ROME: The Serbian Tennis star Novak Djokovic outclassed his Canadian opponent Felix Auger-Aliassaime 7-5, 7-6(1) to qualify for the Italian Open semi-finals, here on Friday.
In an intense quarter-final, the Serb marked exceptional comebacks in each set by regrouping from 5-3 to close out in style and secured his 999th tour-level win.
Both Auger-Aliassime and Djokovic showed off their shotmaking and movement capabilities, drawing each other wide with severe angles and up to the net with well-timed drop shots. But the veteran kept his calm and displayed great resilience and consistency to see off his young Canadian opponent.
Djokovic dominated Auger-Aliassime in most of the match by hitting 27 percent of his shots, eight more than his previous tournament average. He also converted 78 percent of his attacking advantage points, while seizing 34% of defensive points.
Following this victory, Djokovic will now return to the top of the ATP Live Rankings by adding 360 points for reaching the semi-finals.
The Serbian will now face Casper Ruud in search of his 1000th tour-level victory in the Italian Open semi-final. If he makes it to the final, Belgrade’s native will be chasing a record-extending 38th ATP Masters 1000 championship.
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ROME: The Canadian Tennis player Denis Shapovalov engineered a stunning comeback to defeat an ailing Rafael Nadal 1-6, 7-5, 6-2 and reach the Italian Open quarter-finals, here on Thursday.
Shapovalov, who had Nadal on the brink of the defeat in the previous edition of the Italian Open creating two match points before losing in a third-set tie-break, has now managed to settle his scores with the Spaniard following a brilliant victory in the Round of 16 of the ongoing edition.
Nadal, who was struggling with an apparent foot injury, set the tone early in the match as he secured the first set by a scoreline of 6-1. Shapovalov, on the other hand, maintained his threat and fired back at his opponent in the remaining two sets.
The 10th time Italian Open champion Nadal showed grit but with his movement restricted, Shapovalov took full advantage to run away with the match.
Shapovalov, who rose to the 15th rank this week in the latest ATP Live Rankings can reach as high as the 11th by winning his first ATP Masters 1000 title here.
The Canadian next faces the fifth seed Casper Ruud, who reached the semi-finals at the ATP Masters 1000s in Monte Carlo and Madrid last season but has yet to reach that stage this year on the continent.
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ROME: The legendary Spanish tennis player Rafael Nadal started his Italian Open 2022 campaign on a high as he thrashed his American opponent John Isner 6-3, 6-1 in the second round.
Nadal, who has a strong record at the Italian Open, seemed at ease in his first match of the season against Isner, using his signature spinning groundstrokes to counteract the latter’s massive serves.
After squandering two break points at 3-3 in the first set, the unseeded Isner struggled to regain any momentum as Nadal dominated the second to improve to a 69-7 match record at the Italian Open.
The win over Isner has prevented the 10-times Italian Open champion, Nadal, from losing two consecutive matches on clay court as the Spaniard suffered an astonishing defeat by his countrymate and the eventual Madrid Open champion Carlos Alcaraz in the quarter-finals last week.
The Spaniard next faces another North American star Denis Shapovalov in the third round. The two players last came face to face in a memorable semi-final of the Italian Open 2021.
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