Nadal sounds warning despite loss

Spaniard loses Rome final as Djokovic’s hot streak continues.

ROME:

World number one Rafael Nadal has warned Novak Djokovic that his unbeaten start to 2011 will not last forever.

Djokovic beat Nadal 6-4, 6-4 in the Rome Masters final to deny the Spaniard a sixth title here in seven years and took his winning streak to 39 matches. It was the fourth time this season the Serb has beaten the world number one in a Masters final and the second time on clay.

With the French Open beginning next week, Nadal faces the prospect of not starting out as the favourite, even though he has won there five times in six years.

However, the Spaniard said he is focusing on improving his own game so that when the time comes, he will be the one ready to pounce.

“I’m there all the time, I’ve played in six straight finals, but there’s one player playing better than the rest, he is doing unbelievably,” said Nadal. “My goal is to be there next time. I’m focused.”

The world number one admitted that Djokovic was ‘on a different level to the rest of the players’, but went on to emphasise that the Serb’s amazing form cannot continue indefinitely.

“That won’t continue like this forever because it’s impossible. I wish him the best but I’ll keep trying.”

‘Nadal still clay-court king’

Meanwhile, Djokovic insisted he has not displaced Nadal as the king of clay despite getting the better of his Spanish rival in recent matches.

The Serbian, by beating the world number one, became only the third player to beat him on clay more than once, joining Gaston Gaudio (three) and Roger Federer (two) in holding that distinction. But even so, he felt that Nadal was still the man to beat on clay with the French Open just round the corner.

“He’s the king of clay, he’s the best ever to play on this surface,” said Djokovic.”Yes I won two matches in the last eight days and that’s incredible. But it’s just two tournaments whereas he’s been dominant for so many years.”

Djokovic is sixth on the all-time list of longest winning streaks and if he wins the French Open he would equal Guillermo Vilas’s mark of 46 from 1977. He is second only to John McEnroe in the list for the best winning start to a season and needs only to reach the Roland Garros semi-final to surpass the American’s 42-match mark from 1984. Djokovic termed the prospect of making history a great honour.



Published in The Express Tribune, May 17^th, 2011.