Djokovic sends Federer crashing

Federer has not won a tournament since taking the title at home in Basel,Switzerland,in October. He opened the clay-court season with a third-round loss to fellow Swiss player Stanislas Wawrinka in Monte Carlo. Rome is a key warm-up for the French Open,which begins in three weeks and is the only Grand Slam title missing from Federers collection of 13 majors.

Its bad,but I still have some work to do on the clay, Federer said,referring to the upcoming Masters tournament in Madrid. I have the feeling that maybe since I had the back problem,my serve is just not working there where I want it to be.

Djokovic began working with former Roland Garros winner Thomas Musters old trainer Gebhard Phil-Gritsch last week,and he grew sharper than Federer as the match wore on. The match was suspended for about an hour due to rain with Federer up a set and 2-1 in the second. When the sun re-emerged,Federer had a chance to go up two breaks before Djokovic won five straight games to rally from 1-3 down and force a third set.

Federers backhand gave him trouble in the decider. A backhand drop-shot attempt from Federer landed in the net to hand Djokovic a break and a 4-3 lead,and the Swiss player then missed a routine backhand into the net on Djokovics second match point.