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Rafael Nadal won a record-extending 10th Italian Open title in Rome after beating top seed Novak Djokovic in three sets.<\/p>\nRafael Nadal won a record-extending 10th Italian Open title in Rome after beating top seed Novak Djokovic in three sets.<\/p>\n
Second seed Nadal (34) came out on top in the 57th ATP Tour level clash between the two rivals 7-5 1-6 6-3 in two hours and 50 minutes.<\/p>\n
Victory also secured Nadal his 36th ATP Masters 1000 crown, equaling Djokovic\u2019s record since the series was established in 1990 and he now leads the Serbian 29-28 in ATP head-to-heads.<\/p>\n
Nadal won his first Italian Open title in 2005, while Djokovic (33) was aiming for his first win on clay against the Spaniard since the 2016 quarter-finals in Rome.<\/p>\n
Djokovic showed no signs of fatigue after spending almost five hours on court on Saturday while winning both his quarter-final and semi-final against Stefanos Tsitsipas and Lorenzo Sonego in a rain-affected tournament.<\/p>\n
Nadal, who won his semi-final against American Reilly Opelka in an hour and a half, lost his first service game to go 2-0 down in the opening set, but immediately broke back and then held in his next to level at 2-2.<\/p>\n
The Spaniard pounced on Djokovic\u2019s serve again in the 11th game to edge 6-5 ahead and wrapped it up 7-5 on his second set point.<\/p>\n
Djokovic rallied in the second set, breaking Nadal\u2019s serve twice, in the fourth and sixth games, to win it 6-1 in 44 minutes and level the match and looked to hold the upper hand when he forced two break points at 2-2 in the decider.<\/p>\n
But Nadal staved them off and raised his level in the next game when he broke Djokovic\u2019s serve to take a decisive 4-2 lead.<\/p>\n
Nadal served out for the title at 5-3 up and clinched it on his second championship point when Djokovic sent a backhand long.<\/p>\n