The King of the Italian Open 2022: World No.1 Novak Djokovic

Novak Djokovic won his 38th Masters 1000 title and sixth title in Rome this Sunday, making him the oldest player to win the Italian Open at the age of 34 years and 358 days.

Rediscovering his form at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia, World No. 1 Novak Djokovic defeated Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-0, 7-6 (7-5) and won his first title of the season.

World No. 3 Stefanos Tsitsipas was broken three times in the opening set of the of the match. This marked the first time the Greek was bagelled on clay. 

To get bagelled means to lose a set without winning a single game. Fighting back in the second set, the young Greek took a 4-1 lead and served for the set at 5-3, but Djokovic was able to break back. 

The set eventually ended in a tie-break with the Serb taking a 5-2 lead. Tsitsipas again showed some resilience to win the next three points. However, there was no going back for Djokovic who won the second set 7-5.

“I surprised myself I can say," Djokovic said. "I had a clear game plan, and I knew what to expect, so I knew what I had to do, but I did play a perfect first set. After that it was a little tighter. At this level, one or two points can turn a match, and he was then back in the game at 4-1 up.”

“The match could easily have gone to a third set but I managed to find the right shots at the right time to come back into the match. The tie-break I was maybe an inch better, but it was a tight, tight tie-break for both of us," he added.

The top seed did not drop a single set the whole week, making it the 20th title he has won without dropping a set. Most importantly for the World No.1, he goes into the French Open in an imperious form on the back of the title.