Djokovic concerns raised ahead of nadal italian open final

Anne Keovathong and Daniela Hantuchova have agreed that Novak Djokovic’s lack of fitness could play a key part in his Italian Open final against Rafael Nadal. The Serb was forced to go the

distance in Saturday’s enthralling semi-final against Lorenzo Sonego. Djokovic defeated the Italian 6-3 6-7 (5-7) 6-2 in a match that spanned nearly hours, including an incredible 91-minute

second set. Meanwhile, Nadal’s route into today’s final was much simpler. The Spaniard won in straight sets against American Reilly Opelka to set up a 28th career final against Djokovic.

However, Nadal nearly suffered a shock defeat in Thursday’s last-16 tie against Denis Shapovalov. The Canadian had two match points on separate occasions but suffered a remarkable comeback

by Nadal. JUST IN: NOVAK DJOKOVIC PILES PRESSURE ON RAFAEL NADAL AHEAD OF ROME FINAL Hantuchova, a former world added: “Against Rafa you need the legs. But I feel like with Novak, he had

those two incredibly long matches and he’s going to be feeling [tired] a bit. “Nadal just played against Opelka, so he might feel like he’s playing in slow-motion, that he’s got more time.

As Annie said, he’s improving with every match and I just think he’s going to be so much physically better than Novak today.” Buckland suggested that Djokovic’s ability to recover quickly is

“superhuman”, but Hantuchova suggested that may have been the case for a younger Djokovic. She added: “He does but maybe more so in the past, maybe five or six years ago. He had an

incredible ability to recover between matches. He’s not getting any younger, so I think to be able to recover from a match that only really finished a couple of hours ago… I feel like that’s

even too much to ask from Novak. “He’s been able to surprise us in so many different ways, but I am leaning towards [agreeing with] Annie that Rafa is favourite.”