The biggest surprises from Rome 2019

Rome brought out the best in one King of Clay (Rafael Nadal) and one clay-court "hater" (Karolina Pliskova). Along the way, there were a ton of incredible moments and notable surprises from the Italian Open. Here's some of the best (with photos from Getty and AP):

1

Juan Martin del Potro announced himself as a title threat again. In just his third event of 2019, he reached the quarterfinals. Looking healthy throughout, he held double match point against Novak Djokovic before losing in three sets.

2

Johanna Konta made an unexpected run to the Rome final with wins over Sloane Stephens, Venus Williams, Marketa Vondrousova and Kiki Bertens. "I'm definitely pleased with this week," the Brit said.

3

Victoria Azarenka may be going slow and steady in her singles comeback, but she's made a big impact on the doubles court. The Belarusian teamed with Ashleigh Barty to take home the crown in Madrid. They dropped just one set, in the final.

4

In 54 meetings, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic had never played a 6-0 set... until Sunday. Nadal came out storming by winning the first six games. Djokovic did his best to stay in the match, but Nadal came away with his 34th ATP Masters 1000 title, 0-6, 6-4, 6-1.

5

Serena Williams started off well enough with a first-round win and a lot of laughs in the pressroom. Instead of playing a highly-anticipated second round against her sister Venus Williams, Serena pulled out with a lingering knee problem.