ATP win #1000 - Novak Djokovic is in the final of Rome
Novak Djokovic won the ATP Masters tournament in Rome 6: 4 and 6: 3 against Casper Ruud and will meet Stefanos Tsitsipas in the final. Tsitsipas prevailed against Alexander Zverev in the afternoon.
by Dennis Heineman
last edit: May 14, 2022, 10:27 pm
Novak Djokovic has reached the Rome final. Anyone who watched him during the semi-final against Norway's Casper Ruud will have noticed that the world number one seemed very focused at first. No over-emotional outbursts - but a high level of concentration and almost meditative breaks when changing sides. It wasn't until the end of the first sentence that he broke out for the first time.
One step back: It was the third meeting of the two top 10 players. Djokovic and Ruud faced each other in Rome back in 2020. The Serb won 7: 5 and 6: 3. There was also a two-set victory at the ATP finals last year - 7: 6 and 6: 2.
Ruud conceded the first break at 0:0
Taking a break against the world number one right at the start is never easy. That's what happened to Ruud, who quickly found himself 1:5 behind. Then the fire alarm went off briefly on Center Court – a wake-up call for Ruud? At least he got back one of two breaks, but Djoker later bagged it with his own serve - 6: 4.
The second set started much tighter than the first round - everything was open up to 3:3. Then it was Djokovic who secured the decisive break to make it 4: 3 in the seventh game. In the end he even added a break - 6:3. Djokovic has cracked the magic limit of 1000 victories on the ATP tour and can reach for his sixth title in Rome tomorrow in the final against Stefanos Tsitsipas.
To the individual tableau of Rome
rommap