Novak Djokovic’s Italian Open Win Showed What a Threat He Is To French Open Favourite Rafael Nadal

FIFTEEN days after the embarrassment of New York Novak Djokovic showed that he is ready to be a major problem for Rafael Nadal at the French Open.

The 33-year-old Serb put the events of Flushing Meadows behind him by winning the Italian Open final on Monday night, recovering from a slow start to beat pugnacious Argentinian Diego Schwartzmann 7-5 6-3 before a small crowd at Rome’s Foro Italico.

As a reminder of his threat to Nadal – beaten by Schwartzmann on Saturday – he racked up his 36th Masters 1000 title, taking him one ahead of the Spaniard’s tally in the events just below Grand Slam level.

‘I don’t think I played my best tennis through the entire match but I found it when I needed it the most,’ said Djokovic, who could have summarised his whole week with that.

‘We go to Paris now and I couldn’t have asked