ROME -- Milos Raonic was a few points away from locking up a spot in a Masters 1000 final for the second time in his career. Instead a letdown in a second-set tiebreaker proved costly for the Canadian as he dropped a three-set decision to Novak Djokovic on Saturday at the Italian Open. The second-ranked Djokovic will now renew his rivalry with top-ranked Rafael Nadal in the championship match Sunday. There will be an enticing womens championship too, with top-ranked Serena Williams to face Sara Errani, the tournaments first Italian finalist in nearly 30 years. Djokovic took his time before figuring out Raonics massive serve for a 6-7 (5), 7-6 (4), 6-3 victory in a three-hour match at the Foro Italico. "I did the things I wanted to do. I didnt execute in the moments I would have liked but I did create a lot of opportunities for myself," Raonic said. "I just wish I would have played a few situations differently. I had the right approach but wasnt able to execute well (all) of the time. "I felt I had a chance in the match. I brought my best tennis (so) I could give myself an opportunity -- which I was able to do today. It came down to a few moments and he performed better in those moments than I did." Raonic, from Thornhill, Ont., had 55 winners but also made 42 unforced errors. The 23-year-old missed out on three break-point chances in the second set while Djokovic earned an early break in the third for a lead he wouldnt relinquish. "It was a tight match that was decided in the first two sets on a few points," Djokovic said. "He put a lot of pressure on my service games. And when you serve that well, you dont have as much pressure on your return games." Raonics serve flirted with the 230 km/h mark at times and he fired 17 aces. "I cant recall the last time when I was feeling so helpless in the return games," Djokovic said. "It was brutal." In mens doubles action, Canadas Daniel Nestor and Serbian partner Nenad Zimonjic reached the final with a 7-6 (3), 4-6, 12-10 win over Bob and Mike Bryan of the United States. Raonic lost to Nadal in the final of the 2013 Rogers Cup in his lone Masters 1000 final appearance. He will return to a career-high No. 9 in the world rankings on Monday. Raonic will also be a top-eight seed at the French Open in two weeks since Argentinas Juan Martin Del Potro -- currently the world No. 7 -- will be unable to compete because of injury. The Italian Open is the last key clay-court tuneup before the upcoming French Open. Having been stretched to three sets in his opening three matches this week, Nadal finally put in a complete performance with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Grigor Dimitrov in the late semifinal. "Today was a good confirmation that I really played better ... a lot of positive things," Nadal said. "(Djokovic) is playing great and its going to be a really tough match." Nadal holds a 22-18 career edge vs. Djokovic but the Serb won their last meeting for the Sony Open title in March in Key Biscayne, Florida. Nadal already has a record seven titles in Rome, while Djokovic is seeking his third championship at the Foro Italico. They have met in three finals here, with Nadal winning two of them. Williams overcame a second-set lapse to beat Ana Ivanovic 6-1, 3-6, 6-1 and gain a measure of revenge for a fourth-round loss to the Serb at this years Australian Open. Using vocal crowd support to her advantage, Errani fought back from a 4-1 deficit in the second set for a 6-3, 7-5 win over two-time Rome champion Jelena Jankovic. Williams is aiming for her third Rome title, having won this clay-court tuneup for Roland Garros in 2002 and last year. The American is 6-0 in her career against Errani and lost just one game in their last meeting, in the semifinals of last years French Open. "Shes just taken her game to a whole new level and she has so much confidence beating two really good top-10 players and two really great clay-court players," Williams said, also referring to Erranis win over second-seeded Li Na in the quarter-finals. "So I have a lot of work to do tomorrow. Its not going to be easy. And she has nothing to lose and she has the crowd behind her. So its going to be a really tough match for me." Nadal went the distance against Gilles Simon, Mikhail Youzhny and Andy Murray in his opening rounds this week but had relatively little trouble against Dimitrov, who was playing in his first Masters series semifinal. Afterward, Djokovic appealed for help for his flood-hit native Serbia, and wrote a message of support on a camera lens, adding I love you in Cyrillic. "This is a total catastrophe of biblical proportions," he said. "Half the country is in danger of not having electricity." Errani drew emotion from the crowd. "There were a few moments when I thought I might not pull it off but the fans were huge," said Errani, who is attempting to become the first Italian to win the tournament since Raffaella Reggi took the 1985 title in Taranto. The last Italian man to win was Adriano Panatta back in 1976. Its already Erranis best result since reaching the 2012 French Open final. Jankovic, the 2007 and 2008 Rome champion, repeatedly asked the chair umpire to come down and check marks but none of them were overturned, resulting only in the crowd stepping up its encouragement for Errani. "Just do