Djokovic Fights Back To Secure Final Spot; Faces Nadal

World No. 3 Novak Djokovic will have the opportunity to defend his Internazionali BNL d’Italia title after recovering from a set and a break down to oust two-time former finalist Roger Federer 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 on Saturday in the semi-finals of the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 clay-court tournament in Rome.

In a repeat of the recent Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters final, Djokovic will take on three-time former champion Rafael Nadal after the top-ranked Spaniard rolled past Fernando Gonzalez 6-3, 6-3 later on Saturday.

Djokovic, who defeated Stanislas Wawrinka in the 2008 final, will contest his third ATP World Tour Masters 1000 final of the year after finishing runner-up to Andy Murray in Miami and Rafael Nadal in Monte-Carlo two weeks ago. The Serbian has four ATP World Tour Masters 1000 shields to his name, triumphing at Miami (d. Canas) and Montreal (d. Federer) in 2007 and at Indian Wells (d. Fish) and Rome last year.

Djokovic must successfully defend his title this week to maintain his grip on the No. 3 position in the South African Airways 2009 ATP Rankings, where he has been since 9 July, 2007. Should Djokovic lose in Sunday’s final, Andy Murray will take over the No. 3 ranking on 11 May when the 2008 points drop off.

The 21 year old improved to a 30-9 match record on the season - the second-best tally on the ATP World Tour in 2009 behind Rafael Nadal, who has a 36-3 mark. His only title this season came at Dubai, where he defeated David Ferrer in the final to win his 12th tour-level title.

World No. 2 Federer, who went into the semi-final clash with a 7-3 career lead over Djokovic, started the match in fine form and broke Djokovic once in the ninth game before closing out a one-set lead. With the storm clouds gathering and thunder rumbling in the distance, Federer broke in the first game of the second set and led 2-1 before the inevitable rain arrived – halting play for 66 minutes.

When the players re-emerged after the delay, Federer looked set to maintain his control over proceedings – holding for 3-1. However, from that point Djokovic began his fight back. The Belgrade native broke back before moving into a 4-3 lead and earned his first break of the Federer serve in the eighth game as the Swiss miss-hit a backhand wide of the tramlines. Djokovic then served out the set to even the match score at one-set all.

Federer stalled Djokovic’s momentum early in the third set by breaking to create a 3-1 lead. However, once again Djokovic reined in his unforced errors, exhibited more patience in his play and was rewarded with the next five games to seal his second-straight victory over Federer after two hours and 10 minutes of play. Djokovic also defeated Federer in the semi-finals of the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami – recovering from a one-set deficit in that match too.

Djokovic improved to a 5-5 mark against Top 10 opponents this season and 25-35 in his career. He will contest his 21st tour-level final and will look to win his 13th title. The Monte-Carlo resident’s greatest victory came at the 2008 Australian Open, when he won his lone Grand Slam championship with victory over Federer in the semi-finals and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the final.

Federer was bidding to reach his third final in Rome after finishing runner-up to Felix Mantilla in the 2003 final and to Rafael Nadal in an epic 2006 title match. The 27 year old, who recently married his long-time girlfriend Mirka Vavrinec, has not won an ATP World Tour title since October 2008 – when he captured his 57th tour-level title at his hometown event in Basel (d. Nalbandian).

The Swiss, who was contesting his 100th tour-level semi-final, dropped to a 21-6 match record on the season. He reached the Australian Open final in January, where he was denied a record-equalling 14th Grand Slam championship by Rafael Nadal in a gripping five-set finale, and was denied at the semi-final stage in Doha (l. to Murray) and at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournaments in Indian Wells (l. to Murray) and Miami.