Rafael Nadal vs. Novak Djokovic: What the Rome Final Might Mean

There have been a plethora of articles speculating on the possibilities or likelihood of a Rafael Nadal or Novak Djokovic victory at the Rome Open final.

All of them are in vain. There is no point speculating because the truth is that either one of the two could come away with the win, and it wouldn't surprise anyone. 

Even the rain delay, which has pushed the final to a groundbreaking Monday, will only have served to provide both men with much-needed rest. In fact, we can only speculate at the most that the quality of the tennis will be the biggest winner.

There are certain facts of the state of men's tennis now, which do not need to be guessed at or predicted to be true, and that is that Nadal and Djokovic have by far the best clay-court games in tennis.

It was fully in evidence in their semifinal victories, the former proving too strong for that clay-court specialist David Ferrer and the latter startling Roger Federer with his trademark speed and defense. It's something about their natural tendencies for throwing punches from the baseline, the lust for battle and uncanny agility and defensive reflexes that make them perfectly suited for the slower clay of Rome.

This time there are again delicious subtexts. Going for Djokovic is the reality of his having won seven of his last eight matches against Nadal, the most notable in this context being his 6-4 6-4 demolition of the Spaniard last year at Rome. That match, arguably, was a turning point; the next time they played after that was at Wimbledon, and one saw Nadal visibly strain to make dents in Djokovic's game there.

Going for Nadal, however, is an for one his almost unparalleled record on clay, and his recent reassertion of this long-held knowledge in his clay-court expertise. One remembers that Djokovic hasn't actually won a title on clay yet this year, while Nadal has won two. He was back to his destructive best with some monstrous defense against Tomas Berdych and flew past David Ferrer in a battle of the wills.

Against Djokovic there will be more battles of the will he will have to win in order to claim victory in the war. The reward will span more than just a sixth Rome crown—at stake is the No 2 ranking, which he could re-claim from Roger Federer. Nadal's possession of this at this time would be crucial for the seedings and draw outcome at Roland Garros in a week.

Suffice it to say that speculation and prediction, stating vehemently that so and so has the best chance of winning, are rather futile. The most we can say, and this is probably more true for this final than it has been for other ATP finals this year, is that there are significant outcomes to be gained for both sides. Maybe even a ground-breaker for the standings and power struggles of 2012—a Djokovic victory might sound his readiness to claim the French, and a win for Nadal a step towards his reclaiming the top spot.

In the end, it is simply another edition of Nadal-Djokovic, and for that we ought to be grateful.