Italian Open: Novak Djokovic faces Diego Schwartzman for final spot

World number one Novak Djokovic will look to cement his spot in the finals of the Italian Open when he locks horns with Argentine star Diego Schwartzman in the semi-final of the tournament on Saturday. 

Earlier on Saturday, the Serbian tennis maestro battled back from a set down against Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina 4-6, 7-6 (8-6), 6-4 in a thrilling quarter-final clash of the men's singles event that lasted for grueling three hours and one minute. 

The victory saw Djokovic improve their ATP Head-to-Head rivalry against Potro on clay to 2-0 while the Serbian has now won seven of their past eight meetings, the Association for Tennis Professionals (ATP) reported.

Djokovic is now all set to meet Schwartzman, who eased past Japanese tennis star Kei Nishikori 6-4, 6-2 in a one-sided quarter-final clash that lasted almost one and a half hour. 

While Djokovic won his record-tying 33rd ATP Masters 1000 title at Madrid Open last week, Schwartzman is all set to appear in his first last-four clash of ATP Masters 1000. 

Heading into the clash, Djokovic leads the Head-to-Head rivalry against Schwartzman by 2-0, but the duo have not met each other in past two years.