Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal are one round away from a semifinal showdown in Rome. Standing in their ways on Friday are Tomas Berdych and David Ferrer.
(1) Novak Djokovic vs. (6) Tomas Berdych
Djokovic and Berdych will be meeting for the 15th time in their careers when they do battle in the quarterfinals of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia on Friday afternoon. The head-to-head series stands at a lopsided 13-1 in Djokovic’s favor, including a perfect 9-0 for the Serb since the start of the 2010 season. They have faced each other once on clay, an encounter that resulted in a 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 Djokovic victory at the 2012 Monte-Carlo Masters. Djokovic, who has never met Berdych on clay aside from that one showdown, is 2-0 in the series already this season.
The world No. 1 is 28-3 for the year, which features a Grand Slam title in Melbourne plus triumphs in Dubai and Monte-Carlo. He lost his Madrid opener to Grigor Dimitrov but has bounced back nicely this week with straight-set scalps of Albert Montanes and Alexandr Dolgopolov. Berdych booked his spot in the last eight thanks to straight-set dismissals of Denis Istomin and familiar foe Kevin Anderson. The sixth-ranked Czech, coming off a semifinal showing in Madrid, is 28-9 for the season. No surface favors Berdych in this matchup, but he would prefer to play it on a faster one to avoid a host of baseline battles. Djokovic should have too much consistency and confidence at an event that he won in 2011.
Pick: Djokovic in 2
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(4) David Ferrer vs. (5) Rafael Nadal
Ferrer and Nadal will be squaring off for the 23rd time in their careers and for the third time this season when they collide on Friday. Nadal is dominating the head-to-head series 18-4, including 15-1 on clay. The former world No. 1 has won 15 matches in a row against Ferrer on the slow stuff since losing their first-ever encounter on the red clay of Stuttgart back in 2004. As for their 2013 meetings, Nadal rolled 6-0, 6-2 in the Acapulco final before battling past Ferrer 4-6, 7-6(3), 6-0 in last week’s Madrid quarters.
This one almost did not come to fruition because Nadal had a serious scare against familiar foe Ernests Gulbis on Thursday. Rome’s defending champion and No. 5 seed recovered from a first-set breadstick to beat Gulbis 1-6, 7-6, 6-4 after two hours and 37 minutes. Nadal, owner of five titles already this year, is 33-2 for his 2013 campaign and 38-2 lifetime at this event. Ferrer, by contrast, got a third-round walkover from an ill Philipp Kohlschreiber. That was preceded by another all-Spanish affair on Wednesday, which went Ferrer’s way 5-7, 7-5, 6-3 over Fernando Verdasco. Ferrer is 31-8 for the season, which includes a relatively surprising runner-up finish in Miami.
While Ferrer showed last week in Madrid that he can be competitive in this matchup, the result also showed that it is hard for the underdog to get entirely over the hump (he was two points from victory in the second set). Furthermore, Nadal has always been far better in Rome than he is amidst the high-altitude conditions of Madrid. Unless Nadal is not moving 100 percent due to knee issues or fatigue, this should be straightforward.
Pick: Nadal 7-5, 6-1
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