it, Sara. Just do it, Sara," the fans cheered late in the second set. The highly partisan crowd frequently applauded Errani while points were still being played and cheered even when Jankovic double-faulted. "(The crowd) was all on her side but its normal, shes the local player," Jankovic said. "I tried to stay focused on my game, and play my tennis but she was the better player today." ------ With files from The Canadian Press. Cheap Air Max 95 Free Shipping . The first baseman hit a two-run homer in the top of the ninth inning to lead the Mets to a thrilling come-from-behind 3-2 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers. Cheap Air Max 95 China . With the Rangers already leading 2-0, Carey Price was taken down early in the second period of New Yorks 7-2 pounding of the Canadiens in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference final on Saturday afternoon. http://www.wholesalenikeshoesclearance.c...-720-shoes.html. -- A 25-year-old freelance journalist from British Columbia was formally charged on Thursday with a felony, five days after she was arrested in the United States over allegations she threatened to kill her hockey player boyfriend. Cheap Air Max 1 . The incident occurred at 6:28 of the first period in Anaheims 6-3 home win over Dallas on Sunday. Garbutt left the penalty box and skated at Penner before leaving his skates to deliver a check. Paul George Shoes Buy . The (11-11-4) Jets are seventh in the Central Division with 26 points. Fifth place Dallas and sixth-seeded Nashville also have 26 points, but the Stars have three games in hand on Winnipeg while Nashville has two. SAN ANTONIO -- Danny Green and Kawhi Leonard each scored 22 points, and the San Antonio Spurs overcame an injury to Tony Parker to close out the Western Conference semifinals with a 104-82 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers on Wednesday night. Patty Mills scored 18 points and Tim Duncan had 16 points and eight rebounds for San Antonio, which had four blowout victories in the five-game series. Its the third straight conference finals appearance for San Antonio, which lost a heartbreaking seven-game series to the Miami Heat in last seasons NBA Finals. San Antonio, which had the NBAs best record, will await the winner of the series between Oklahoma City and the Los Angeles Clippers. The Thunder have a 3-2 lead. LaMarcus Aldridge had 21 points for Portland, while Damian Lillard added 17 points and 10 assists. The Trail Blazers bench contributed only seven points compared to 40 by the Spurs reserves. After playing with various injuries throughout last post-season, the Spurs had been healthy in these playoffs until Wednesday. Parker, who missed 13 games during the regular season, exited in the first half with tightness in his left hamstring. After returning to the court with 9:46 remaining in the second quarter, Parker left the game exactly a minute later. He headed back to the locker room followed closely by San Antonio general manager R.C. Buford and team physician, Dr. Paul Saenz. Parker was scoreless in 10 minutes, missing his only two shots as Portland pushed to keep the All-Star point guard out of the paint. Manu Ginobili handled most of the ball-handling duties with Parker out. Even with Parker slowed, the Spurs still had another good start thanks to their hustle on the boards. Tiago Splitter had two offensive rebounds in the opening 3 minutes. The Spurs, who were averaging 9.3 offensive rebounds in the post-season, had five in the first quarter alone.dddddddddddd The Blazers went on a 9-0 run once Splitter exited, with Aldridge benefiting the most from the big mans absence. He hit a pair of jumpers over Boris Diaw for his first points of the game to spark the run. Mills provided a huge spark even before Parkers exit. The energetic Aussie sprinted for a layup after tipping away C.J. McCollums dribble in the backcourt. A possession later, Mills blocked Lillards 3-pointer, igniting a fast break that led to Greens first 3 of the game. Green had the strongest effort of the post-season, going 4 for 6 on 3s. San Antonio had four 3s in the second quarter, with Leonards second extending its lead to 43-30 with 4:47 remaining in the half. NOTES: Portland G Mo Williams (groin) missed his third straight game. After scoring six points on 3-for-11 shooting in the series opener, Williams exited Game 2 after nine minutes with a strained groin and has not played since. . Meb Keflezighi, the first American man to win the Boston Marathon in 31 years, was in attendance. . Ginobili slapped the scorers table twice in celebration after Greens jumper rattled in with 6 minutes remaining. Green has struggled shooting throughout the post-season. .. Mills rushed down the court to hit a 3-pointer after receiving a push by Spurs assistant coach Sean Marks after the diminutive guard leapt into the teams bench to save a defensive rebound. . Spurs coach Gregg Popovich screamed at Duncan for not providing weak-side help for Diaw on a dunk by Aldridge with 6 minutes left in the first half. After initially shaking his head and frowning at Popovich, Duncan raised his hand, nodded his head and said "My fault. My fault." Duncan later pointed to the sky after making a straightaway, 18-foot jumper with 5:24 remaining in the third quarter. ' ' '