Tennis / Masters 1000 of Rome Djokovic joins Tsitsipas in the final with a 1000th victory


The Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas, 5th in the world, qualified for his first final at the Masters 1000 in Rome on Saturday by winning a tight showdown against the German Alexander Zverev (3rd) 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 in 2h28.

The double winner of Monte-Carlo (2021 and 2022) faced Zverev for the third time in the semi-finals in less than a month, after Monte-Carlo (victory for the Greek) and Madrid (success for the German, beaten in the final by Carlos Alcaraz).

Between two players who know each other so well (12th opposition), the match was unsurprisingly ultra tight on a central crushed by the heat, where the spectators appreciated the few drops sent into the stands by the watering attendant.

Opportunistic Tsitsipas

Zverev, winner at Foro Italico in 2017 and runner-up in 2018, won the first set, relying in particular on a successful first ball and a bit of success to convert the only break point of the set. While having taken the time to take care of a lost butterfly on clay.

But the Olympic champion lost his luster in the second set with two double faults on his first game of service, at 0-1, which allowed Tsitsipas to break quickly and then race in the lead to equalize at one set everywhere.

The Greek was again opportunistic to take advantage of the first break point that appeared in the third set. He then definitely took the upper hand, no longer offering an opening on his own service games.

The 1000th for Djoko

World No.1 Novak Djokovic, candidate for a sixth crown at the Masters 1000 in Rome, dominated Casper Ruud (10th) 6-4, 6-3 on Saturday to join Stefanos Tsitsipas in the final and becomes the fifth player to reach the bar of 1,000 victories on the circuit.

Still without a title this year after a first quarter almost at a standstill due to his non-vaccination against Covid, the Serb had to work against a combative Ruud.
He joined the very closed club of players with 1,000 victories on the ATP circuit, which also includes Jimmy Connors (record holder with 1,274 successes), Roger Federer, Ivan Lendl and Rafael Nadal.

“Let’s go for another 1,000!” “Smiled the Serb, receiving after the match a cake bearing this symbolic number.
“It’s been a long time since I won a match on the circuit, I hope to continue,” added the 34-year-old.

In the absence of Rafael Nadal, emperor with ten Roman coronations eliminated in the eighth, and Carlos Alcaraz, a phenomenon at rest for Roland-Garros (May 22-June 5), Djokovic will therefore not have failed in reaching the final without conceding sets.

He will play Sunday against the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas (5th) his twelfth final on Roman clay (with five victories in 2008, 2011, 2014, 2015, 2020), the fourth in a row.

After a fairly simple start to the match, launched by two breaks and a comfortable 4-0 lead, the result was largely complicated against the Norwegian finalist a few weeks ago at the Masters 1000 in Miami.

Broken in turn, Djokovic was overtaken by the tension in a match interrupted twice by a fire alarm which went off in the stadium.
Despite everything, he ensured the win of the set then was able to be patient in the second to break in the seventh game.

Djokovic-Tsitsipas will be a rematch of the final of the last edition of Roland-Garros, won by the Serb after a battle in five sets. “Nole” leads 6 wins to 2 against the Greek, who has always lost against him on the ochre.



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