Rafael Nadal claimed his first title of the year by defeating world number one Novak Djokovic 6-0 4-6 6-1 in the Italian Open final in Rome.

The Spaniard raced through the opener in 39 minutes, the first 6-0 between the great rivals in 141 previous sets.

Djokovic battled back, but in the Rome sunshine Nadal sealed his ninth Italian Open title in two hours, 25 minutes.

It was his 81st tournament win and it takes him 34-33 ahead of Djokovic in Masters 1,000 Series titles.

Victory is a boost before the French Open for Nadal, who was beaten by Djokovic in the Australian Open final in January, and had lost at the semi-final stage in his past four tournaments.

Since 2005, Nadal has won at least one of the nine Masters 1,000 events in a season every year except 2015.

Liverpool are into their second successive Champions League final after overcoming Barcelona with a stunning second-leg fightback on an epic 4-nil defeat at Anfield.

It is the first time since 1986, when Barcelona knocked out Gothenburg in the old European Cup, that a team have recovered a three-goal first-leg deficit to win a semi-final in the competition.

Liverpool have managed famous European fightbacks before, notably when they won the trophy for the fifth time in Istanbul in 2005.

In tonight’s game, Tottenham Hotspurs play their semi-final second leg against Ajax, looking to overturn a one-goal deficit.

French striker, ALEXANDRE LACAZETTE, has been voted Arsenal Player of the year.

The former Lyon player, who has netted 18 times for the club in all competitions this season, won the gong after he was voted for by the club’s fans.

LACAZETTE won 35 percent of the votes cast by supporters in London and Arsenal announced him as the winner yesterday.

He scored twice on Thursday in Arsenal’s 3-1 win over Valencia in the first leg semi-final in the Europa League. The return leg comes up in Spain next week.