It turned out that Roger Federer was not Novak Djokovic's toughest opponent on Sunday at the Italian Open.
Sports Illustrated reported that Novak Djokovic may have been better off skipping the post-match celebration after his 6-4, 6-3 victory over Roger Federer in the finals in Rome. Djokovic had a bottle of champagne after the match and was taking off the wire cork holder when the cork shot up in the air and nearly hit him in the eye.
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It did scrape his nose.
"Djokovic was treated on court for a cut on his nose and joked afterward that the champagne was just getting its revenge," SI.com reported.
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The top-ranked Serb won his 22nd straight match and beat Federer in straight sets for the first time since 2012. Djokovic improved to 35-2 in 2015 and heads into the French Open as the heavy favorite.
"Novak Djokovic's 6-4, 6-3 win over Roger Federer in the men's final was one-way traffic, with no turn-offs in sight," tennis.com reported. "It has been a year filled with outstanding performances from the world No. 1-he's now 35-2 for the season-but I thought this was the best of all of them. It was a Djokovic win that came with no hiccups, no letdowns, no vented rage, no head-scratching double faults, and no quivering hands on the water bottle at the changeover. Even down the stretch, as he worked to hold onto his lead, Djokovic showed nary a nerve nor a shade of self-doubt in putting away the man who has been the closest thing he has to a rival in 2015."
Djokovic needs the French Open title to complete his career grand slam. Rafael Nadal always has stood in Joker's way at Roland Garros, winning the last five titles and nine of the last 10.
Nadal, however, lost to Stan Wawrinka in the quarterfinals in Rome for his fifth loss on clay - his most dominant surface - this season.
After Djokovic's win over Federer, little doubt exits that the only player who can stop Djokovic is Djokovic.
"I'm playing with great joy and concentration and I hope to continue," a predictably pleased Djokovic said. "This has been a very exciting week, and today was my best match."
As long as Nole takes more precaution during his post-match celebration.
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