by Randy Walker
@TennisPublisher
Iga Swiatek and Rafael Nadal, the reigning French Open singles champions, tuned up for their upcoming title defenses in Paris by winning respective – and contrasting – finals at the Italian Championships Sunday in Rome.
Swiatek, the 19-year-old from Poland, needed only 46minutes to beat former world No. 1 Karolina Pliskova 6-0, 6-0 in the women’s final. Nadal, the 13-time French champion, needed two hours and 49 minutes to win his 10th title in Rome with a grinding 7-5, 1-6, 6-3 win over world No. 1 Novak Djokovic.
“I was super focused today, so I’m really proud of myself,” said Swiatek, who moved to the No. 9 ranking with her third WTA Tour victory.
Nadal said he was motivated to win again in Rome to place his tournament title total in the eternal city to double digits, like at the other major clay court championships such as Monte Carlo, where he has won 11 times, Barcelona, where he has won 12 times, including earlier this year, and at the French Open, where he will be seeking his 14th title in two weeks.
“I really wanted this title,” said Nadal. “This had been one of the first important titles I won in my career. I’d won 10 in Monte Carlo, Barcelona and Roland Garros and really wanted this one too,” said 34-year-old Nadal.
Djokovic and Nadal were meeting for the 57th time, having last played in the 2020 French Open final which the Spaniard won easily in straight sets. Djokovic still leads the head-to-head with Nadal 29-28. The two famously played one of the greatest major finals of all time at the 2012 Australian Open final, as documented in Steve Flink’s book “The Greatest Tennis Matches of All Time” for sale and download here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0942257936/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_VQSSFZDRD23V8TXM82VG via @amazon
Nadal and Djokovic have won 15 of the last 17 titles in Rome. The win for Nadal matched Djokovic’s record of 36 Masters 1000 titles.
