Novak Djokovic battles past Roger Federer in Rome

Defending champion Novak Djokovic rallied after a rain delay to beat Roger Federer 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 to reach the Rome Masters final. The loss extends Federer's title drought to seven months.

It's the second consecutive Masters Series final on clay for Djokovic, after the Serb lost to Rafael Nadal in Monte Carlo two weeks ago. Nadal faces 12th seed Fernando Gonzalez in the other semi-final later.

Rome is a key warm up for the French Open – the only Grand Slam title missing from Federer's collection of 13 majors – which begins in three weeks. Federer has not won a tournament since taking the title at home in Basel in October. link...