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ROME — It’s hard to find novelty in the prolific rivalry between Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, which continued on Sunday at the Foro Italico with an ATP-record 54th match.
“Playing against Novak is always a special thing because it’s part of the history of this sport,” Nadal said. “No one match has been repeated more than this one in our history.”
But in the first set of the Italian Open final, which was the 142nd set the pair had cooked up together, there was suddenly a new dish on offer: a bagel.