If Diego Schwartzman captures the Internazionali BNL d’Italia title on Monday afternoon, it will complete one of the most amazing Masters 1000 runs in recent memory.
It won’t be easy, to put it mildly.
But how much tougher can it get? Schwartzman already beat the King of Clay–nine-time Rome champion Rafael Nadal–and then outlasted Denis Shapovalov in a three-hour thriller one day later.
The Argentine’s reward is a final showdown against world No. 1 Novak Djokovic, who is sweeping their head-to-head series 4-0. They faced each other in the semis of this same tournament last spring, when Djokovic prevailed 6-3, 6-7(2), 6-3. Their most recent encounter came earlier this season at the Australian Open, where the Serb cruised to a 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 victory.
Of course, Schwartzman won’t be intimidated by a 0-4 lifetime record. He had previously been 0-9 against Nadal and 2-22 in total sets. Nonetheless, the world No. 14 pulled off a 6-2, 7-5 stunner on Saturday. Schwartzman, whose 6-4, 5-7, 7-6(4) victory over Shapovalov lasted three hours and 15 minutes, also defeated John Millman and Hubert Hurkacz en route to the title match.
Djokovic has advanced with defeats of Salvatore Caruso, Filip Krajinovic, Dominik Koepfer, and Casper Ruud, surrendering just one set to Koepfer along the way. This marks the top seed’s 10th Rome final and he can capture his fifth title at the Foro Italico.
Based on every factor, and especially the mental and physical effort that Schwartzman has put in throughout the event, this will likely be one-way traffic from start to finish.
Pick: Djokovic in 2 losing 8 games or fewer
Yeah, good one , and I enjoy the Rafa fan-aticism and the polar opposite for a controversial political opponent who gives citrus fruit a bad name .