Novak Djokovic surges past Casper Ruud for his 1000th career win to set up Italian Open final against Stefanos Tsitsipas
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Updated 15/05/2022 at 07:17 GMT
Five-time Rome champion Novak Djokovic beats Casper Ruud in his 13th semi-final in the Italian capital to set up a showdown with Stefanos Tsitsipas on Sunday. Djokovic had little trouble overcoming the Norwegian fifth seed to further build on impressive wins against Aslan Karatsev, Stanislas Wawrinka and Felix Auger-Aliassime this week. Djokovic has a 6-2 head-to-head record against Tsitsipas.
Highlights: Djokovic notches 1000th career win to beat Ruud and reach Rome final
Novak Djokovic recorded his 1000th career win with a convincing 6-4 6-3 victory over Casper Ruud to reach the Italian Open final.
Djokovic dominated from the baseline against the Norwegian fifth seed in their fourth meeting on the ATP Tour and wrapped up the milestone win in one hour and 41 minutes.
The world No. 1, who becomes the fifth man in the Open era to earn 1000 wins, will play Stefanos Tsitsipas in Sunday's final after the Greek beat world No.3 Alexander Zverev in three sets earlier on Saturday.
The 34-year-old joins Jimmy Connors, Ivan Lendl, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal in reaching the 1000 win landmark.
"I thought I played really well in the last four games of the match," the 20-time Grand Slam winner said in his on-court interview. "Hopefully I can take that level into tomorrow's final.
"Thanks to the tournament and the crowd for celebrating the milestone [1000 wins] with me.
"I was seeing Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal celebrating also those milestones in the last couple of years and I was looking to get to that 1000 myself. I'm really blessed and privileged to have that many victories on the tour.
"It's been a long time since I won my first match on the tour. Hopefully I can keep going and that there will be many more victories to come."
Looking ahead to Sunday's final against Tsitsipas, Djokovic said: "He's definitely in form. The last few years he has been the top two, three clay-court players, always reaching final stages in the biggest events on clay so I know tough matches are expected of me.
"I think two years ago we played a really long, two day quarter-final [at the French Open] and I can expect a big battle on the court, but I'm ready for it."
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"Blessed and priviledged' - Djokovic on reaching tour landmark of 1000 wins
Ruud dropped his serve only once in his opening three matches of this tournament, but Djokovic broke him twice in 15 minutes to take a commanding 3-0 lead.
Djokovic continued to dominate the baseline exchanges, but after a temporary delay where a fire alarm went off in the stadium, Ruud was able to claw a break back to make it 5-3.
It mattered little, though, as Djokovic - spurred on by a time violation given by umpire Richard Haigh - closed out the set on his serve in 55 minutes. Djokovic gestured to the crowd to turn up the volume with the audience split between Ruud and the world No. 1.
With Djokovic trailing 2-1 in the second set the fire alarm went off again, but it did little to derail the Serb's focus. The pair slugged it out from the baseline without conceding even a break point to each other.
That was until the seventh game when Djokovic ramped up the pressure. Ruud saved three break points with some smart shot selections, but Djokovic pounced on the fourth and let out a primal scream when the Norwegian crumbled on his backhand.
Djokovic cemented his place in the final on the Ruud serve, finishing off with a bruising forehand winner.
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