2012 Rome Masters Final Preview: Novak Djokovic vs Rafael Nadal

Novak Djokovic has improved to 11-14 overall against Roger Federer as the Serb defeated the Swiss on Saturday in straight sets at the 2012 Rome Masters. That result sets up a final between the World No. 1 and the World No. 3 as Rafael Nadal booked his spot in the championship match earlier in the day with a victory over David Ferrer.

Djokovic and Nadal are into the final after both players suffered early exits in last week's Madrid Masters. It appears that the blue clay at that tournament was to blame for the upset losses and the red clay in Rome has returned the clay court season back to normal. There is no Tomas Berdych versus Federer championship this week as Djokovic and Nadal are set to meet in another Masters Series final.

Nadal leads Djokovic on head-to-heads 17-14 and that includes a victory in their most recent match from ATP Monte Carlo. Previous to that result, which came at a time when the World No. 1 was perhaps distracted, Djokovic had defeated Nadal in seven straight matches including a straight sets victory in last year's Rome Masters final.

Djokovic has not played as well so far in 2012 as he did in 2011; many will recall that at this time last year, the Serb was still undefeated on the season. However Djokovic is starting to play his best tennis again and he looked razor sharp for most of his semifinal match against Federer. The Serbinator had a little bit of trouble closing the match out due to Federer's own resilience, but Djokovic's perseverance and mental fortitude was on display in the second set of the semifinals.

The Nadal versus Djokovic final looks as though it will be a tightly contested affair that will provide the most insight into who is the man the to beat heading into the 2012 French Open. As strong as Djokovic has been playing in Rome, it's nothing that Nadal cannot best as the Spaniard is through to the final without dropping a set.

The odds-makers for this match have made Nadal the favorite (Bwin: 7/10 or -142) but tennis fans might rightfully hope for a third set tiebreaker. However if Djokovic's loss in Monte Carlo was in fact due to personal distractions, then he should be expected to return to his winning ways against Nadal.

Recommendation: Djokovic at 11/8 or +137 with Coral.