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Internazionali BNL d'Italia Finals (Video)

Djokovic Denies Nadal in Final, Wins Third Rome Title; Serena Repeats

Djokovic wins 3rd Rome Masters. Photo AP Gregorio Borgia

atpworldtour.com: May 18 2014 Rome, Italy – Novak Djokovic stepped up his bid for a return to No. 1 in the Emirates ATP Rankings on Sunday when he lifted the Internazionali BNL d’Italia trophy for a third time. The Serbian was last at the pinnacle of men’s professional tennis on 6 October 2013.

 

Second seed Djokovic beat No. 1-ranked Rafael Nadal, a seven-time champion at the Foro Italico, 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 in the Rome final that lasted two hours and 20 minutes. The victory added to his 2008 (d. Wawrinka) and 2011 (d. Nadal) titles at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 clay-court tournament. He has now won five of the past six titles at this tournament level.

 

Djokovic, who improved to 19-22 in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series against Nadal, walked away with €549,000 in prize money and earned 1,000 Emirates ATP Ranking points for winning his 19th ATP World Tour Masters 1000 trophy. The soon-to-be 27 year old (on 22 May) is now tied at No. 13 with Thomas Muster in the Open Era titles leader lists with 44 crowns.

 

Nadal was bidding to draw level with Bjorn Borg and Pete Sampras on 64 titles. The Spaniard leaves Italy with €269,150 and 600 Emirates ATP Ranking points. For the first time in 10 years, he will enter Roland Garros with only one European clay court title (the Mutua Madrid Open). He has a 34-6 match record on the season, while Djokovic is 24-3 overall in 2014.

Serena Retains Italian Open Crown, Defeats Errani in Final

Williams wins 60th career title in Rome. Photo internazionalibnlditalia.com

wtatennis.com: May 18 2014 Rome, Italy – - Serena Williams beat Sara Errani in the Internazionali BNL d'Italia final for the 60th WTA title of her career, and also to become the first player so far this year to win three WTA titles.

 

Errani had been picking up steam all week. Having fallen out of the Top 10 earlier in the year, the Italian No.1 had finally put together one of the inspired runs she's been known for over the last few years, beating two Top 10 players at the same tournament for the second time - the first was during her run to the French Open final in 2012 - and becoming the first Italian woman to reach the final at her home event since Raffaella Reggi all the way back in 1985, before she was even born.

 

The last few days had been all about turning the tides - Ana Ivanovic snapping a seven-match losing streak against Maria Sharapova, Li Na overturning an 0-6 head-to-head against Sam Stosur, and Errani in turn overturning an 0-6 head-to-head against Li. It was a week of breakthroughs - could Errani overturn her own 0-6 head-to-head against Williams, in front of her home crowd as well?

 

Order was restored in the Eternal City on Sunday. The first set was tricky - the No.1-seeded Williams needed 51 minutes to win it, 6-3, and wasn't truly in full flow, hitting an even 16 winners and 16 unforced errors. Meanwhile, the No.10-seeded Errani had four winners to 10 unforced errors.

 

The second set was one way traffic. Williams had a +13 differential of winners to unforced errors (15 to 2) and barely lost points (24 to 5). The second set lasted 21 minutes. Williams won, 6-3, 6-0. Williams finished the match with her 31st winner of the day, a massive backhand down the line.

Internazionali BNL d'Italia Women's Singles Final Sunday May 18

1-Serena Williams beat 10-Sara Errani  6-3 6-0

 

Internazionali BNL d'Italia Men's Singles Final Sunday May 18

2-Novak Djokovic beat 1-Rafa Nadal 4-6 6-3 6-3

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