Djokovic Beats Bellucci, Sets Up Nadal QF
Djokovic Beats Bellucci, Sets Up Nadal QF
Serb moves into Rome QFs for 10th consecutive year
Novak Djokovic overcame a sluggish start to beat Thomaz Bellucci 0-6, 6-3, 6-2 and move into the Internazionali BNL d’Italia quarter-finals on Thursday.
It marks the 10th consecutive year Djokovic has made the quarter-finals in Rome. He’ll face No. 5 seed Rafael Nadal, who beat Nick Kyrgios in three sets.
Djokovic will try to avoid a similar start to what he experienced against Bellucci. The World No. 1 looked out of sorts, missing routine shots and failing to push the Brazilian. Djokovic won only eight points and lost all three break points faced. He also didn’t earn a break point against Bellucci in the first set, which ended after just 24 minutes.
“After the first set I had to change. First set was a complete Bellucci storm, and I was blown away from the court,” Djokovic said. “Fortunately the matches are played in best of three, so I had another opportunity to come back and to restart, which I did.”
The Serb quickly got on the board in the second set, holding serve in the first game. He even celebrated what had been a rare occasion, raising his arms to cheers from the packed Centre Court. The Serb later earned a break and served out the set at 5-3.
“The crucial game was the first game of the second set where I held my serve, and then I felt that things started to go my way as I tactically changed certain things, started to change the pace, get him on the move from one corner to another… And it worked well,” Djokovic said.
Bellucci brought more fight into the third set but Djokovic was as focused as ever and earned two breaks to set up his 49th meeting against Nadal. Djokovic leads their FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry 25-23 and has won their past six matches. Nadal last beat him at Roland Garros in 2014.
“Tomorrow is a big challenge playing against Rafa. The fact that I played against a left-handed player today hopefully will get myself positioned well for the next match,” Djokovic said. “I’ve played him in Rome several times… I have watched his match. I’m going to try to get myself ready. I’m hoping I can start better than I did today.”