Italian Open 2012: Rafael Nadal Defeats Novak Djokovic For Title

Due to the inclement weather in Rome, the men’s final at the 2012 Italian Open has been postponed until Monday. The rainy conditions were unrelenting on Sunday, with drizzle delaying the women’s final by two hours. The women were able to eventually resume play, with Maria Sharapova defeating Li Na in three sets.

But the highly anticipated men’s final between Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal was called and re-scheduled for Monday. Both the players and representatives from their camps met on the court before the scheduled start, but the postponement announcement followed shortly.

You don’t see tennis players implode on themselves as quickly and as violently as Li Na did in Sunday’s final of the 2012 Italian Open. Na seemingly had the match and the tourney in hand, leading 6-4 4-0, and then, well, everything fell apart.

Na lost eight consecutive games behind a slew of unforced errors and allowed Sharapova to break her serve three times. When all was said and done, Sharapova had won the second set 6-4 and had a 2-0 lead in the third. Na regained her composure to force a third-set tiebreak, but Sharapova took control there, jumping out to a 3-0 lead, eventually earning the 4-6 6-4 7-6 (7-5) win.

That blue clay in Madrid. Yeah. Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal hated it. They also were both booted from that tournament in the quarterfinals.

The red clay in Rome. Yeah. Djokovic and Nadal love it. They are both in the finals, the same spot both were a year ago for the Italian Open. Nadal lost that one 6-4, 6-4.

Maria Sharapova will try to return to the top of the world while defending her title in Rome.

She’ll meet Li Na in the finals of the Italian Open. Earlier this season in Miami, Sharapova gave up only three games to Li Na. However, last year at Roland Garros, Li Na eked past Sharapova in straight sets, 6-4, 7-5.

Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal proved why they were ranked No. 1 and No. 2 with their results Saturday, each beating their opponents in two sets setting themselves up for a faceoff in the Italian Open finals on Sunday.

Djokovic was matched up with Roger Federer, who fell behind quickly and lost the first set 6-2. Federer bounced back by sending the second to a tiebreaker, but lost the tiebreak and the match as Djokovic took it 7-4.

As the 2012 Italian Open heads to a close, Maria Sharapova is set to take on Li Na in the final round to defend her Italian title. Sharapova beat Na when they met in Miami earlier this year, but Na beat Sharapova in the finals of the French Open last year.

Na advanced when Serena Williams was forced to pull out because of a back injury. Sharapova on the other hand beat Angelique Kerber of Germany (6-3, 6-4) to advance to the final round of the Italian Open.

Maria Sharapova has a formula she’s following to stay at the top of the women’s circuit.

And it’s working.

Venus and Serena Williams are continuing their climb back to the top of the tennis world.

In the quarterfinals at Rome, Venus beat Sam Stosur in the third round, 6-4, 6-3. Serena also won in straight sets.

And it’s rest that the Brit apparently needs.

The No. 4-seeded Murray lost in a marathon match today to No. 16 Richard Gasquet of France. The three-hour match ended with a final score of 6-7 (7), 6-3, 6-2.

Serena Williams continues her trek back to the top. Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal continue to battle on clay a week after their play on clay didn’t go so well. Yes, Roger Federer competes as well with the trifecta of top players on Day 5.

It will be the first day in a tournament this year though that Victoria Azarenka won’t be there for the third round of the tournament. Azarenka withdrew after her second-round match -- a breeze of a win in which she dropped only three games -- with a shoulder injury.

First round action concludes, and second round action begins on Day 3 Tuesday at the 2012 Italian Open. Several big names will take to the court for the first time after the Top 8 seeds in the men’s women’s draws earned first round byes. No. 4 Andy Murray and No. 6 David Ferrer on the men’s side, and No. 2 Maria Sharapova on the women’s all moved on to the third round, but not without some trouble from their unseeded opponents.

Murray needed three sets to finally down David Nalbandian. After an easy 6-1 win in the first set, Murray didn’t take Nalbandian to break point once in a 4-6 loss in the second set. He notched two breaks in third set to outlast the the Argentinian, 7-5, to advance. Murray will face the winner between No. 16 Richard Gasquet and Paolo Lorenzi in the third round.

With the top eight players on the men’s and women’s draws earning first round byes at the 2012 Italian Open, you’ll have to wait until Round 2 to see names like Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Serena Williams. Still, several highly-ranked players were in action Monday, a day so far highlighted by wins by the 13 seeds, Gael Monfils and Ana Ivanovic.

Monfils drew Alex Bogomolov Jr. of Russia in the first round, and won in straight sets, 6-4, 6-1. He took Bogomolov to break point 14 times during the match, ultimately converting five of his opportunities. Monfils served well throughout the match, scoring on 70 percent of his first serves. He moves on to face Juan Carlos Ferrero in the second round, a 6-4, 7-5, winner over Kevin Anderson.

There are plenty of big names in the tennis world playing in the 2012 Italian Open: Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Andy Murray among them. These players pretty much all had byes in the first round, meaning the biggest name on the men’s side in action on Day 1 was Nikolay Davydenko, a 30-year-old former Top 5 player in the world.

He didn’t get far, however, losing in three sets to Italian wild card Paolo Lorenzi, 6-3, 2-6, 6-3. Davydenko was the highest seed to lose on the first day. Other notables who advanced from the men’s side were Juan Carlos Ferrero, Mikhail Youzhny, Florian Mayer and hometown hero Andreas Seppi.