Novak Djokovic - news, photos, videos

12 May 2008

Djokovic won Italian Open 2008

Novak Djokovic defeated Stanislas Wawrinka in the 2008 Internationali BNL d?Italia final The men’s singles tournament has a new champion. His name : Novak Djokovic.
The Serb came back to win a match that did not look good for him in the start.


Under a steaming sun, Novak Djokovic kicked off the final serving versus Stanislas Wawrinka. The Swiss, for whom this was the first appearance in a Masters-Series final, looked confident and relaxed. So relaxed that he was able to release the arm early and with some unbelievable backhands, he broke the number 3 player in the world at 2-2. The break was consolidated and Warinka had the sufficient advantage to close the first set 6-4 on a winner second serve 6-4 in 39 minutes.

At 2-2 in the second set, “Nole” needed to avoid the 1st set scenario. He hung tough to hold on to his serve. In the following game, Djokovic was insiting on the Swiss forehand, staying as far as possible from, possibly, the best one handed back hand on tour. This strategy allowed the Serb to get his first break opportunity of the match. Wawrinka committed an unforced error on the forehand (one of many) to give his opponent the break. In the following game, that of consolidation, Djokovic was down 0-30. two winner first serve’s and a beautifully touched half volley drop shot put the Serb up 40-30. Novak pumped his fist hard (for the first time in the match) and went up 4-2. This was the key moment in the match. From then on the momentum had shifted to Djokovic’ side for the rest of the dual. The second set was captured by Djokovic 6-3 in again 39 minutes.


Djokovic could now see the victory comming his way. He had the clear psychological advantage on his opponent and put the nail in the coffin by breaking Wawrinka in the opener. He consolidated and went up 2-0 and then 3-1. The strategy of the Serb had now changed. He could be found more and more often at the net after setting up the points nicely. He was letting the talented arm do the talking. At 3-2, wawrinka had the trainer come on court to ease a slight back pain. Nothing serious though. After yeterday’s double disaster with Roddick and Stepanek quiting mid-match, everybody (especially tournament director Sergio Palmeri)was praying that Wawrinka return on court, which he did. He however he was a break behind, and ended up with two breaks against him when Djokovic slapped an inside out forehand on his second match point to seal the deal. 6-3 in 45 min

Final score 4-6 6-3 6-3 in 2h04.

After having hugged Gabriela Sabatinni on the court, who handed him the Crystal Shield, Djokovic spoke in Italian and said it was one of the biggest wins in his career. He made a promise to the MC, Lea Pericoli, that if he wins next year he will do an on court imitation. A request he turned down this year, with the fear that no players would talk to him next week in Hamburg. We will have to wait for 2009 to see the immitator skills of Novak Djokovic, but for that he will need to defend his title succesfully.
Let’s wait and see.
source: http://www.internazionalibnlditalia.it

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