Novak Djokovic, who was deported because of his unvaccinated status ahead of the Australian Open, hadn't won a tournament since raising the Paris Masters trophy in November; the Serb recorded a sixth successive victory over Stefanos Tsitsipas
Monday 16 May 2022 06:05, UK
World No 1 Novak Djokovic claimed his first title in over six months after beating Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-0 7-6 (7-5) to win the Italian Open on Sunday.
Djokovic, who was deported because of his unvaccinated status ahead of the Australian Open, hadn't won a tournament since raising the Paris Masters trophy in November.
The Serb ensured he completed the tournament in Rome without dropping a set, having picked up his 1,000th tour-level victory by beating Casper Ruud in the last four to book a clash with Tsitsipas - a repeat of last year's French Open final, which Djokovic won.
"I've been building my form the last few weeks," Djokovic said. "It couldn't be better timing coming into Roland Garros.
"Perfect scenario for me.
"This year it was a particular situation. With everything that happened in Australia, it took some time. I found my best shape here. I'm going to Paris with a lot of confidence."
A sixth-successive win for Djokovic over his Greek opponent looked inevitable as he stormed through the first set with a blistering display of hitting, to which Tsitsipas had no answer.
Tsitsipas's name rung around Campo Centrale in the fourth game of the second set, however, as an unforced error from Djokovic gave the Greek player two break points, the first of which he converted to take a 3-1 lead in the set.
After Tsitsipas held to make it 4-1, Djokovic then upped it a gear, winning five of the next seven games to take it to a tiebreak before sealing his sixth Italian Open title, and first since winning the Paris Masters in November.
It has been the perfect week for the 34-year-old, who became only the fifth man in the Open Era to reach the 1,000 wins milestone after Jimmy Connors, Roger Federer, Ivan Lendl and Rafa Nadal, ahead of the start of the French Open next Sunday.
During the trophy ceremony, Djokovic made a special dedication: "Today at 4pm, when we started this match, my son Stefan, who is seven-years-old, was playing his first tennis match. I hope he won. This is for him."
The 20-time Grand Slam champion reached the final of his home Serbia Open last month. He was beaten by 19-year-old Carlos Alcaraz in the Madrid Open semi-finals last week.
Djokovic produced 24 winners to Tsitsipas's eight and had only 14 unforced errors to Tsitsipas' 20.
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