NOVAK Djokovic and Rafael Nadal are through to their third ATP fantasy tennis final of the year after the top two players made their way through to the final of the Rome Masters. They won their respective semi-finals with Djokovic downing Stan Wawrinka and Nadal accounting for Dominic Thiem.

Djokovic had a fight on his hands throughout the contest after a strong start that saw him run away with a 6-1 first set victory. The second set was much closer with Wawrinka forcing his way back into the match with an early break. The Serbian star hit back with a return break a few games later, but again Stan the Man stepped up late in the set to break and level the match. The third set was close aside from a few points going the way of Djokovic at crucial times with the world number one breaking twice and eventually taking out the match 6-1 5-7 6-2.

Nadal did not have the same issues against one of the world’s top clay courters, getting up 6-2 6-4. The match lasted just over 90 minutes with the Spanish star toppling Thiem with some remarkable shotmaking and court coverage throughout the game. The win meant Nadal made his third final in four appearances – the same amount as his next opponent who has faced off with him in each of those clashes. Unfortunately for Thiem, it was the third time he had lost to Nadal at the semi-final stage, falling short of victory.

Djokovic and Nadal will go at it for the 58th time in their long rivalry, with the Serb winning 30 to 27 so far. Given Nadal’s dominance on clay, the world number two will be favourite, but it is anticipated to be a classic. The last time these two faced off, Nadal won in a canter, something Djokovic will hope to reverse in this clash.

SEMI-FINALS RESULTS:

[1] Novak Djokovic (SRB) defeated [16] Stan Wawrinka (SUI) 6-1 5-7 6-2
[2] Rafael Nadal (ESP) defeated [3] Dominic Thiem (AUT) 6-2 6-4