland Garros just a week away, his ninth title in the Italian capital — and the accompanying performance — sends a message to the rest of the field.
The world No. 2 was comfortably beaten by Djokovic in the Australian Open final at the start of the year and had only made it to the semifinal stage of his last four tournaments.
Victory sees Nadal overtake Djokovic to take the outright lead in most Masters 1000 titles won with 34.
Source: Rafael Nadal beats Novak Djokovic to win ninth Rome Masters
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