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Journalism of Courage
Novak Djokovic rallied after a rain delay to beat Roger Federer 4-6 6-3 6-3 on Saturday and reach the Rome Masters final,extending Federers title drought to seven months. Its the second consecutive Masters Series final on clay for Djokovic,after the Serb lost to Rafael Nadal in Monte Carlo two weeks ago. Federer wasted breaks in both the second and third sets. I feel like this is not a match I should have given away, Federer said.
Djokovic will face Nadal again in Sundays final,after the top-ranked Spaniard cruised past 12th-seeded Fernando Gonzalez 6-3 6-3. Nadal extended his clay-court winning streak to 29 matches.
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.
