World No 1 Rafael Nadal will play Novak Djokovic in the final of the Rome Masters after their respective victories against Fernando Gonzalez and Roger Federer on Saturday.
World No 3 Djokvic is the reigning champion here and needs to retain his title or Britain’s Andy Murray will overtake him in the world rankings, while Nadal claimed the crown in the three previous years.
Serbian Djokovic made the most of a rain break to transform his play and beat Federer 4-6 6-3 6-3 in a thriller. Nadal had few problems in despatching Chilean 12th seed Gonzalez and the Spaniard broke his opponent four times on the way to 6-3 6-3 victory.
